October 2018 Flight
Flight Details:
Departure: SEA, 2:59pmArrival: BOS, 10:45pm
Seat: 2A (single suite)
Class: Mint
I've reviewed JetBlue Mint many times before, that I won't bother with any intro. It was another Mint flight, this time out of Seattle, my first time ever from that airport. Friendly, helpful crew, same seat and amenities as normal, and sadly disappointing menu.
Food & Drink
Menu & Ordering
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| October, Eastbound, Lunch/Dinner. |
The menu was as follows:
WELCOME TASTE
Choose three. Please note: The first two dishes listed below are chilled
Enjoy both.
WELCOME TASTE
- TOMATILLO JAM & SPICED YOGURT WITH PLANTAIN CHIPS
Choose three. Please note: The first two dishes listed below are chilled
- FARRO, BARLEY, WILD RICE & QUINOA SALAD / roasted carrots, pickled onions, carrot-harissa purée.
- BUTTER LETTUCE SALAD / orange segments, crème-fraîche dressing, pistachios.
- GORGONZOLA & PRUNE STUFFED CHICKEN BREAST / celery root purée, broccolini.
- GRILLED SALMON / pea, carrot & onion fricassee, dill potato salad, lemon vinaigrette.
- FIVE SPICE BRAISED SHORT RIB / parmesan polenta.
Enjoy both.
- ICE CREAM: Molly Moon's, Seattle, WA
- FRESH FRUIT: pineapple, mango, papaya, strawberry
- COOKIE, milk bar, NYC and beyond
This was one of the least exciting Mint menus I had ever seen, for my tastes. I don't like chicken, short ribs, or cooked salmon. I don't care for grains, oranges, yogurt, or pistachios. Nothing here sounded like it was really up my alley, and, alas, none of it was. In retrospect, I wished I had opted for one of the special menus, to finally get a chance to try the Plane Eats perhaps (mac and cheese! burger!).
Drinks
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| Pre-Takeoff: Sparkling Water with Mint. |
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| October Drink Menu. |
The drink lineup as always featured a sparkling, two red, and two white wines, plus cider, beer, liquor, soft drinks, tea, and coffee.
- SPARKLING: RAVENTOS I BLANC DE NIT BRUT ROSÉ, 2016, Penedès, Spain.
- WHITE: MATTHIASSON LINDA VISTA VINEYARD CHARDONNAY, 2017, Napa Valley.
- ROSE: ROSÉ OF THE MOMINT (no details provided)
- RED: WIND GAP SOIF OLD VINE RED, 2016, North Coast, California.
- RED: TURLEY, JUVENILE ZINFANDEL, 2016, California.
I wasn't familiar with any, so asked for a half glass each of the single white offering, and the first red, since I knew the Zin would likely be a bit bolder than I wanted
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| MATTHIASSON LINDA VISTA VINEYARD CHARDONNAY, 2017, Napa Valley. |
The chardonnay was ... ok. A bit too harsh and acidic, not very buttery. My half glass was fine, but I didn't want more.
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| WIND GAP SOIF OLD VINE RED, 2016, North Coast, California | . |
"This easy-drinking red is a blend of Valdiguié, Carignan and other heritage varieties from some of northern California’s most interesting vineyards. It’s floral and fruit-forward—perfect with a slight chill and just right to pair with most of the Mint menu."
Yup, "easy-drinking red" sums this one up. Not complex, but not offensive. Not tanic, just, easy drinking.
Yup, "easy-drinking red" sums this one up. Not complex, but not offensive. Not tanic, just, easy drinking.
Food
As always, welcome tastes were brought out along with beverages about 45 minutes after takeoff, and the meal followed about 20 minutes later.
Sadly, the meal was one of the least enjoyable for me on a JetBlue Mint flight.
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| Welcome Taste: TOMATILLO JAM & SPICED YOGURT WITH PLANTAIN CHIPS. |
The tomatillo jam topped with a dollop of spiced yogurt was actually worse than I feared. I didn't necessarily mind the jam, the texture was interesting, and flavor unique, but the yogurt had a horrible sour flavor that I truly did not like. At all. My original thoughts of "gee, that isn't nearly enough plantain chips for that amount of dip" and "Uh, this is really hard to scoop the thick jam onto the tiny chip" didn't matter, as I didn't want the dip.
The plantain chips were fine though, salty, crunchy, enjoyable enough. Good plantain flavor. Better than the crostini or blanched veggies JetBlue sometimes offers, but not as good as the other chips that are often available.
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| Dinner: FARRO, BARLEY, WILD RICE & QUINOA SALAD / BUTTER LETTUCE SALAD / GRILLED SALMON. |
My dinner arrived 1 hour and 15 min into the flight, at 4:15pm. I can't say I was hungry, given that I had lunch at 1pm. Oops. I forgot the timing of things.
I forgot to say no to horrible roll, so, I had one of those on the plate that I ignored entirely. I'm still shocked JetBlue hasn't replaced those horrible rolls.
I forgot to say no to horrible roll, so, I had one of those on the plate that I ignored entirely. I'm still shocked JetBlue hasn't replaced those horrible rolls.
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| FARRO, BARLEY, WILD RICE & QUINOA SALAD . |
"Roasted carrots, pickled onions, carrot-harissa purée."
First up, one of my two salads, the grain based salad, with a mix of wild rice, barley, quinoa, and farro. The barley, farro, and wild rice were all nicely cooked, crunchy, and I almost appreciated them. I somehow didn't actually see that this had quinoa in it when I read the menu, and I was a bit sad at how dominant the quinoa was. I just don't like quinoa very much. The grains were mixed with plenty of herbs, fresh and vibrant. If you like grain salads, I think you'd like this.
