United Domestic Business Class, IAD-SFO

Update Review, October 2023

I certainly wasn't expecting to fly on United again from the DC area, but, during a recent business trip, I found myself back on the same flight I took literally a year prior.  The culinary experience was slightly better than the previous year, but certainly not one to be excited by.

Flight Details:

• Flight: UA 1951
• Depart: IAD - Washington on Tue, Oct 31 2023 at 17:40 PM (scheduled) 18:06 PM (actual)
• Arrive: SFO - San Francisco on Tue, Oct 31 2023 at 20:35 PM 
• Aircraft: BOEING 777-300ER (twin-jet) (B77W) 

Service

I intentionally picked this flight, even though later than I like to leave the east coast, for the aircraft type.  While it was standard United Domestic service, I was in a Polaris cabin ("fauxlaris" the regular call it).  A nice private seat, but no other niceties, not even water bottles waiting at our seats.  No pillow, blankets, amenity kits.  

My crew was largely uninteresting.  Not particularly friendly, but not rude.  They took our food and drink orders, served our meal, and were otherwise absent from the cabin.  No refills proactively offered, etc.

Food & Drink

Pre-departure beverages of water or sparkling wine were offered.  I tried to get a sparkling water or Aha, but was denied.

Meal service was standard United domestic business class, as this route does not count as a premium transcon.  No pre-order was available because United hasn't managed to do that on wide bodies yet.  No printed menu.  Only 3 options rather than the 5-6 on most domestic routes.  Before takeoff, the FA came through the aisle briefly describing the choices, "BBQ chicken, 'pasta', or sweet chili noodle salad", the same 3 options that have been offered on this route for ... years.  The non-wide body flights serving this route also offer pre-order options of enchiladas or a burger these days.  

Orders were taken starting with Premium 1K, and we had 35 (!) of them on our flight, so I had little hope of getting the only choice I was interested in, the sweet chili noodle salad that folks on Flyertalk say is reasonable, even though I was in row 5.  I heard others ask for recommendations, and the FA recommended the chicken, "I don't eat meat on airplanes, but the bbq chicken always smells good."  It quickly sold out.  Others asked what exactly the "pasta" was, and it was a burrata manicotti, a slight upgrade perhaps from the standard ravioli.  The mention of burrata seemed to draw people in.  And thus, I was able to get my noodle salad after all.

Drink orders were taken alongside our meals.  Again, no menu, so people were left to ask about the options.  Wine options were "white, red, or sparkling".  When asked by another passenger what the red wine was, the response was, "uh ....".  

Aha, "Red Wine".

I went for the "red wine", whatever it was. It was inoffensive, but not particularly complex or interesting. I also had my fill of sparkling Aha, rotating between the two flavors on offer. ***.

Nuts.

A bit after takeoff, our drinks were delivered, and our FA came through saying to each person, "do you want nuts?" and offering a ramekin of nuts.  I accepted the nuts.  They were warm.  Cashews and almonds only.  Lightly salted.  Reasonable offering, but I'd love to at least get a token pecan!  ***.

Meal Tray.

Meals were a one tray affair, with side salad, entree, and dessert all on the tray, along with condiments (butter, salt, pepper, and not one but two choices of dressing), cutlery, and an empty glass, that was never used.  I'm not sure why that glass was included on our trays, as they didn't pass through doing cart service drinks.

Roll.

No roll was provided, but I asked about one, and my FA brought me one on a napkin.  I saw her hand delivering other rolls on napkins to others.  I'm not sure why they weren't included on our trays?  The butter to go with them was on the tray, along with an empty plate (under the salad bowl), but just no rolls.  Anyway, I actually really like some of the rolls on the United rotation, but this one wasn't anything special.  Just a wheat roll.   Lightly warm.  ***.

Side Salad.

Even though my entree was a salad, it came with the same side salad as the other dishes.  The salad was simple: mixed greens, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers.  No element for crunch, no acid, no cheese.  But it was actually quite good, the greens fresh and crisp, the tomatoes shockingly flavorful, and the cucumbers remarkably crunchy.  It tasted fresh and actually good quality.  I was amazed.  ****.

On my tray was both of the dressings I've seen United feature before, balsamic vinaigrette or sesame ginger.  I don't care for either, but appreciated the choice.

Overall, a big surprise, a nice one at that, particular compared to some of the more lackluster grain or oddly chilled cooked veggie side salads United has offered on other flights.

Sweet Chili Glass Noodle Salad.

"Sweet chili glass noodle salad with jicama and cucumber served with an option side plate of garlic-ginger beef."

