Pulkovo (34 pictures & videos)

10/10

Eugene Soukharnikov

France (CDG) to United States (STL), 21 Oct 2004

Economy Class

(Menu Card)
lunch - main - Mixed salad Shrimp with lemon boeuf bourguignonne with stewed carrots and potatos French President butter Brie Pastry Coffee, tea, mineral water, juices, soft drinks, beer, red wine, white wine (full bar service is unavailable, see notes)

decent red Bordeaux wine with the meal, beer (Baltika) during the flight

Pulkovo flights from Paris to St. Pete have better food than the meals served during flights from Russia’s Northern capital to the capital of France. The reason for that is that they get their food in Russia for Paris-bound flight but restock again in Paris for the return flight, and the French food, meal, catering company they use in Paris is excellent. The meal itself is a delicious experience. In the city of St. Petersburg you would actually have to go out to a French restaurant and pay good money to eat like that. In either case Pulkovo’s economy class food, either to or from Paris, is outstanding by today’s standards of intra European flights (although I must admit that Air France food and service is not worse, it is one of very few airlines that is actually a joy to dine with albeit like Lufthansa they recently started cutting corners and on some flights are using too much pasta and other kind not descript carbohydrate stuff). Beverage choice aboard is limited to soft drinks and semingly unlimited supply of wine and beer, but if you want hard liquor, cognac or whisk/e/y, you have to buy yourself a bottle or two from their duty free stocks (I guess the quantity depends on one’s thirst and finances although cognac both in Russia and on Pulkovo Paris flights costs fraction of what it costs on the ground in St. Petersburg). You can buy a small 0.25 l or a half liter bottle (if you can’t manage the real bigger thing). Although beer and wine are complimentary as are juices and soft drinks Pulkovo does not have full bar service in the economy class (on these flights); the cabin crew does not mind if you drink their duty free stocks empty and would even bring plastic cups. Very nice of them. On this daily St. Petersburg to Paris and Paris to St. Petersburg flight the cabin crew speak Russian and French, which is fantastic (not the hatefully generic “international” English, although in the unfortunate case if you understand neither of these great languages, that’s bad for you of course, flight attendants can also communicate in generic English). The cabin crew is attentive, friendly and take care of their passengers. 10 out of 10 considering the kind of food they serve, generous portions, friendliness and the fact that the flight is relatively short for this kind of inflight service.

Date added: 2008-05-21   //   Flight: 2:45   //   Aircraft: Tupolev Tu-154