Always have something you can order if you don't like what's being served. My go to was either Grilled Cheese, or Chicken Quesadilla ordered from the grill. If you are brave enough, you could order a "
Barney Clark" or a "
One-Eyed Jack"
How did it take until page 8 for someone to mention this?? Yes, O's pay for their food while receiving BAS, E's lose BAS. But O's can order the chicken-bacon quesadilla, or freshly grilled (maybe frozen but still grilled after ordering) burger if they don't like what's on the menu that day. And they eat on real plates with real silverware. Now, don't get me started on when they run out of real cheese and start using the "cheese food" slices on the quesadillas. Or when they run out of tapatio sauce.
On the leftovers side, I saw good and bad. Bad? After a steel beach lunch, putting all the leftover cooked burgers in a steamer and calling that dinner. Great? Following a ribeye dinner, getting ribeye stroganoff for lunch (or midrats).
Either way there was much bitching and moaning from the JOs on my main deployment on the Hot Carl, but overall the food was better than I expected, and as an O we had more options than the enlisted. Part of it is expectation management. And when I couldn't make a meal time, there was nothing stopping me from pilfering some cereal boxes or bags of cookies as a snack from the wardroom. The enlisted didn't have those options, and often times were waiting in lines stretching way out into the hangar bay for their food. Biggest complaints some had was that the downstairs wardroom often had better options. But nothing is stopping anyone from walking down a few flights of stairs before dinner, unless you happen to be wearing an LSO coat.
Can't comment on the small boys. Just that I heard they do some weird things like all eat at the same time, only when the captain is ready.