Those living in and around the Malaysian capital can enjoy Southeast Asian dishes from the world’s best low-cost carrier in the comfort of their own homes.
Pak Nasser’s nasi lemak, a must-try aboard any AirAsia flight. (Photo: AirAsia)
If you’re in Kuala Lumpur and craving Pak Nasser’s nasi lemak from AirAsia’s inflight menu, why not have it delivered to your door from the airline’s own Santan Restaurant and T&CO Café?
Aside from the crowd-pleasing nasi lemak, other choices on the menu at Santan’s Mid Valley Megamall outlet include Uncle Chin’s chicken rice; Indonesian dishes such as gado-gado salad and AirAsia’s rendition of nasi padang, which contains spiced chicken, stir-fried cassava leaves, green chili sambal, and spicy anchovies; Filipino grilled chicken inasal with garlic rice; plus Thai-inflected delights like fried chicken with nam prik mayonnaise.
Santan delivers throughout the Klang Valley, and you can order directly via the restaurant’s website. Here’s how it works: first, calculate the delivery fare to your home, which is RM 6 for the first seven kilometers, with an additional RM 0.70 charged per kilometer thereafter. Then click the “order now” button and select the “takeaway” option. Once the order is placed, send your name, phone number, and address to 60/18-378-2274 through WhatsApp. Santan’s operating hours during Ramadan are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day; the last order must be made at 7:30 p.m. As delivery covers such a wide area, the average waiting time is 45 minutes. Alternatively, meals from Santan can be ordered on GrabFood and MrSpeedy.
AirAsia isn’t the only airline whose inflight food offerings are being sent to grounded would-be travelers. In the United States, low-cost carrier JetBlue’s snack packs (with three kinds of cheese, crackers, and dried cherries) can be procured through Imperfect Foods, a grocery delivery service that specializes in discounted produce deemed too “ugly” to sell in stores. So far, the platform has sold more than 40,000 of the JetBlue snack packs that would have otherwise gone to waste due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Similarly, airline-catering company The Flight Kitchen and Canada’s Air North are giving residents of Yellowknife, capital of the country’s Northwest Territories, the chance to enjoy freshly prepared takeout meals from a weekly-changing menu. Options range from Indian butter chicken and pad thai with chicken and tofu to ham and mushroom crêpe, but unlike at Santan, orders must be placed 24 hours in advance.
