Few weeks ago, bloggers were invited to announce a couple of wonderful things from, Air Asia Zest. If you’re a bit confused by the brand, it’s because this is a recent alliance that holds a lot of promises for wanderlusts, including myself of course, out there.
Young people behind Air Asia Zest, the bloggers busy taking photos before the program starts, and a real flight attendant at our service for the night!
Well the good news is… Zest Air is now flying with AirAsia, The World’s Best Low Cost Airline! And AirAsia Zest Chairman Mikee Romero is excited to tell us exactly what this new brand represents, “With our alliance, we are well positioned to offer our guests the strength of our combined network of domestic and international routes and unrivalled daily low fares, proving a world class travel experience that every Filipino deserves.”
Unrivaled low fares + world class travel experience- get that, fellow traveler!!! But how does that exactly happen at Air Asia Zest?
#1 on the list is that they have the best airfares! A flight I booked to Kota Kinabalu last year, which was kinda spur of the moment, cost me only about 5,000 pesos. No other airline was able to beat that fare, specially that I was already booking too late in the game. Just recently, I checked again and costs vary according to travel dates. But I did see something as low as 3,000++ pesos. A real treat para sa mga mahilig magtipid or backpacking style like me. 
Speaking of backpackers, Fly-Thru programs (for some fee, of course) are also available from this low cost airline. Basically, it’s the process of conveniently transferring from one flight to another without the hassle of going through immigration processing, and of having to collect your baggage when you are taking 2 different flights to get to your final destination and stopping over at a transit station. I personally like this program cause low cost fares usually don’t offer something this convenient.
Then there’s also the Hi-Flyer upgrade if you want greater convenience for a reasonable fee also. See this link–> “What’s a Hi-Flyer?” if you want to know more about this flexi-fare program. Itinerary-wise, these things enlighten me about why it is said to be the world’s low cost airline.
But aside from that, what’s stellar about AirAsia Zest is its SUPER WINNER inflight menu! Actually, I remember boarding the plane last year and seeing my seatmate eat a fresh and hot packaged meal from the airline. Ang naisip ko talaga that time was, “Wow, bakit ang sarap naman ng plane food nya???” Well, that was last year and the news is that it got even better!
Basically, AirAsia Zest has about 5 hot meals, some sandwiches, and yummy desserts you can choose from when boarding from the Philippines. Later in this post I will be sharing about my experience of those hot, sweet, and filling dishes. But for now, let me just say some interesting facts about having a meal (or two- literally!) on board AirAsia Zest.
One is that AirAsia Zest now allows you to pre-book your meals at airasia.com. You can do that while booking for your seats or via Manage My Booking. And para sa mga taong kumakanta ng “JUST CAN’T GET ENOUGH,” you can ACTUALLY have up to 2 meals per flight. Hahahaha!
The second thing is, you can get 15% discount and free 100mL water for pre-booked meals. Chief Marketing Officer Jonathan Yabut said at our event that this is an incentive for all flyers to go for the pre-booked meals, so AirAsia Zest can make it sure that we get the service and attention we deserve.
So say goodbye to plane food or flights with no food at all, haha! When on board Air Asia Zest, do expect something like gumo-gourmet na hot meals for your food kahit na low cost ang airfare mo! (That’s what we ate at the bloggers event, which you’ll see at the end of this post!)
With this I thank Air Asia Zest for making changes to the way we’ve been doing “air time” in this country. Truly, greater flying options will surely open us up more to the world.
For more about where Air Asia Zest is flying to and fro, as well as the awesome inlfight menu, see info, photos and my commentary below!
AirAsia Zest Destination
Manila Hub
NAIA Terminal 4
NAIA Terminal 3 (Incheon, South Korea and Shanghai, China)
Fly from / to Manila
Domestic
Cebu
Davao
Kalibo
Tagbilaran
Cagayan De Oro
Puerto Princesa
International
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
Miri, Malaysia
Incheon, South Korea
Shanghai, China
Macau, China
Cebu Hub
Mactan Cebu International Airport
Fly from / to Cebu
Domestic
Manila
Davao
Cagayan De Oro
Puerto Princesa
International
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Now, on to the food!
AirAsia Café Inflight Menu
HotMeals
Chicken Adobo ala Mariles
Made from chicken breast, cooked in vinegar, soy sauce, bay leaves and peppercorns.
This hotmeal is gluten-free and does not contain nuts, eggs, seafood and dairy. Sells for 200 pesos.
Maan’s Pasta Arrabiata
Penne Pasta cooked in spicy sauce, tomatoes, olives and herbs. Let us repeat, this is a bit spicy, which is how I like my pasta, so I enjoyed it!
Sells for 200 pesos.
Korean Beef Stew and Chicken Rice!
Pak Nasser’s Nasi Lemak
Hands down, Malaysia’s signature dish was everyone’s favorite!!! Medyo maanghang lang, just the way Malaysians like it. So watch out if you’re not into spicy food kasi baka mauhaw ka ng bongga sa plane! Nevertheless, it was a winner dish for me- this rice cooked in coconut milk with Chicken Rendang and Sambal.
This meal also includes anchovies, peanut, and to finish it off, a half hard boiled egg.
This hotmeal is gluten free and do not include seafood and dairy, and sells for 200 pesos.
Uncle Chin’s Chicken Rice
Singapore’s signature dish naman. And siguro ma-chicken lang ako kaya this is the second dish I liked the most! It is actually rice cooked in chicken stock and topped with Heinanese Roasted Chicken.
This hotmeal is gluten free and do not include eggs, seafood and dairy, and sells for 200 pesos.
Adobong-adoba ba?
Beef Caldereta
One of Philippines’ finest cuisine that consists of beef, cooked in tomato sauce and paste, a blend of garlic and bell peppers, onions and peppercorns.
This hotmeal is gluten-free and does not contain nuts, eggs, seafood and dairy, and sells for 200 pesos.
Junior’s Korean Beef Stew
It’s braised beef flank in sweet soya and asian sauce, and this is my third most favorite dish. Although hindi ako ma-beef, I loved the softness and also the sweetness of it.
This hotmeal is gluten-free and do not contain eggs, seafood and dairy. Sells for 200 pesos.
Talk about HOT. Spicy Arrabiata and Nasi Lemak.
AND ALL MEALS ARE ONLY 168 PESOS IF YOU PRE-BOOK ONLINE!!!
The Joy of Desserts
Cinnamon Breadsticks, Choco Banana Pound are my faves, but for some, they loved the Chocolate Chip Cookies and Fudgy Brownie Bar!
The food even inspired me to take very nice shots, which got some of us winning on their Instagram contest for the night, yahoo!!! San kaya kami pupunta ni Philip Bo next year??? Hmmm….
Sandwiches
Too bad, no more space in our timmies to try out sandwiches, hahaha! Nevertheless, here are your choices! All of them sound awesome, and perhaps they even taste better!
Chicken Caesar Sandwich
Roasted Chicken with
Sundried Tomato Sandwich
One big happy picture of super busog bloggers!!! Busog from the meals, pati narin sa prizes from the games! Thanks Air Asia Zest!!!
Air Asia Active claims to be the airline which is most active on social networking sites. Why don’t you give it a try? Here are their links:
Like AirAsia Philippines Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/AirAsiaPhilippines
Follow AirAsiaPH on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AirAsiaPH