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Singapore Airlines may be suffering its worst losses since being listed; it may have cut the salary of its CEO by 20%; staff are feeling the heat; pilots are put on long leave; but the pampering of its premium passengers is untouched. After all premium passengers still account for almost $4.65 billion in revenues for the carrier which translates to 40%.
The carrier won Skytrax’s best first class award this year along with best airline and best international first class by OAG.
SQ spends over $8 million annually on second growth Bordeaux wines and Dom Perignon and Krug Grand Cuvee champagne which it offers its first class and Suites passengers. Business class passengers sip Piper-Heidseick Brut Réserve champagne.
The carrier won Skytrax’s best first class award this year along with best international first class by OAG.
Apart from the elaborate menu which features Petrossian Inc. white sturgeon caviar, Singapore Airlines has a meal offering called Book The Cook.
Suites, first and business class passengers can order their main course in advance. Insider tip — in case you find something more appealing in the regular in-flight menu, the ever accommodating crew will happily oblige your change.
For children in the two to eleven year age group, travelling in Suites, First and Business Class, Singapore Airlines offers a similar advance selection option called Yummy! which offers kiddie goodies like burgers, spaghetti and meatballs, fried rice, fish fingers, macaroni and cheese, omelettes, lasagne, etc. The full menu of options is here.
During my very frequent travels with Singapore Airlines, I found that many passengers who were not frequent flyers with the airline, non-regular did not know of this Book The Cook offering. So I decided to write this article with the intent of helping them enjoy the full premium experience with the airline.
Incidentally, Singapore Airlines also has one of the largest variety of special meals (medical, child/infant, religious, etc.) I have seen in all my four million miles of travels. It is one of the few airlines which offers a no-carb meal, ideal for the Atkins diet followers.
Book The Cook entrées vary from various origin stations. Just as a sample to whet your appetite:
Business (Raffles) Class ex-Singapore
- 6 oz. U.S. rib-eye steak with creamy green peppercorn sauce, roasted vegetables, and garlic-mashed potatoes (just remind the crew to cook it medium rare, otherwise you might get a very rubbery piece of meat)
- Oven-roasted corn fed chicken breast, tarragon jus, and creamy polenta
- Pan-seared Chilean bass with bouillabaisse sauce, capsicum confit, and kalamata olive potato
- Pappardelle with chicken and sun-dried tomatoes
- Roast lamb chops with mint jus, mesclun salad, and thyme-flavoured gratin potatoes
- Roasted vegetables with avocado mesclun salad on roasted potatoes, in a truffle oil vinaigrette
- Seared salmon escalope on a warm potato and snake bean salad
- Slipper lobster Thermidor, buttered asparagus, and slow-roasted vine-ripened tomato, and saffron rice
- Wild mushroom and chorizo risotto in natural jus with arugula
- Braised soya-flavoured duck with yam rice
- Chicken curry Peranakan style with bread rolls
- Nasi biryani
- Nasi lemak
- Singapore Chicken Rice
- Japanese Gyu-Don
- Thai fish soufflé and spicy minced chicken served with pineapple rice and curried vegetables
- Thai green curry fish balls stuffed with prawns, served with pork in a sweet and spicy sauce
Suites and first class ex-London
- Fillet of brill in girolles sauce with almond-broccoli and buttered tagliatelle
- Fried fillet of monkfish with baked beetroot and horseradish butter, potato and celeriac mash
- Lobster Thermidor with buttered asparagus, slow-roasted vine-ripened tomato, and saffron rice
- Roast breast of guinea fowl stuffed with stilton cheese in port wine sauce and potato-turnip mash
- Roast corn fed chicken breast marinated in rosemary-garlic and lemon with braised savoy cabbage
- Roast fillet of lamb on lentils with vegetable stew and creamy gratin potatoes
- Cantonese roast duck with vegetables and steamed rice
- Chicken Teriyaki with Japanese vegetables and steamed rice
- Selection of sushi with pickled ginger and condiments
- Singapore Chicken Rice
First class ex-JFK
- Grilled shrimps and scallops in tarragon mustard sauce with leeks, carrots, and linguini
- Lobster Thermidor with buttered asparagus, slow-roasted vine-ripened tomato, and saffron rice
- Pan-fried chicken in green peppercorn sauce, squash, and creamy mashed potatoes
- Pecan crusted veal with red onion marmalade and candied sweet potatoes
- Roast Long Island duck with natural jus, roasted vegetables, and red-skin potatoes
- Roasted sea bass with wilted spinach and glazed crab-mashed potatoes
- Roast rack of lamb with natural jus, roasted vegetables, and creamy garlic mash
- Baked Chilean bass in Oriental XO sauce with mixed vegetables and fried rice
- Braised short-ribs of beef in Chinese wine and 5-spice with mixed vegetables and egg noodles
- Stir-fried chicken in Chinese wine with seasonal vegetables and chicken flavoured rice
Hainanese chicken rice on Singapore Airlines Book the cook special pre-order service.
The full menu of Book The Cook is here.
Hope you enjoy. My particular favourites reflecting my years in Texas and Singapore — the rib eye steak and the Singapore chicken rice. Remember to mix the chilli, garlic and soy sauce together before dipping the chicken in it, just like native Singaporeans do it.
Bon voyage and bon appetit.
Images courtesy Singapore Airlines
