Japan Airlines to serve KFC on Christmas flights

Japan Airlines has teamed up with Kentucky Fried Chicken Japan to offer its international long-haul passengers what may be the best economy class meal available, in the form of two pieces of the Colonel’s finest. The collaboration has been named “AIR KENTUCKY” (JAL’s caps) and will see passengers offered a drumstick, a …

[Your alien overlord - fear me]

Adventurous?

Can we guess the nationality of the first twat who puts the boned chicken piece in the bread and bites down hard?

Paris - coz a. JAL fly there and b. she likes putting meat in her mouth according to a certain video I've seen

[LarsG]

Re: Adventurous?

Junk Food of the Sky's

Next it will be a reheated Big Mac and Fries with a Shake.

I remember when flying to the Far East meant proper cutlery, proper food, drinks when asked for and that was in economy. Now you get greasy American junk to be eaten with fingers that probably need a wash served in a cardboard box. When you get off at the other end all 200 passengers will reek of this greasy menu.

This is called progress.

[Chad H.]

Re: Adventurous?

Meantime Lars, flying is cheaper and more accessable than its ever ment to be.

Not saying I think that the flying experience itself is better these days - it clearly isn't - but in remvoing some of the superf;lous elements of flying, there have been benefits.

Besides, given the quality of your average economy meal these days, I'd consider a bucket of Kentucky a welcome upgade.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Adventurous?

Because flying is so much cheaper in real terms now it unsually entails having to sit next to a gaggle of drunken sweaty chavs who have no idea what social graces are.

Hence flying has become more expensive as I travel business class to avoid them.

The final straw was on a flight to the US when four in front of me and one to the side were arrested and taken off the plane when we landed. Believe me the 11 hour flight was made hell for everyone in the aircraft.

[James Micallef]

Re: Adventurous?

"I remember when flying to the Far East meant ....."

Turkish Airlines and BA have both fairls recently provided me with a not-too-expensive intercontinental flight that included proper* cutlery, proper food, and (alcoholic) drinks when asked for.

*proper in the sense of made out of metal. Unfortunately due to security theater they're rather blunt and unfit for purpose, but that's not the fault of cost-cutting. In fact it probably costs the airlines MORE to have blunt knives and un-pointy forks made especially

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Adventurous?

I thought the article said it was boneless?

Invertebrate Chickens.

[Corinne]

Re: Adventurous?

@Sir Wiggum - 2 pieces, one boneless one drumstick

[peyton?]

Re: Adventurous?

KFC at Christmas is a (modern) Japanese tradition.

Not Burger King. Not McDonald's. Just KFC.

Seeing as how they are some of the longest-lived people on the planet, KFC once a year probably doesn't kill.

[Anonymous Coward]

No doubt KFC regard this as quite a feather in their cap. Anyone game to try this? Come on, don't be chicken. (If you're wondering why I'm egging you on, it's because I can't resist a fowl yolk.)

OK, I'll just grab my coat. Let the down votes begin.

[BrownishMonstr]

Not sure why you wanted my down vote, but I'm not feeling kind today so I'll take my right not to vote.

[Whyfore]

It just looks so pathetic

I think I could get through five portions that size before describing it as "lunch"

[ElNumbre]

Small? Or Far Away?

I was wondering if it was supposed to be KFQ - Kentucky Fried Quail.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Small? Or Far Away?

It's a meal for asians. Everyone knows they're half the size of us westerners, so I guess so are their portions?

[Lamont Cranston]

Re: It just looks so pathetic

5 servings of KFC? No thanks. 1 is already 1 too many.

[Zaphod.Beeblebrox]

Re: It just looks so pathetic

And here I thought airline food couldn't get much worse.

[motoh]

This KFC thing in Japan is real.

And it is scary. You have to order your buckets in advance.

[I ain't Spartacus]

Re: This KFC thing in Japan is real.

Is it just me, or does anyone else find the idea of food bought by the bucket disturbing?

I am not a horse!

No indeed. Neigh, neigh and thrice neigh...

[Code Monkey]

Re: This KFC thing in Japan is real.

Agreed. KFC is bad, airline food is bad.

Doubleplusungood.

[Quxy]

Too bad, really...

...as JAL's usual meals are a notch above what you find these days on US or European carriers. And while I agree that the chicken in the KFCs here is better than in the States, I've never understood the widespread popularity of ケンタッキー. But the article is right about Christmas time: already, the life-size statue of the Colonel outside every one of Japan's KFCs is dressed as Santa Claus, in a jolly red-and-white suit and hat.

[Beachrider]

ケンタッキー·フライド·チキン is decent food, but the menu is too complex...

At KFC, you can get broiled chicken, their sweet-fried chicken or elaborately fried chicken. Its flavor is well above McDonald's or BK. They just have problems serving it quickly, because their overall sales process+menu is waaaay too complex.

