American Airlines offers New Menus on Flights between the United States and Japan

In celebration of almost 20 years of service to Japan, American Airlines is enhancing its premium class menus for flights between the United States and Japan. In May 1987, American Airlines made its first flight to Japan, and today, the company offers daily service on its Boeing 777 aircraft to Japan from Chicago O’Hare International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, New York John F. Kennedy Airport and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.

The redesigned First and Business Class menus offer both traditional Japanese-style dishes as well as western fusion cuisine. Japanese American Airlines employees in the United States and Japan teamed up with chefs from Gate Gourmet International to design new menus that should appeal to travelers from both parts of the world. New menu items were first introduced on flights originating in Japan and traveling to the United States on September 1, 2006, and will be available to passengers flying from the United States to Japan starting November 1.

“Dining is a key part of the international travel experience and our focus on enhancing our international menus is part of an ongoing effort to provide products and services customers value,” said Lauri Curtis, Vice President-Onboard Service. “We are fortunate to have flight attendants who are experts at knowing what customers prefer and knowledgeable employees who helped us design culturally relevant menus.”

For passengers with a taste for traditional Japanese cuisine, the new menus feature a kobachi dish of rice wine-marinated calamari accented by wasabi mayonnaise, presented with flying fish roe on a bed of radish sprouts, red and yellow cherry tomatoes, and leaf lettuce. In addition AA will offer a hassun dish of grilled chicken topped with carrot paste, accompanied by cauliflower with seared dengaku miso, sweet-simmered herring, cod roe egg cake, and grilled shishito pepper filled with cream cheese. The menu will also feature traditional Japanese soups such as miso soup with wakame seaweed and tofu. Menus will be updated seasonally, beginning with the current autumn menu.

The Western-style menus feature cilantro chicken served with a summer noodle salad; fillet of beef with mango-chili demi-glace and bleu cheese potatoes; seafood risotto including shrimp and scallops served with roasted tomato risotto and a creamy goat cheese sauce; as well as a pork and shrimp noodle bowl with sautéed peppers and shitake mushrooms served on a bed of noodles with oyster sauce.

“Japan is part of American’s international network to key Asian business destinations including Delhi, India, and the recently launched Shanghai, China,” added Curtis. “Updating our premium class menus is just one of the important ways American is enhancing the travel experience for our customers making these long flights.”

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