Air Fare

With almost 40 ‘grab and go’ food outlets and more on the way, Vancouver International Airport seems to have morphed into a downtown food court. As more airlines close their kitchens, other businesses open their doors – from airport concessions to upscale hotels – and most of their offerings are a heck of a lot better than airline food.

More and more people are demanding they take food on board (the flight from Kelowna to Hamilton on Westjet is 4 -5 hours with your choice of coffee or juice box). And gone are the days when a mad dash to check-in and a jump on the plane takes all of 45 minutes.  Due to added security and not knowing what time to arrive, passengers find themselves hanging around the terminal hours before take-off. What better way to pass the time than to eat and plan your carry-on meal.

The YVR, in conjunction with various food outlets, has just introduced their “food on the fly” campaign that recommends menus to take onboard. Here are some options we discovered, from a skimpy sandwich to soggy pizza to ‘sky’s the limit’ hotel fare.

Tucked away just a few paces before international security, Hanami Japanese Restaurant can customize a bento box to fit snugly on your lap. Owner David Mah says “the most popular items are discreet foods without a lot of odour such as sushi and gyoza. Passengers don’t want the cabin smelling pungent.”  A typical bento box  combo contains chicken teriyaki on rice, goyza, spinach goma-ae, California roll and miso soup, from $6.95. And if you missed the restaurant, Hanami Express has packaged sushi to go and assorted rice bowls located inside the security zone.

The Pacific Market Restaurant (under the CARA wing) has a “grab and go” program with Westjet: a sandwich, piece of fruit --make sure it has the “grown in BC sticker” otherwise customs may confiscate it—and a healthy dessert starting at $6.00. Similar a la carte items can be grabbed at Tango and Zip Air (Air Canada’s new entrant in the Western Canada low fare market).

Flying Wedge Pizza, Burger King and Milestone’s all have one thing in common: they don’t know how to keep hot food hot, and don’t ask your flight attendant to warm it up. What a bonus if they could find out how the US army does it (hot food, that is).

Downtown guests at the Metropolitan Hotel have discovered Senses Bakery for their trip home. All products are packed to go and they have several sandwiches, salads and desserts to choose from, including the legendary Stilton cheesecake. Ask for a few extra forks -- be prepared to share with fellow passengers.

At the Fairmont Vancouver Airport Hotel, located above the international terminal, Chef Ian Rennie can put together a delightful boxed lunch with 15 minutes notice for pick up at the front desk. Their little black box includes sushi, strawberries and melon on lemongrass spears, a granola bar and bottled water. For something more substantial, the “French Picnic” has a stacked Black Forest Ham and Brie on sourdough with a green salad, little French pastries and mineral water. They also have a fun-filled kiddy pack complete with crayons, colouring sheets and toy airplane, all bundled up in a Frisbee. Greg Van Riet, Director of Food and Beverage, says “we also offer everything from our ‘a la carte’ menu to go, popular with business executives and private jet setters from the south terminal”. Recently, three Russian businessmen spent $1,000 on air fare – that included a seafood platter with cracked lobster and prawns, foie gras and flatbreads, sliced duck with apple crackers and (of course) caviar. Guess sky is the limit…