My main dish was more salad.  The "option" of the side beef wasn't actually explained to anyone, we were just told this was a "noodle salad", but I knew there was a beef component from having read other reviews, and per the online menu (from flights that have pre-order) the beef is actually optional.  This explains why it comes separate on the side.  I heard vegetarians throughout the cabin surprised to see it, and I suspect the FA just omitted the fact that it was option as she was sick of explaining it over and over.  I'm not sure why I expected the beef to be warm, but I did.  It wasn't.  The entire dish was chilled.  

One side of the dish was a salad, a base of mixed greens, topped with the expected batons of jicama and cucumber, plus a lot of sliced red peppers.  The peppers added a lot of color and vibrancy to the plate, even though I don't really care for them.  The veggies were reasonably crisp and fresh.  I think maybe the ginger sesame dressing was supposed to go on this, as it was undressed?  ***.

The other side was the glass noodles, which were lightly tossed in sweet chili sauce.  The noodles were ... eh.  Truly seemed like someone had taken generic grocery store rice noodles, soaked them in water for a few minutes to hydrate, and then mixed in as little generic sweet chili sauce as they could.  The noodles were a bit dry and hard.  The sweet chili sauce was fine, but it was so minimal.  I was a bit surprised by how blah this part was, as people frequently mention this as a decent, flavorful  dish.  ***.

And finally, the side of sliced beef.  The beef was slightly better than I expected, it was fairly tender, reasonably seasoned with at least salt and pepper, although I didn't taste any of the garlic nor ginger from the online description.  Some bites were a bit chewy, and it clearly wasn't the highest quality cut of beef, but, it was edible.  ***.

For a lunch flight, I think this would be a reasonable option.  Salad and more salad.  For dinner though, I did miss having a warm dish.  **+ overall for me, not really sure why people recommend this.  I wouldn't get it again.

Crumb Cake.

The dessert was the sad component of my platter, but, I knew to expect it.  This blueberry crumb cake appears to be served on basically all domestic United flights right now, save the premium transcons.  I lamented the lack of the famous sundae cart (that does show up on premium transcon, along with international flights), I lamented the lack of cheesecake or other sliced cakes from Eli's cheesecake (again, offered on premium transcon), and even the old pie-in-the-sky.  

But then I tried it.  It was so much better than it looked.

The cake base was a sweet generic cake.  Tight crumb structure.  Decent tang to it, perhaps buttermilk?  It looked more like coffee cake appropriate for breakfast/brunch than dessert cake, but, the sweetness level was high, making it eat more like a dessert cake.  It had a thin layer of decent enough blueberry goo, and a crumb topping, with a slight drizzle of sweet icing.  So sorta a dessert cake base, but coffee cake top.  I really wanted fresh fruit and whipped cream to go with it, or for it to be warm with a scoop of ice cream, but, I was surprised that it was actually pretty tasty, even if it looked quite boring.

***+.

Original Review October 2022

Flight Details:

• Flight #UA1641 
• Aircraft: BOEING 777-300ER 
• Departure: IAD 6pm (scheduled) 6:35pm (actual)
• Arrival: SFO 8:49pm (scheduled) (actual)
• Seat: 5A

This was my first ever United domestic flight with meal service.  I tend to avoid flying United ever, and certainly domestically.  However, I had limited options between Orlando and San Francisco, and while I could have flown direct on United at rather poor times on their generic aging recliner based aircraft, I decided to take a bigger gamble and do a layover at Dulles, so that I could fly a better aircraft for the actual transcon part of the flight.  Thus, I had a real Polaris seat, even though flying a non-premium route.

The seat was the same as any other Polaris route, although for the transcon they do not provide pillows, blankets, amenity kits, or even bottles of water at the seats.  Its a pretty big cabin for a domestic business class flight, but, for a 5-6 hour flight it was kinda nice to be on a "real" plane, with a big spacious cabin that didn't feel tight, and, most importantly to me, to not have a neighbor.  The seat wasn't particularly comfortable for day flying, but I'm sure it was much better than most domestic business class seats, (JetBlue suites of course would be a bit nicer, as would the seats on premium transcons between NY and LAX on other carriers, but, for this route, it was certainly above average).

The Polaris cabin however was deceptive.  Everything else about the flight was solidly US domestic lower end.  Our orders were taken for the main dish while we were on the ground: "your meal options tonight are chicken or Impossible meatballs", was the announcement.  No description of the sides, or anything else, just, "chicken or Impossible meatballs", and the poor FA had to explain to nearly every seat that Impossible meatballs were vegan, not beef.  There was no pre-order available on this flight, just those two options, which I knew to expect, as they were the same two dishes offered on all United domestic flights for several months.  

