Soba chicken noodle salad, cheese and chive crumpets with bacon, and corn fritters topped with a zesty relish are a few of the highlight dishes now available on Virgin Australia’s newly-refreshed business class menu.

Taking flight from today, the airline says this latest food and beverage offering is one of the biggest investments to the menu in five years, with economy class also seeing a much-needed expansion of 12 dishes on its buy-onboard menu.

In addition, travellers seated in economy can finally use digital payments including Apple Pay and Google Pay, meaning physical bank cards are no longer the sole way to buy.

Available on a rotating basis, the new business class breakfast menu includes:

• chia and coconut pudding with mixed berries, kiwi fruit and rhubarb
• frittata with crumbled feta, pumpkin and tomato relish
• bacon, egg, sausage, tomato with Turkish bread
• corn fritters with crumbled goat cheese and capsicum relish
• cheese and chive crumpet with bacon, scrambled egg and beans

Bacon and eggs with Turkish bread; granola with berries and yoghurt.

Later in the day, lunch and dinner spans:

• orzo and bean salad with yoghurt pesto with optional sliced chicken breast
• chicken bulgogi with aged rice and broccoli
• vegetable pasta with pesto with optional sliced chicken breast
• creamy butter chicken with aged rice and naan bread
• chickpea and vegetable tagine with couscous with optional pulled beef
• soy caramel karaage chicken with aged rice
• pumpkin gnocchi with creamy pesto with optional chorizo
• spinach and cheese pie with bean ragout
• soba noodle salad with chicken and teriyaki dressing
• sweet pork belly with aged rice and vegetables

Chicken soba noodles; sweet pork belly, rice and vegetables.

And to finish, sweet dessert treats such as:

• goat cheese with apricot and sumac amuse bouche
• mango coconut cake
• white chocolate and macadamia cake

Given the ever-evolving dietary requirements of passengers, all menu items in business class have vegetarian options, while some also span vegan and gluten free.

Paul Jones, Virgin Australia’s Chief Customer and Digital Officer, says the menu evolution is about more choice, while also playing into a wider investment in the onboard experience.

“We have also made it easier than ever for guests to pay for their inflight food and beverage when seated in Economy thanks to the introduction of digital wallets and Apple Pay which aligns to the world’s changing banking needs and our customer’s preference to pay using smart phone technology,” Jones explains.

Chia and coconut pudding with mixed berries; carrot and walnut slice.

In economy, options now include cheese and tomato toasties, chicken and sun-dried pesto wraps, and chicken salad sandwiches, while passengers on longer east-west or select international flights also have the option of pesto pasta and Penang chicken curry.

Virgin’s menu upgrade closely follows rival Qantas, which recently reinstated more substantial hot snacks and meals in economy passengers for flights of more than two hours.