Seoul stopover: a mixed bag of vegan flavors with vietnam airlines
When planning our trip to Seoul, we decided on flying with Vietnam Airlines, allowing us to enjoy a city stopover in Ho Chi Minh City on the way home. Having never flown in the premium cabins with Vietnam Airlines, we were excited for a new experience, but of course also interested to see how they catered for their vegan passengers, or indeed anyone who selected their VGML (vegan) special meal option.
A disappointing start in singapore
Departing from Changi Airport, Singapore, our journey began with a quick visit to the SATS Premier Lounge, which was our go-to spot for any vegan or plant-based options. Unfortunately, everything was clearly labelled, making it easy to realise there was very little for us to choose from. Salad, roast potatoes, cauliflower with black fungus and goji berries were the only items that we could have eaten with steamed white rice.
Our flight from Singapore to Ho Chi Minh City was delayed, providing us with another option as new dishes were introduced to the buffet. Black-eyed peas curry and kailan with fried garlic paired perfectly with the aforementioned steamed white rice, making for a tasty and nutritious pre-flight bite.
A comfortable but faulty 2-2 configuration in the a321
Our Vietnam Airlines A321 business class seats offered a 2-2 configuration with spacious reclining seats, plenty of legroom, and footrests. Unfortunately, even after changing from our pre-assigned seats, we had non-functioning seats. A combination of the recliner being broken, a headrest that didn’t stay in place, and a footrest that didn’t extend meant our short flight wasn’t as comfortable as it should have been.
Fortunately, our VGML meal was a tasty tofu in black bean dish that was full of flavour. This was served with a mixed mushroom and tofu salad, bread roll with vegan butter, and cut fruit. The main dish was delicious and one of the tastier vegan meals we’ve enjoyed on board recently.
A vegan-friendly lounge in ho chi minh city?
With a limited layover time, we were only able to visit the Vietnam Airlines signature ‘Lotus Lounge’ for a short visit, but that allowed us to utilise the facilities and refresh ourselves for our onward overnight flight. Well, it’s lucky we weren’t hungry as there was nothing to eat other than fruit. Every dish on the buffet was not suitable for vegans, and the staff were unable to help with anything as they were so busy.
A dreamliner 787 overnight flight with a twist
Our flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Seoul was on board one of Vietnam Airlines’ Dreamliner 787s, which was far more luxurious for our longer overnight flight. The 1-2-1 configuration allowed for more space throughout, and the very welcome flat beds. With our late departure and early arrival, we really wanted to sleep, but of course, had to see what VGML offering had been loaded for us on this leg of our journey.
Well, we were served exactly the same as on the previous flight – mushroom salad and tofu with rice that we had enjoyed so much just a few hours previously. The plating and presentation were better, especially for the salad, which may have been due to the extra space in the galley on board the 787, but the food of course tasted exactly the same.
There was one welcome surprise, which was an actual dessert instead of fruit, which was indeed very welcome. A moist sponge cake with a berry sauce was the perfect way to end our meal before a few hours’ sleep was next on the agenda.
A disappointing return flight
Our flight from Seoul to Ho Chi Minh City was back on board the Dreamliner 787, so we knew what to expect in terms of layout and seat/flat bed. It was a daytime flight, so we didn’t plan to sleep, but the fully reclining seat in business class certainly made our journey more comfortable.
We were intrigued to find out if we would be served the same VGML meal again or actually get to try something else from the kitchens that prepare meals for Vietnam Airlines. Well, it was different, but sometimes you need to be careful what you wish for as our previous repeat tofu dish was far superior.
First were ‘canapés’ that consisted of a single fruit skewer, two cherry tomatoes, half an olive, and some dried fruit, which were all of course edible but hardly creative or exciting. Next was an unappetising appetiser, which we sent back. It comprised a stuffed pepper with beans and vegetables that were so cold they were almost frozen and were served with no sauce, which meant no flavour.
Our main course was also sent back – a mixture of beans that were dry and flavourless with accompanying vegetables that were overcooked. This was possibly the worst vegan meal in business class that we have ever been served, and it was very disappointing indeed.
The crew were very apologetic as they could see that everything we were served was uninspiring and not of a comparable standard to what other passengers were eating. They managed to find some instant noodles that were vegan and prepared these for us, which were very tasty, but we didn’t book and pay for business class flights to eat instant noodles.
A lesson learned
In recent years, things have improved for vegan travelers with airlines globally adding to their plant-based offering with creative and exciting options available for pre-order. Only recently, Emirates announced they now have nearly 500 vegan recipes in rotation, showing that they are one of the airlines that are truly leading the way when it comes to catering for their vegan travelers.
Our experience with Vietnam Airlines was a reminder that the variety and quality that is offered still has some way to go. We encountered friendly and helpful crew on all three of our recent flights, and other than the faulty seats on our first flight, the hard product on the 787s, whilst not being ground-breaking, was very comfortable. The vegan food however was disappointing overall – two identical meals and one that was totally lacking in creativity and flavour.
Being based in the region, we are likely to fly with them again, and can only hope the vegan food that we are served is of equal quality to the crew that looked after us.