We were not prepared for the meals to be delivered, e.g. no pass through to have you take out your tray table, set a tablecloth, etc.  Just all of a sudden, the FA was there, with your tray, looking annoyed that you weren't ready.  Once the meal was over (assuming you ate fast, if you were slow, good luck, you likely still had your tray left around) the FAs disappeared entirely.  Service, definitely, as minimal as it gets.

Food & Drink

Sparkling Aha, "Red Wine".

Orders for a beverage were taken once underway (but then no refills were offered).  There was exactly one red wine available.  "The red wine", it was dubbed.

I do like the flavored sparkling Aha drinks (two flavors available!), and appreciated getting the full can.  "The red wine" was highly mediocre, a bit too much acid, a bit of tannin, but no complexity.  Certainly not a higher end wine.

No nuts were or anything were served alongside the beverages, just the beverages. 

Meal.

Our trays were plopped down all at once, with the main dish, a bread roll, a fruit salad, and a packaged brownie.  No side salad nor appetizer course. Salt & pepper, and a pat of butter, came along with it.

I actually had some hope for the meatballs, as I do like Impossible meat.  I knew I wouldn't likely want the cous cous, nor the broccolini, so I came prepared with my own sautéed green beans, mushrooms, and onions, along with some nice bread, and my portable oven, that was plugged in and already heating my food when the meal arrived.  I also had crushed red pepper flakes, parmesan cheese, and, if necessary, hot sauce and ketchup with me to jazz it up further.  Oh, and a side salad, as I knew my meal would not have one.  And of course, my own dessert.

Fruit Salad.

There was no actual salad provided alongside, rather, fruit salad.  This seems good for a breakfast flight, or perhaps a flight with a cheese course, but, it seemed odd as the dinner "salad".

I avoided the melons (allergic), and the pineapple and orange were pretty meh, but the grapes and blueberries were fine.

**+, but, an odd dish to have with dinner.

Impossible Meatballs.

"The Impossible Meatball Bowl features three Impossible Meatballs™ Made From Plants and broccolini served on a bed of couscous and topped with an herb-infused tomato sauce. Impossible Meatballs are made with a custom mix of Impossible Beef™ Made From Plants and Impossible Sausage, seasoned with a savory homestyle spice blend."

The main dish, the meatballs, ... wow, it looked, and tasted, like it came out of a microwave, where someone zapped it on high for a bit too long, so that it totally dried it out, but then also forgot it, as it wasn't actually hot.  The cous cous, large style Israeli cous cous, was mushy, super dry, unseasoned, and some parts were just totally overcooked.  It was not good.  The broccolini, I suppose fine if you like broccolini, but it was an odd color of green, and didn't taste particularly fresh.  It definitely needed the provided salt and pepper.  I was quite pleased that I had my own carbs and veggies ready to go with my main, and quickly pushed aside the provided veggies, and took my own out of my oven.

The meatballs likely *could* have been good, but, they were 1) lukewarm, 2) very dense, 3) mushy, 4) lacking sauce.  I did actually like the Impossible meat, but ... they were just too mushy (yet strangely dense), not nearly warm enough, and super dry.  They needed the basically nonexistent tomato sauce.  I did add red pepper flakes, parmesan cheese, and, even ketchup, which helped, but, these just weren't actually very good.

**, although I think that with better heating it could have been a ***, the concept was fine.

Roll, Butter.

I actually had my own brown bread with me, already heated up in my oven, and my own butter, thinking I'd dip it in the expected tomato sauce, but, alas, there was no tomato sauce to dip into, let alone enough to cover the meatballs, and I wasn't expecting there to be a roll served, let alone one worth eating.  I'm not even sure why I tried it really, but I'm glad I did.

The roll was slightly warm, had some oats, and didn't taste stale nor dried out.  Sure, it wasn't great bread, it didn't have a good crust nor great crumb structure, but, I actually found it fairly satisfying.  It was better than most onboard bread.

***.

Dessert.

Ok, I was really let down when I saw the dessert.  I knew the flight wouldn't have an ice cream sundae, nor a nice cake, or anything like that, but, most United flights have the Eli's "pie in the sky", which is just a United specific re-branding of their cookie-pies that I love so much (and used to order for my work group all the time, see those reviews).  But no, we had a packaged brownie, a brand I didn't recognize.  

I tossed the brownie in my bag, and pulled out my frozen yogurt, fruit, and toppings.  Because, um, yes, I was*that* prepared.  

I did eat it later.  It was a reasonable enough packaged brownie.  Not dry.  Fairly rich.  It did have a slight odd taste to it, not plastic exactly, just, something not fresh tasting.  Easily masked with copious amounts of whipped cream and ice cream (because, yes, I obviously turned it into a sundae). ***.