Japanese airline serves vegan passenger banana and chopsticks as meal

Flying from Jakarta, Indonesia to Tokyo on Japan Airline's business class on Tuesday, vegan passenger Kris Chari was served a banana with chopsticks as part of the airline's in-flight vegan meal option.

Japan Airlines said in a statement that there were two meal services during the flight - a snack and light refreshment was served after take-off and the second was lunch. 

According to the airline's menu, the main snack on board the flight for non-vegans is seared tuna with Moroccan-style eggplant salad, two kinds of cheese, orange salsa and a baguette.

Chari was shocked after a flight attendant told him that the banana was a catered meal.

"Before take-off today my flight attendant confirmed that I ordered a vegan meal and that my breakfast was a banana, by which I mistakenly assumed she meant that breakfast included a banana," he wrote on FlyerTalk, an air travel forum. "When she served the banana after take-off, I thought it was just an underwhelming appetizer, but it was in fact the entire meal service."

"It's a bit insulting to be served a single banana while others are given a far more substantial and flavorful menu," Chari said in an interview with Insider. "It seems especially important given the growth in the number of vegans and vegetarians."

The second vegan meal he was served was spaghetti. The lunch that was served for everyone else on board was a cheese omelet, ratatouille and chicken sausage or grilled salmon, depending on whether or not the passenger ordered a Western-style meal or Japanese-style meal.

"We apologize for not being able to meet expectations," a Japan Airlines spokesperson told Insider. 

"It was a really good banana - one of the best I've had recently - but it still seems more appropriate as a snack," Chari wrote.

Choose your menu wisely

Before boarding the flight, many people take into consideration specialized menus for dietary restrictions or for kids' meals.

Japan Airlines has many different options available on its site for people to choose from. From baby food and kids' meals to allergens to religious dietary needs, they have a lot of it.

On their site, Japan Airlines' vegetarian vegan menu option shows an image of a menu sample with what looks like a full-course meal with bread, salads, rice, sorbet and more.