What Andrew Zimmern Really Thought About His Last Airplane Meal

Apart from delays and cramped seats, many frequent flyers would agree one of the worst parts of traveling is having to force yourself to down a terrible in-flight meal. Most of the time, before you can even finish pulling back the plastic film to whatever chewy, bland concoction awaits you, you're already left wishing we purchased food in the airport terminal.

And although science tells us the real reason airplane food tastes so different is because of the high altitude and noise dulling our taste buds (via Food Quality and Preference), we can't deny some of our disdain comes down to the fact that the meals themselves are simply not good quality. And then there's the whole question of food safety and whether it's been handled properly. Chef Gordon Ramsay can't stand airplane food for this very reason (per Refinery29). 

Of course, Ramsay isn't the only celebrity chef with strong airline food opinions. Food Network star Andrew Zimmern, best known for traveling all over the globe thanks to his series "Bizarre Foods," unsurprisingly has a lot of thoughts when it comes to in-flight fare.  According to the James Beard Award-winning chef, not all airline food is as bad as people make it out to be. "Some airlines serve very tasty sensible food," he once tweeted. So when one Twitter fan this week asked Zimmern to rate the most recent meal he ate on an airplane, naturally, the chef did not hesitate to share his thoughts.

Considering how well traveled Zimmern is, there's no doubt he's experienced a variety of airplane meals in his day. Moreover, given the absolute worst foods Zimmern ate on "Bizarre Foods" over the years, we have reason to believe he probably isn't afraid of biting into the occasional bland plastic-wrapped meal. But ultimately, the chef thinks one airline is doing it better than others when it comes to in-flight meals.

"My last few flights the food has been really good on Delta," he wrote on Twitter. "All the new chicken prep is smartly cooked sous vide. The burrata chicken salad is great, love the pineapple with Tajin that comes with most lunches." It's worth noting that Zimmern's review comes just months after Delta announced it was revamping business and first-class meal selections to include more regional, gourmet options.
 
However, despite the chef giving the meal his stamp of approval, he did share two areas of improvement he'd still like to see for in-flight dining: more snack options, as well as lemon and limes. For what it's worth, the lack of in-flight fresh citrus may not be exclusive to Delta. Back in 2016, Post and Courier reported that several major airlines stopped carrying limes due to increased costs. In any case, it wasn't enough to stop Zimmern from singing the praises of his in-flight dinner with Delta. Here's to hoping other airlines take note!