In the morning flight to London Heathrow from Singapore, you’re presented with two options for the Book the Cook; breakfast and lunch. And in Suites, you get a slight variation to the Business Class options.

The options that I chose were the Kyo Kaseki and the Boston Lobster Thermidor. I chose the Kyo Kaseki because of the delicate flavours and tastes one can get a Kyo Kaseki (and I’m a sucker for anything Japanese) and picked the Thermidor because I was I curious to find out the difference between the business class Thermidor offering and this one.

My thoughts on the two are below, I hope you enjoy!

Note - For a bit of context, here’s two links of related reviews:

Review of the now ‘old’ Suites class is here!

Review of Book the Cook options can be found here!

★★★★★
Superb

★★★★☆
Great

★★★☆☆
Ordinary

★★☆☆☆
Disappointing

★☆☆☆☆
Horrible

Kyo Kaiseki

★★☆☆☆

From the website: "A traditional Japanese array of dishes presented in sequence, with ingredients and garnishes reflecting and changing with each season. Designed by Singapore Airlines International Culinary Panel Chef Yoshihiro Murata (inclusive of Breakfast service and available only on flights with duration of 2 hours or more; some items are served at cabin temperature)"

An exquisite Japanese multi-course lunch prepared by chefs on the absolute zenith of airline class - who could refuse this!?

Unfortunately, similar to other Japanese courses that I have tried on the Book the Cook, this also did not hit the mark. I believe that Japanese food just does not lend itself well to airline food; either because of the altitude/humidity in the plane (which dampens the ability to discern taste) or delicate Japanese cuisine is not compatible with the storage/preparation of airline food for safety issues.

Kaiseki is supposed to represent the freshest seasonal produce and prepared/presented in a way to maximise the taste and flavour. The food presented here just was not exciting or vibrant as what Japanese food can and should be. Generally speaking, as long as there is seafood, there should be a fresh burst of flavour of the sea but that was simply lacking here. The food was relatively bland, uninteresting, and lacked the ingenuity usually discovered in Kaiseki.

Given that Kaiseki, in its nature, changes all the time, your milage may vary but I certainly would not recommend trying it.

What ever this soup was, it was horrible

Boston Lobster Thermidor

★★★★☆

From the website: "A whole lobster sautéed in butter, flambéed in brandy, sprinkled with cheese, and served with creamy mushroom sauce, garlic and spicy mustard, and buttered asparagus"

The Boston Lobster Thermidor in Suites is very similar to the Business Class offering (which is not necessarily a bad thing), just slightly more refined. It is still paired with asparagus and saffron rice, but the main difference is the lobster which is slightly sweeter, succulent and tastier. Plus there’s more of it!

I still personally prefer the non-Singapore originated Lobster Thermidor as it is usually paired with potatoes instead of rice. However, that being said, this was a wonderful meal and you won’t regret having it.

Although, if you’re in a exploratory mode, and you’ve already tried the business class Thermidor, I would suggest trying something else due to the similarity to the business class offering.

On a side note, the starters and desserts are also wonderfully amped up, with the main highlight being caviar as a starter.