What to eat: Book(ing) the Cook on Singapore Airlines
I tried as many meals as I could - good and bad - in order to create this list.
The Travel Sisterhood is made up of me, E, and W and like the moniker I came up for us, we enjoy travelling - preferably in luxury - (… and shopping. We coordinated silver bag days once, and W and I did a bag challenge where we brought in a different bag every single day). That said, in our one and only trip together: we flew Scoot (first row!). In our chat, we talk a lot about:
how we can maximise flying on Singapore Airlines
general travel conundrums (e.g. if I land at 9pm at Terminal 2, can I make my flight at 11.45pm at Terminal 3 despite having to wait for my luggage? - the answer is yes. Tbf this has happened to more than one of us)
cute design hotels that won’t bankrupt us
what to try on Book the Cook (BTC)
how much we drink on the plane… (not a lot. unless you’re WW, then…)
THINGS I LIKE
Unless otherwise stated, all dishes I’ve had are on flights departing Singapore.
Bibimbap
Available on BTC ex-SIN on most flights (I realised my upcoming flight to EWR does not offer this). This means it’s available on Book the Cook menu departing Singapore. This was introduced to me by S, my veggie friend, who I willingly travel with. Haha jk luv u. THIS IS A SOLID 8/10 FOR ME! BBB is one of those foods I suspect does really well on a plane and yes while you can get it in Asiana or Korean Airlines’ economy class, you’re eating it out of a glass bowl in Singapore Airlines’ business class, which makes it tastier. I like the entire bowl of veggies laced with sesame oil, and it feels both healthy and delicious but doesn’t quite taste boring-healthy. Texturally, it’s also a fun eat because they include konnyaku strips in the BBB. In case you haven’t realised (and for people who care): THIS IS A PURE VEGGIE MEAL. NO MEAT. Be careful with the gochujang, it packs a spice punch. Rice is good. Veggies are fresh: I would 100% order this again (and have done so now, twice). A solid hit from SQ.
Fishball Kway Teow Soup (fishball rice noodle soup)
I only got this cos W got it on her flight to LAX and it looked good from pictures sent to the Travel Sisterhood’s Whatsapp (I told you we care about what we eat on the plane). I hadn’t ordered this before because I think the SQ snack menu offers something similar, though now I’ve tried it, I can definitively conclude the kway teow is different as the BTC version uses fresh kway teow. Not only is the snack menu version not as nice as they use dried rice noods, the snack menu version doesn’t have quite as robust a broth. I generally prefer a broader noodle (think: fettuccine/ hor fun width) for my kway teow. The fishballs, fish cake and fish dumplings (yes they have her keow!!) hit a nostalgic spot for me - after he picked me from kindergarten each day, Dad and I would usually adjourn for fishball noodles. This is one of my most defining & enduring memories from my childhood. At pick up, somehow I’d always be able to pick out Dad super quickly: he stands out in the sea of Moms and helpers, being the only Dad at pick up (mind you, this was 1994/95) and I always felt super special as a result.
//end story. Man, now I’m craving fishball noods. Time to eat it with Dad this weekend. Anyway, this is a 7/10 for me. (+0.5 for nostalgia)
Lobster Thermidor
Ah, the classic Business Class dish. I always order Asian on Singapore Airlines because their Asian food is just (imo) way, way better than their western offerings. This applies in all classes, especially economy. The rule of thumb when flying is to always go for the national cuisine of the carrier you’re flying because it’s the least likely to be horrible. But I couldn’t not try this lobster thermidor, the classic J class dish. I know it’s divisive, but to me, it was delicious. What I loved was that it did not taste cheesy!!! The absolute highlight was the buttered veg that came with it. I reckon they should just get rid of the lobster and do the veg tbh, the lobster was slightly rubbery and nothing I would write home about - but I guess that really can’t be helped cos you’re on a plane. Bonus points for the potato dauphinoise that came with it. This is sinful, but you don’t feel like the calories are wasted. 7/10 - though I think masterchef would put eliminate this dish as the star ingredient of the dish was executed poorly.
Beach Road Prawn Mee
This was my go-to breakfast for the longest time on my London flights as I like soupy stuff for breakfast. I’ll forever associate it with my first business trip in May 2022. The best rendition of this dish was in May/June 2022 when they first introduced this, because the prawns were large and fresh: it’s been hits and misses since, especially with the quality of the prawns. What I enjoy about this dish is the mixed noodles: they use a mix of yellow noods (not a fan) and slightly thicker vermicelli (very much a fan). The broth is also rich enough and beats some of the prawn noodles I’ve had in hawker centres with their crappy, limp tasting broths. Most importantly, I always feel like I’m gonna have a good day after finishing this. 7.5/10, would be 8.5/10 if the prawns are always super fresh and they cut out the yellow noods.
Chicken Rice (but specifically the one out of London)
This is specifically the chicken rice that is available on BTC ex LHR (London Heathrow). This version is very, very good! I like it most, out of all the versions I’ve had on the plane, including the Boon Tong Kee (famous hawker in Singapore) version of the chicken rice which they served out of Singapore previously. Is it a crime that the one out of London is nicer than the one out of Singapore? I mean, just look at it, each grain of rice glistens. The chicken is tender, veggies aren’t that overcooked. A solid meal, and it holds its own with its counterparts on the ground, and the condiments are l-e-g-i-t. Leagues above most of the other BTC options on the menu out of London. 8/10!!
