Fly the (Foodie) Friendly Skies

On a recent trip from Hong Kong to Singapore, I was able to fly on the illustrious Singapore Airlines.  I had heard such awesome things about it - great safety ratings, unbelievable service, and good food.  Wait, what?  Good food in an airplane?

Um, yeah.

It bears mentioning that I was seated in plain old Economy class.  No business class, no extra legroom, no exit row.  No perks.  We were 100% in cattle car mode.

As we boarded and made ourselves comfortable, the staff walked up and down the aisles passing out warm, scented hand towels.  Not the disposable kind; real towels.

I sighed and settled back into my seat.

After we leveled off in the air, I could hear gentle questions from the aisle,

"Red or White?"

"Hello sir!  Red or White?"

My mouth started watering.  Sure enough, they were passing out complimentary wine.  And more warm hand towels.  I was waiting for the offer of a massage or perhaps a facial when a woman handed me this booklet:

You better believe I snuck this menu off the plane with me.  Hello, culinary souvenir.

It was a menu.  A menu booklet.  For Economy class.

The introduction says, (italics mine):

"Welcome aboard Singapore Airlines.

As you settle back to enjoy your flight, we are pleased to offer World Gourmet Cuisine, a sumptuous selection of dishes created under the guidance of our own chefs.

Using fine quality produce, the menu features authentic Asian flavours derived from traditional recipes, as well as Western cuisine with an inspired, modern touch.

To further delight the palate, complement your meat with a choice of fine red or white wines carefully selected by our esteemed Wine Consultants.

Bon appétit!"

Needless to say, I was in love.  This was a day flight, we had two lunch menus to choose from: International or Oriental selection.

Each meal had 4 courses:  appetizer, main course, light bites and dessert.  These were served alongside complimentary beverages (even the alcohol was complimentary).  They were served with real silverware on real dishes - no plastic, no saran wrap, no cold rolls hard enough to use in a baseball game.  This was the real deal!

A sample of one lunch menu option.

The Oriental Lunch consisted of the following:

Appetizer:     Asian slaw with roast duck and sesame dressing

Main Course:     Deep fried fish in sweet and sour sauce, seasonal vegetables and steamed rice

Light Bites:     Chinese snack

Dessert:     Ice Cream (Haagen Dazs)

From the Bakery:     Roll and Butter

Hot Beverages:     Chinese Tea

I'm not saying this is the best meal I've ever had.  But I am saying that it is a rare treat these days to get such quality food and service in the cattle car of an airplane.  The food was hot and flavorful; it didn't taste plastic or MSG-filled or, well, like it was being served at 35,000 feet.  The attention to quality and detail that Singapore Airlines put into their product was evident.  Now if I could just fly Emirates, or perhaps Korean Airlines.  For comparison purposes, of course.  :)