Qantas in-flight meal photo prompts disgust online

The meal was allegedly from a domestic, economy flight 'a while ago'. Photo / 123rf

Qantas has faced criticism after a traveller shared a photo of their in-flight meal, which some said looked like prison food.

The flier posted a photo of the meal they received on a domestic economy flight to Reddit with the caption “meal I was survived”. They later said they meant to write “served” but felt “survived” suited the situation.

More than 500 people commented on the unappetising photo, many making guesses as to what the meal was meant to be.

“Aside from the beans, it’s not even recognisable as human food,’ one person wrote, while another said it closely resembled dog food.

“Looks like someone ate it before you,” wrote one person, with another describing it as “gastro in a box”.

One commenter claimed they were currently in a public hospital and their quality of food was “way nicer” than what was the pictures.

In the air, however, presentation wasn’t that important according to several people.

“Looks don’t matter as long as it tastes great,” one person wrote, with another making a stab at what it could be.

“Looks to be shepherd’s pie. Not a food that is visually appealing once scooped from the original dish, but is delicious comfort food that can be made in large batches.”

Fortunately, the meal “didn’t taste as bad as it looks” according to the traveller. Since the flight was “quite some time ago”, they couldn’t remember if they had mixed it by this point or if it was served that way.

A spokesperson for the airline said Qantas was “incredibly disappointed” with the meal presentation, news.com.au reported.

“We pride ourselves on delivering enjoyable dining experiences and this falls well short of our high standards,” they added.

Qantas’ in-flight meals have already faced criticism this year.

In January, another traveller posted a photo of their breakfast to the Qantas subreddit.

“All I can say with my recent experience is EW,” they wrote, alongside a photo of a box holding scrambled egg, sausage and tomato.

However, like with the most recent complaint, some responded that the presentation wasn’t important.

“I’d eat the food. Doesn’t look fabulous but tastes alright,” one person wrote, adding that they “don’t expect much from cattle class”.

Sure enough, the Qantas Reddit thread also has posts from people describing the premium and business-class meals as far better.