For the current Turkish Airlines menu by cabin, see our Turkish Airlines menu guide.
Intro
I flew Turkish Airlines economy from Paris to Singapore via Istanbul in April 2022 to check whether their food reputation actually held up. Do&Co caters Turkish where possible, and the two legs of the journey were very different indeed (a short hop to Istanbul and an 11 hour flight to Singapore). The food style was consistent across both legs, with just a couple of things to note.
Paris to Istanbul
On a 2hr 35min flight Turkish served a full hot meal (beef kofte or pasta). I had the beef kofte with rice and vegetables, a side of peas in yoghurt sauce and a chocolate mousse. The kofte was good, had flavour and the portion was quite large and was quite sufficient to keep me full for the length of the flight. Tasty and the right amount.
One issue: our water and part of the side dish had arrived completely frozen solid. Not great, but you know it happens. The rest of the tray was complete with metal cutlery and a drinks list that had fresh juice and alcohol. You don’t often get a full hot tray with metal cutlery on a flight of this length.
Istanbul to Singapore
The 11 hour flight had two full meal services with snacks in the galley in between. The first had either chicken or a vegetarian option and the presentation was better than on the European leg with a much bigger tray. I had the chicken which came with a good portion of smooth potato mash and vegetables, a hummus side, a fresh garden salad with some olive oil to drizzle over and of course the chocolate mousse again. The mash was the real winner in terms of comfort food and it held up very well when reheated.
Menu repetition is the standard complaint from the frequent flyer about Turkish and the mousse appearing twice on one trip is a perfect example of why. I’m not put off by it at all. I’d rather an airline perfect a few dishes than just go through a series of forgettable ones.
Breakfast was just before we landed in Singapore and was by far the best meal of the trip. Fluffy scrambled eggs on toast with a roasting of tomato, a side of cheese and olives and yoghurt with cherries. Scrambled eggs are notoriously difficult to get right once you’ve reheated them and Do&Co know how to cook eggs that work at altitude. Some of the best I’ve had on a flight.
What Readers Said
When I posted this trip on Instagram, most comments agreed that Turkish has some of the best economy food in the world. One person attributed it to the full meals on the short hauls, which is precisely what I found on the Paris sector. Another said the food was excellent, but the service was poor (a point worth bearing in mind). On my flights, the food was definitely the highlight.
Conclusion
Turkish and Do&Co both fed us well on the two sectors. Full hot meal with metal cutlery on the sub-3-hour flight, two full services on the 11-hour leg and a breakfast with some of the best eggs I’ve had in the air. The only letdown was the frozen water and side dish on the Paris tray. You’ll see the same dishes more than once and the chocolate mousse was on both flights. That’s the thing that annoys the frequent flyer more than the occasional traveller, and they are dishes you’d quite like to see again. If food matters when you’re booking economy, Turkish is definitely the way to go.