As to a bunch of Londoners ragging on foreign restaurants; my experiences in London were that low-priced native food has an international reputation for being nothing special (find London's Italian, French, Spanish, German food instead). KFC sells well in London. (It is the only English town that I have spent any time in).

[Anonymous Coward]

Does anyone else remember Bodie Chicken?

As the chicken-suit-dressed performance artist and pianist Bodie Chicken used to sing back in the early 1970s, "Remember: a family bucket doesn't feed a family – it contains one."

[Winkypop]

Stink-o-rama?

I've sat next to a family eating take-away McDonalds on a plane.

The reek was unbelievable.

Even worse than the nastiest airline food.

Even Indian Airlines.

Don't encourage them.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Stink-o-rama?

Ewww I can't stand McDonalds.. sitting next to a family stuffing their faces with McDonalds on a plane would be Cruel & Unusual Punishment for sure...

McDonalds just smells rank no matter how fresh it is...

I always wonder how they became so popular when their rival actually has burgers that taste of meat not cardboard.. and the crazy thing is a small burger van usually has much nicer food at a better price than a McDonalds!

[LinkOfHyrule]

Will the low cost airlines start offering a similar thing but with one of those knock-off KFCs you get in rough parts of town such as KinkyFriedChicken or E.Koli Fried Chicken or whatever they are called?

[Big O]

We briefly had a Kirkstall Fried Chicken, the signage oddly had small letters for everything but K, F and C. How weird!

[Chris Miller]

KFC is sold as KFC everywhere in the world (that they operate), even in France - with one exception. I was in Montreal for a conference with some French colleagues and they found it hilarious to see PFK - Poulet Frit Kentucky. But Québec is the province that brought you 'Chiens Chauds', so no surprise really.

[Graham Marsden]

Down here we have Ken's Fried Chicken which makes me even less inclined to sample its wares than the KFC near the gym I go to.

Oh and that KFC wafts the smell of grease and fat through the air, presumably to make people think "Gosh, I'm hungry, I could really do with some Chicken Marinated With Salt, Sodium Phosphate, and Monosodium Glutamate. Seasoned With: Maltodextrin, Salt, Bleached Wheat Flour, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean and Cottonseed Oil, Monosodium Glutamate, Spice, Palm Oil, Natural Flavor, Garlic Powder, Soy Sauce (Soybean, Wheat, Salt), Chicken Fat, Chicken Broth, Autolyzed Yeast Extract, Extractives of Turmeric, Dehydrated Carrot, Onion Powder, and Not More Than 2% Each of Calcium Silicate and Silicon Dioxide Added As Anticaking Agents"!

[Code Monkey]

I've seen a Karrachi Fried Chicken and a Krazy Fried Chicken

[Alister]

@ Graham Marsden,

You're going to try and tell us that you didn't know the ingredients list off by heart, aren't you?

[Havin_it]

There was a Taki Fried Chicken in Rabat (Morocco), complete with pencil-moustached shifty-looking chef in place of the Colonel. Decided against it, likewise with the nearby King Burger...

[Anonymous Coward]

Let me know when they serve...

Kentucky Fried Blowfish

[Stefan 6]

Christmas in Japan rocks ...

Gotta love the Japanese way of celebrating it. A bit disappointed though that they don't turn the VIP-seats into mini-love-hotels for the flight guests - afterall it's not a real traditional Japanese Christmas without a visit to a love hotel.

[The Axe]

Re: Christmas in Japan rocks ...

The Japanese do everything weirdly (to us western eyes). Going to a KFC is a Japanese tradition at Christmas akin to us British going to see our relatives on Boxing day.

[Barry Rueger]

Depressing

... that my first reactions was "Hey - that sound WAY better than any airplane meal I've had in the last decade!

Addendum #1: Then again, those were mostly Air Canada flights.

Addendum #2: Interestingly, in Kentucky no-one eats KFC - they eat Lee's Famous, which is much better.

Addendum #3: next time you're in or near a KFC, try to find the word "fried" anywhere in the store.

[mad_dr]

Re: Depressing

The only thing worse than the 'food' served by Air Canada is the unbelievably rude and miserable flight attendants who throw it down in front of you.

[Anonymous C0ward]

Re: Depressing

Aren't Canadians supposed to be nice?

[Anonymous Coward]

It looks like two pieces of lemon chicken served with a sponge!!

But I do like a visit to the Colonel's every now and then.....

Linux penguin, because he's gonna have some relatives on those flights!!

[Silverburn]

Re: It looks like two pieces of lemon chicken served with a sponge!!

It looks like that because that's what it is. And be grateful...the reality is probably much, much worse...

