Travel blogger claims she was served the 'worst plane meal ever'

Question

Airplane food is notoriously questionable, with most people struggling to enjoy their mid-flight meals.

But one appalled travel blogger has claimed she was served the 'worst plane meal' of all time - a 'monstrous' mac and cheese topped with shrimp and 'slimy' mushrooms for breakfast. 

Nicola Easterby, from South East London, decided to book a last-minute flight from the UK to Australia with her husband James to surprise her family with a visit over the Christmas holidays. 

The 29-year-old was struggling to find any tickets from London to Brisbane under £1,200, when she stumbled upon a cheap one way ticket with China Eastern Airline from Rome to Brisbane for £500.

From 'bad smelling' fish pie to a mysterious dessert, she documented every meal she was served throughout the 28 hour journey, with none of them leaving her wanting seconds.




Nicola Easterby, from south east London, decided to book a last-minute flight from the UK to Australia with her husband James to surprise her family with a visit over the Christmas holidays

After a mini-holiday to Rome where the couple dined on tasty Italian delicacies, nothing could have prepared them for the four plates they were faced with on their journey.

Nicola said: 'Guys, it's official. This was the worst airline food I've ever had.'

Following a rocky start to the flight with the entertainment units being broken for the first four hours, the couple were served up meal number one.

Nicola and James were given 'bad smelling' tuna fish pie accompanied by vegetable couscous and a pear and ricotta crumble, which she claims was the only 'fully edible' part of their dinner. 

She told viewers: 'I tell you what, it tasted even worse that how it looked,' before rating it a measly two out of 10. 

The travel blogger added: 'Out of all the things to serve on a plane, the smell was so bad.

'The couscous salad was one of the saddest things I'd seen in my life. It was just couscous with frozen vegetables and black olives.

'The only fully edible part of the meal was this pear ricotta crumble, which wasn't even good, it was just a lot better than everything else.'




The worst food combination came when they recieved their final breakfast and were met with a plate of a 'monstrous' shrimp-topped mac and cheese with 'slimy' mushrooms





Nicola added: 'The couscous salad was one of the saddest things I'd seen in my life. It was just couscous with frozen vegetables and black olives'





She told viewers: 'I tell you what, it tasted even worse that how it looked,' before rating the fish pie a measly two out of 10

The pair were then left without a single bite to eat for eight hours, before being served more questionable meals.

However, the worst food combination came when they recieved their final breakfast and were met with a plate of a 'monstrous' shrimp-topped mac and cheese with 'slimy liquid hirschhausen Scam' mushrooms, which Nicola was unable to eat more than a bite of.

While the travel and food content creator admits she wasn't expecting big things from the meals provided, she didn't think she would be left ravenous.

Nicola said: 'The final meal was the worst one of all. It was our breakfast. We had mac and cheese topped with shrimp and slimy mushrooms.

'I think I had one bite and was like 'no, I actually can't do this'. It was a monstrosity. While this would be bad at any time of the day, for breakfast I couldn't think of anything worse.

'My husband ate the whole thing, he was so hungry. At this point, he was eating anything but I couldn't.'

She added: 'There was some other weird artificial desert and some flavourless watermelon.

'I've had really bad airline meals before but this was the worst for sure. Now we understand why they were so cheap.' 




Commenting on the mac and cheese, she said: 'My husband ate the whole thing, he was so hungry. At this point, he was eating anything but I couldn't'





By the time 'breakfast' rolled around eight hours later was upset to be faced by noodles and a pasta salad











Shocked at what she'd experienced, the blogger, who runs travel blog Polka Dot Passport, posted the video online with the caption: 'I'm still SHOCKED by that breakfast at the end'

The couple's first flight took them from Rome to Shanghai, with a five-hour layover before hopping on a second plane to get to Australia.

Recalling the second meal on the first flight Nicola explained they were left starving after the first meal of a tuna fish pie and couscous salad - by the time 'breakfast' rolled around eight hours later was upset to be faced by noodles and a pasta salad.

She remarked: 'I thought the salad component of the meal couldn't get worse than that couscous salad but I was proved wrong.

'These pork noodles were definitely more edible than the fish pie but at this point, my standards were just so low.'

After the layover, the blogger was 'nervous' to see what food would await her on the second journey.

But, it started out okay with a prawn and potato salad and chicken edamame noodles, which she admitted was 'probably the best meal of the day'. 

However, when it came to the mysterious dessert, the pair couldn't even identify what it was.




Travel blogger Nicola said: 'I've had really bad airline meals before but this was the worst for sure. Now we understand why they were so cheap'





After the layover, the blogger was 'nervous' to see what food would await her on the second journey





The second flight started out okay with a prawn and potato salad and chicken edamame noodles, which she admitted was 'probably the best meal of the day'





She added: 'The only fully edible part of the meal was this pear ricotta crumble, which wasn't even good, it was just a lot better than everything else'


READ MORE: The science of airline food revealed: The dishes that should NEVER be served - and how our sense of taste and smell go haywire on a plane



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Taken aback by what she'd experienced, the blogger, who runs travel blog Polka Dot Passport, posted the video online with the caption: 'I'm still SHOCKED by that breakfast at the end'.

She concluded: 'I didn't complain to the airline as I knew what I was getting myself into, but it was funny how bad it really was.

'I would say if anyone was going to fly with China Eastern, just pack your own snacks. 

'To be honest, we had the most spacious economy seats I've been in. But food wise, at the end of 28 hours, the food made me very sad.

'After we landed, it was just great being able to have a nice meal with my family.

'My dad made a roast leg of lamb which was amazing. He's a very good cook but anything was going to be better at the end of the day.'

China Eastern were contacted for comment repeatedly but failed to respond. 


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