Love it or hate it – airline food is always a strangely fascinating subject for travellers.
And that fact hasn’t been lost on Henry Wu, who has created an Instagram page dedicated to the meals that are served at 38,000 feet.
The premise of his page is simple – he invites fliers to send him pictures of their food, he posts them on the account and lets the public rate them out of 10.
This meal was snapped by @jlesmana72 in a Singapore Airlines business class cabin on a flight from Singapore to Shanghai. One comment on the post was: ‘Oh wow! This is really well presented. So elegant! An 8!’
In another snap by @jlesmana72, on the same Singapore Airlines flight, they were served a selection of chicken satay sticks. One follower rated the meal ‘9, if only for the satay’
Last month, this burger, left, was served to @w_anderson146 on a British Airways flight from London Heathrow to Cape Town. In the comments, ‘boricuaslc9+’ said: ‘Dang! Bonus for presentation and long haul.’ Most followers scored the meal between six and eight out of 10. Pictured right is a dish of meat and vegetables served on a first class flight from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to San Francisco aboard United Airlines. Scores on this meal ranged from five to 10 out of 10. It was taken by @charquant
This dessert of ice cream and Godiva chocolates served on board a Qatar Airways flight from Berlin to Doha in business class won universal praise. It was snapped by @karkus_k_punkt. It garnered many 10 out of 10 scores but some said it looked rather small
Henry, who used to live in Chicago but now ‘travels full time’, only started @airplanefoodselfie last June, but has so far posted more than 300 snaps.
The most popular image so far, with over 1,000 likes, was submitted by a pilot with Austrian Airlines showing a salad that he ate in the cockpit.
While other pictures that have garnered large numbers of likes include those of first class food on Singapore Airlines and an economy meal on Air India.
Henry told MailOnline Travel: ‘People seem to really like the idea of the @airplanefoodselfie account, maybe because it’s unique and people are curious.
In a picture taken two years ago, @troybe shared the image of the dinner he was served, left, in the business class cabin on a Virgin Australia flight from Sydney to Los Angeles. A common score was seven out of 10. In Japan Airlines’ international first class suite from San Francisco to Tokyo Haneda, @travelcharlie was presented with this appetiser, right, as part of a five course meal. Marks ranged from five to 10 out of 10
Marks on this Air India meal served in economy class from Jaipur to Mumbai ranged from one out of 10 to 10 out of 10. The picture was captured by German traveller @bernardoliontravel
The most liked post on the account is this picture on the left, which shows a salad served to pilot @pilotpauley, in the cockpit of an Austrian Airlines flight from Vienna to Cape Town. Several people rated it 10 out of 10. Pictured right is a picture by @becky.twombly showing what she was served on a Virgin Atlantic business class flight from Seattle to London Heathrow. It consisted of beef fillet with wild mushroom tortellini and paneer tikka masala. Several people rated it as looking 10 out of 10
Many followers scored this meal 10/10 after it was posted on the airlinefoodselfie account. The image was taken by @kuanchih in the business class cabin of a Qatar Airways flight from Doha to Helsinki
Many praised the presentation of this chocolate dessert that was served to @seizetheglobe while travelling business class on Qatar Airways from Doha to Boston. It scored several 10 out of 10s
‘A lot of other people probably also take pictures of airplane food when they travel like I do but never know what to do with them so I’m giving them a channel to showcase.
‘After a month of starting the account, people started sending me pictures of their airplane food and asking me to post them.
‘Now my inbox is filled with submissions, more than I have free time to post.’
Airline food is quite often criticised by passengers, who describe it as tasteless and bland.
A snap by @geocasual showing a sushi dish he was served on an Emirates flight from Dubai to Tokyo Narita while sitting in first class. Many remarked how unusual it is to be served sushi on a flight and scores ranged from seven to 10 out of 10
The same traveller from above also snapped a picture of his after-dinner coffee. It might just look like a normal cappuccino but the chocolate sprinkles make out the Emirates name in Arabic
This delicious-looking chocolate and toffee dessert, left, was served to @geeksaviation in the first class cabin of a British Airways flight from Heathrow to Mumbai. One commenter said: ‘This is a real wow! Stunning presentation. This is a 10!’ Pictured right is a bowl of ice cream served in real china in the first class cabin of an Etihad flight from Sydney to Abu Dhabi. It was taken by @pilotdispatch with many people scoring it nine out of 10
Another snap of the feast that @pilotdispatch was served on board an Etihad flight. One comment said: ‘This is how food needs to be served. If food is meticulously made it needs to be presented that way… with care. With style. Tens across the board!’
But as Henry explains, it’s a case of getting what you pay for.
He added: ‘I think most people only get to experience economy class food, which is usually not very good and can vary a lot from airline to airline, some is inedible and some is actually pretty good.
‘But international business or first class food (so I’ve heard, never flown international first personally, only business) is usually very good, probably better than your average meal on the ground. I guess you get what you pay for.
‘Unfortunately most people probably will never get to fly international first or business class.’
One commenter said that the tray gave away that this meal wasn’t served in first class. In fact it was served in the business class cabin of a Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong to Ben Gurion Airport in Israel. It was snapped by @myreality.lauraamy and a common score was seven out of 10
A breakfast of porridge, egg omelette, fruit and yoghurt that was given to first class passengers on a domestic Air Canada service from San Francisco to Montreal. The food, snapped by @minarella.ca, garnered scores ranging from one to seven. Several remarked that it looked basic for first class
In October, @alwayzflying snapped this picture of the food offering in economy class on a United Airlines service from London Heathrow to Los Angeles. A general score was seven out of 10
This meal served on Tibet Airlines in economy class between Chengdu and Shenzhen Bao’an International, both in China, reminded one follower of a school lunch tray. The image was taken by @rickyxu0510. Most of the marks were lower than five out of 10