Singapore Carrot Cake (chai tow kway aka stir fried cubes of radish cake)
Yo whoever who ate this first and then told me to get it: thank you. THIS IS A revelation! My first experience with this was a greedy me where I ordered prawn noods AND carrot cake for breakfast on a London flight: the crew was kind enough to make it happen - I am disgusting but TBF I told them I didn’t want any of the pastry, bircher, cereal, yogurts that come along with breakfast. It’s also on the snack menu for slightly longer flights so I would recommend you don’t BTC it. (However if you’re on Premium Economy, I think it’s a solid choice because you’re defo guaranteed a good meal - yes this is available on PE). It’s the “white style” where the radish cake is fried in egg, creating almost like a egg-radish cake-pancake instead of the sweeter one where chunks of radish cake are stir fried with ribbons of egg in a dark molasses (my personal preference). But boy this was good! 7/10 if eaten with breakfast… never had it as a snack.
THINGS I REMEMBER EATING BUT WEREN’T THAT MEMORABLE
Dumpling Noodle Soup
This is an ex-LHR item and was my go to for breakfast on my LHR-SIN flights. I’m not a fan of the clumpy egg noodles: they do not reheat well, but a fan of the massive, almost golf ball sized dumplings! They do not match up to the finesse of Hong Kong wantons (at this size they’re really dumplings/水饺), but genuinely for catering out of Europe, it’s good. Just adjust expectations and treat it as a dumpling soup dish with noodles on the side, and you’ll be fine. 6/10.
Bak Chor Mee (dry & soup) (egg noodles with pork, braised mushroom and served with vinegary dark sauce (dry) or in a broth (soup)).
The two bak chor mees were’t bad, they were just not memorable. And I can’t help the completely unfair comparison to Hill Street Tai Hwa version whenever I get it, which results in me not picking it often… and it’s also massively unfair. The problem with dry noodles is that it clumps together quite bit so that makes for challenging eating. Taste wise, I don’t have any complaints. But this is middling for me.
There are two soup versions: one is the hawker special, the other, the SQ in house one. Guess what? The in house one is way, way better. The hawker version was too salty and I remember not liking it AT ALL and I could only managed a few mouthfuls (I AM SORRY FOR WASTING FOOD). I don’t recall specifics of the SQ in house version, but it was decent if memory serves, and I finished everything.
DEFINITELY AVOID
Ban Mee (handmade noodles in soup)
I’ve not seen this on the menu for a while, and perhaps for the better. Avoid at all costs. I’m a huge fan of Qiu Lian Ban Mian, but this is just not it. First, they went with the thinner u-mian (think spaghetti width flour noodles), but because the noods are made of flour, they were all soggy after reheating on the plane. Choosing noodles on a plane can be risky business because you never know what you’re gonna get. The soup, usually a signature of Qiu Lian and one of the reasons why I buy their ready made packs was also a let down; it was too salty. Anyway, this one is one that doesn’t fall under my rule of hawker food tastes better at 30,000ft. This one tastes better on the ground. This was a 2/10.
OTHER THINGS I REMEMBER LIKING (not Book the Cook)
Ok, so this final category is for foods that I had on the plane which aren’t necessary on the BTC menu, so ymmv.
Illy Guatemala Coffee + a shot of oatside oat milk on the side
This is my go to coffee order on the plane, and I always have it with breakfast. I’ve never tried the rest of the illy coffees because I never want to stray from this order, and I don’t drink more than one coffee at a go. I think this is available on all flights maybe except for shorter regional flights - I didn’t see it on the menu back from Hanoi. Really love how they have Oatside on the plane and how SQ is supporting a local brand.
For teas, I like having the TWG camomile + honey on the side or the TWG moroccan mint tea is a really nice nightcap (please remember to specify TWG). I also like the Silver Moon tea.
Roast Duck lai fun in soup
This is a dish I associate with Hong Kong because these noodles are rather special - I’ve never seen them in Singapore? That said, this is a really decent version and while I wish the duck was slightly less game-y, it was more of a nitpick more than anything. This was a solid meal, and something I really needed after 10 days of pasta, tacos, BBQ and non-Asian food generally. I had this one on my LAX-SIN flight.
Seafood Porridge/Congee!
I nearly forgot about this one but realised I uploaded a picture of it onto my laptop. TBH, congee is not my jam. I don’t love it - and never go out of my way to eat it, unless I’m at a dimsum, then yes. I ordered this because there was no noodle soup option - but wow, this was really delish. The fish slices were fresh and the congee had seafood flavour and wasn’t fishy at all. The you tiao (chinese cruellers) on the side were a nice touch. I finished everything. This is on the LAX-SIN flight.
Braised pork la mian
I woke up with 1.5h left on the LAX flight (yes this was a REALLY good flight food and sleep wise…) and I knew it would be at least 2h-3h before I got to eat anything so I ordered a snack. I did not expect it to taste this good! The braised pork was delicious - slightly fatty for my liking but it’s not a deal breaker - and the noodles were a Chinese version of linguine. Veggies weren’t overcooked and broth was good - there was lesser broth because… there was turbulence. If you’re a meat eater, I think this is worth a try.
And.. that’s it for now. I’m always looking for new things to try, so hit me up as to what I’m missing out. ALSO TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK OF THIS LIST - love it or hate it, we should taco bout it! I’m keen to hear what people think.
Also this has gotta be one of my longest posts to date, so if you finished reading my thoughts on aeroplane food, you truly are a fan. I am grateful you’re here!