FOOD ON TAP PORTUGAL
After we took off the flight attendants warmed up (or should I say cooled down) and showed their friendly Portuguese hospitality. When they brought over the after-takeoff drink and cold stale nuts in a small plastic shot glass, they handed me two menus in both English and Portuguese. One was an extensive and quite impressive wine list, featuring 11 bottles of Portuguese wine. The other was the dinner menu that read: Appetizer: Tomato and Basil Soup or Salmon with Cucumber Salad. Main Course: Seared Beef Filet with Herb Butter Mashed Sweet Potato or Red Snapper with Lemon Butter Stir Fried Vegetables and Rice or Barbeque Chicken with Cornbread Pilaf or Cheese and Broccoli Tortellini. Dessert: A Selection of Portuguese Cheeses with a choice of Marmalade, Apricot or Wild Berry Jam. Passion Fruit Mousse Cake or Fresh Fruit. It all sounded good, but unfortunately the menu looked better than it tasted. The only dish worth mentioning was the hot soup poured fresh from a thermos. It was outstanding – probably the best soup I ever had on a plane. Breakfast, served 45 minutes before landing, consisted of a single slice of cheese on a small roll, and a mini- Toblerone bar. I was taken aback when all the meals arrived with the Saran Wrap still in place, forcing passengers to remove it (flight attendants usually handle this task). Overall, the flight was very smooth and comfortable. I slept a couple of hours, and the flight time was only 5 hours, 45 minutes. Who knew that mainland Europe was so close to NY? Heck -- it takes that long to get to L.A.!