I did like the tart pickled onions perched on top, very very tart though, aggressive flavor.
The roasted carrots were kinda like the blanched veggies JetBlue serves. Limp. Cooked carrots. Oh, and spiced in a way I didn't care for. Not my thing. There was another layer of them under the grains and above the puree.
Oh yeah, the puree.
The carrot-harissa purée was hiding at the base of the dish. It was a mash, chilled obviously since this was a chilled dish. Cold mushy carrots with a flavor I don't like? Yeah.
Not a winning dish for me, my least favorite of the trio.
First up, one of my two salads, the grain based salad, with a mix of wild rice, barley, quinoa, and farro. The barley, farro, and wild rice were all nicely cooked, crunchy, and I almost appreciated them. I somehow didn't actually see that this had quinoa in it when I read the menu, and I was a bit sad at how dominant the quinoa was. I just don't like quinoa very much. The grains were mixed with plenty of herbs, fresh and vibrant. If you like grain salads, I think you'd like this.
I did like the tart pickled onions perched on top, very very tart though, aggressive flavor.
The roasted carrots were kinda like the blanched veggies JetBlue serves. Limp. Cooked carrots. Oh, and spiced in a way I didn't care for. Not my thing. There was another layer of them under the grains and above the puree.
Oh yeah, the puree.
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| Carrot-harissa purée. |
Not a winning dish for me, my least favorite of the trio.
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| BUTTER LETTUCE SALAD | . |
"Orange segments, crème-fraîche dressing, pistachios."
I loved the crunch from the pistachios, but would have preferred a different nut. Again though, a nice match with the other ingredients, just, not ones I was eager for.
The dressing was ok, tangy crème-fraîche and chives, perfectly dressed, not too much, not too little. The FA did a great job there.
Overall, a well designed salad, full of quality fresh lettuce, juicy citrus, crunchy nuts, creamy dressing ... just not elements I'd necessarily pick. My favorite dish though, which might give you a hint of what was to come.
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| GRILLED SALMON | . |
Ok, so the good news? The dill potato salad was quiet tasty. Very herby, fresh tasting, and a nice mix of chunks and mash. It was a bit strange to have chilled potato salad on top of warm fish though. And I prefer mayo based potato salad of course, this was a dressing-less version. I did mix it in with the herbed creme fraiche from the butter lettuce salad, and that was excellent.
About that fish. Oh wow, it was NOT good. Cold in the center. Soooo over cooked, filled with white like when salmon is poorly prepared, and it tasted like catfood. Seriously. Not trying to be dramatic, but it was really not good. The lemon vinaigrette on top was worse, it didn't mask the poor fish, it made it taste even more foul. I resisted spitting it out, but wow, this was not the dish for me.
Under the fish was the fricasse, a mix of mostly cubes of carrots and peas, I'm not quite sure where the onions were. It was ... fine? But did get a lot of the vinaigrette on it.
I quickly, very quickly, scooped off my tasty portion of dill potato salad, and got rid of the salmon. Wow, not a winner.
The potato salad was my favorite part of the meal though, so for that alone, I make this my second choice dish.
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| Sweet Bites: Fruit & Ice Cream. |
Both were decent, the fruit the best I've had on a Mint flight.
"Every year we buy thousands of Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies directly from local scouts! The cookies get crushed and folded into mint ice cream made with extract from Washington-grown organic peppermint."
I eat a lot of ice cream in general, at least 5 days a week (although usually paired with a warm dessert), but ice cream on a flight is still fairly novel, and awesome, to me.
When we ordered dinner I asked which ice cream we'd have, and my FA told me that it was the "Melted Chocolate" flavor, commenting that it was a new one, and that the previous one had been this Girl Scout's offering. So I was a bit confused when chocolate ice cream did not show up, and instead, something minty did. Clearly, we still had the September offering, two scoops of Scout Mint, plus a single scoop of vanilla.
It was fine, decently mint, nice texture from the thin mints mashed inside. Kinda like a minty version of cookies & cream. The vanilla was ... vanilla.
Overall though, it was served too hard (as always, but that just takes a little time to soften), it was icy, and just not very creamy. Toscannini's, served out of Boston, is still my favorite Mint ice cream.
The fruit was all good, one of the better selections I've had (partially because it had no melon, so I actually *could* get it).
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| ICE CREAM: Scout Mint & Vanilla, Molly Moon's, Seattle, WA | . |
I eat a lot of ice cream in general, at least 5 days a week (although usually paired with a warm dessert), but ice cream on a flight is still fairly novel, and awesome, to me.
It was fine, decently mint, nice texture from the thin mints mashed inside. Kinda like a minty version of cookies & cream. The vanilla was ... vanilla.
Overall though, it was served too hard (as always, but that just takes a little time to soften), it was icy, and just not very creamy. Toscannini's, served out of Boston, is still my favorite Mint ice cream.
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| FRESH FRUIT: pineapple, mango, papaya, strawberry. |
The strawberry was a single berry, cut in half, decently ripe and flavorful. No pale berries here.
The mango was the real surprise, a generous portion, perfectly ripe, juicy, flavorful. The highlight of the bunch, although the papaya (just one slice, buried) was also very flavorful and juicy. They managed to get really nice, fresh, ripe, flavorful fruit this time!
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| Sundae! |
While JetBlue always has ice cream, they still have not caught on to the sundae offering that most other airlines serve in premium service (e.g. made to order sundae carts or at least with some pre-defined toppings). So I always bring my own sprinkles (and usually other toppings), and ideally use some of the fruit from the fruit salad as well.
Ice cream, sprinkles, and a strawberry was just so much more fun.
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