[I ain't Spartacus]

Re: It looks like two pieces of lemon chicken served with a sponge!!

Hmmmm. I've got an idea for a new chain. Falklands Fried Penguin.

It's the new chain of Falkland fast food restaurants to beat any blockade, with plenty of Omega 3 (given all the fish they eat). What's not to like? Cute logo/mascot, would annoy Argentina if it went global, and there are millions of penguins, I'm sure they could spare a few...

Obviously all Linux fans would eat there. So they've got a market.

[sometimes I worry about the ideas that pop out of my brain when I'm not concentrating]

[JeffyPooh]

Christmas Day 1994 did not exist and nobody even noticed

Once upon a time (Cristmas Eve 1994), I was sitting on a JAL flight (Chicago to Narita). As I take an interest in such things, I was plotting our approximate location based on dead reckoning (the days before GPS maps were available on the Inflight Entertainment System). To a first approximation, we crossed the International Date Line shortly after 0000 local time. In other words, it was 24, 25, 26 December 1994 in fairly quick succession.

Christmas Day 1994 was only minutes in duration for us.

Based on the complete and utter non-reaction of the dozing crew and snoozing passengers, I don't think anyone else even noticed that it was Christmas Day, let alone that our 25 December 1994 lasted mere minutes in local time.

PS: Very cute Flight Attendants on JAL.

[AndrueC]

Sounds like a fowl meal :)

[archengel46]

It's time like this....

Thai I lose faith in humanity's ability to survive...

[cosymart]

Off the list

Well that's JAL off my list.

[Dom 3]

Re: Off the list

They will continue to offer "Western or Japanese" to the passengers. The Westerners will choose the Japanese food, and vice versa. Japanese food seems to suffer less from altitude than Western. Don't write it off.

[Anonymous Custard]

Because nothing says Christmas like a KFC "meal"?

“as a sandwich by sandwiching the fresh lettuce leaves and fragrant fillet in the bread, and topping it off with special mayonnaise.

I'm not sure what's more off-putting, the "fragrant fillet" (ie smells like it was cooked 3 days ago and then left in someones pocket), the "special mayonnaise" (bringing to mind cheesy 80s porn) or just the whole idea of an inescapable airline cabin reeking of the whole lot.

Like others have said, I can recall flying on JAL and enjoying the nice Japanese food that they served (albeit both the portion size and indeed the seat size were of oriental scale, but they did the job). I guess it's part of the sad trend that the modern younger Japanese just want to be Americans...

[DM101]

Re: Because nothing says Christmas like a KFC "meal"?

Actually, in Japan, nothing does say Christmas like KFC.

I lived there for years and couldn't believe my first Christmas eve when the nearest KFC had a queue round the block for people who had pre-ordered a pile of lard for their family. Has been that way since the early 80s was the answer I got to incredulously asking what the ducking ruck they were all doing in line.

KFC have managed to take over the family Christmas dinner in Japan with brilliant marketing. It is either that or an incredibly expensive date-night where you are obliged to take your squeeze to some restaurant that has octupled their prices for the Christmas menu.

[thomas k.]

tastes like chicken ...

well, sort of.

[teapot9999]

good grief

That makes even Virgin Atlantic economy food look appetising!

Apart from the 'breakfast' of an oat cereal bar and a mouthful or orange juice.

[Slim]

Really?

"and topping it off with special mayonnaise" any excuse to join the Mile High Club.

[Neil Brown]

"topping it off with special mayonnaise"

You'd get tossed off the plane for less than that...

[Slim]

Re: "topping it off with special mayonnaise"

I'd hope to be tossed off IN the plane for the sort of prices airlines charge lately.

[Jamie Kitson]

"the best economy class meal available"

Is that a joke?

[disgruntled yank]

Oh, dear

Colonel Sanders was sued by KFC for describing its product as a damned fried doughball wrapped around a bit of overcooked chicken.

[peyton?]

Re: Oh, dear

He and his wife also opened a restaurant in Shelbyville, Kentucky. It was charmingly referred to "The Colonel's Lady". Well, until KFC sued them. Then the name was changed a bit.

It was pretty good food back in the day (and still beats the pants off KFC today).

[Anonymous Coward]

That should make people sick

What a mess after people consume that crap...

[Anonymous Coward]

A more apt abbreviation for the product

CTFC - Call that fucking chicken ?

[Christian Berger]

KFC used to be popular in Germany, in the 1990s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIPc6kba51s

[John H Woods]

Was it ISIHAC ...

... where I heard, in a round called something like "Questions, that if they had been asked, would have changed the course of history", someone said:

Colonel Sanders: "Now, be honest, you guys will tell me if this tastes like shit, won't you?"

[Anonymous Coward]

The bucket will come in handy...

...for taking a dump after that chicken hits your stomach.