Tonight, my two worlds collide. As a food writer who also harbours a deep and intense affection for anything aviation-related, being one of the lucky few to dine aboard Restaurant A380 left me a squealing mess, to say the least.

I will never see the iconic gold and cobalt blue combination of SIA’s logo without feeling the familiar child-like awe stir up within. “This is me fulfilling your dreams,” lauds my editor-in-chief, who boldly and solely claims full credit of tonight’s affair. Well, consider my dreams fulfilled, I say.
Whenever people learn that I’m a journalist, they often ask me for my most memorable dining experiences. I think tonight’s Business Class Meal on literally my favourite Airbus aircraft will be one for the history books for a long, long time.
What I tried
I’ve never been ushered into a luxe sofa chair that looks like it could swallow me whole and told to expect some of the finest inflight meals in the history of airline fare before. But there’s a first time for everything. Tonight I’m taking the Business (S$321) meal by the horns, but if you’re feeling extra indulgent, the A380 Suites (S$642) welcome you with open arms. Economy goes at S$53.50, while Premium Economy is available at S$96.30.
As with all business and first class meals at Singapore Airlines, it always starts with the SIA Signature Satay, carefully plated atop exquisite Narumi tableware.
Having intentionally skipped lunch for this, and not because I woke up at two in the afternoon at all, I polish my plate clean almost the moment it’s gracefully placed on my makeshift table-turned-dining board. You don’t expect boisterous street food like satay to fare well on an ornate fine dining menu, but the crunchy, smoky morsels of surprisingly tender chicken paired brilliantly with blaring raw onion is an offer I cannot refuse.
I’m barely done savouring the last of my delicious peanut sauce like a savage when the Flaked Smoked Salmon slinks onto my table. I learn that raw food is forbidden on flights to meet hygiene and food safety standards, so curing is second best. The seaweed mayonnaise to pair is everything, but the mesclun lettuce and cherry tomatoes are supporting staff at best.
In hindsight, I regret forgoing the Pan Seared Prawns and Scallops on Saffron Broth for the Book The Cook Favourite Grilled Beef Fillet with Black Pepper Sauce, but life must go on. The beef fillet is as inspiring and juicy as, well, airplane steak gets, but my soft spot for black pepper sauce rescues me just this once. I’m usually the type to leave my greens right where they belong—the trash—but tonight’s snap peas, cauliflower, and soft, soft baby carrots offer much to be desired. Oh, and the truffled mashed potato is just divine.
Anyone who’s remotely met me on tastings will remember me as the slowest eater at the table, and I often retort by carefully and unhurriedly spooning the rest of the meal into my delicate, little mouth. That’ll teach you not to mess with the genius at work.
As a result of my slower-than-average eating pace, the Baked Cheesecake with Sable Crust, Cheese Platter, and Fruit Platter all come crashing in at once. By this point, I’ve sunken deeper into my Poltrona Frau full-grain leather seat—I’m not even sure how long and how many people it’ll take to get me out of here.
The cheesecake puts an epigrammatic end to the indulgent International Menu—with fresh mangoes keeping the dessert light as a feather and the roasted almond flakes that hug the perimeter of the cake providing an incredible bite.
Vera’s ‘Chef’s Kiss Award’
In what I’m going to deem as an audacious and baller move, tonight’s ‘Chef’s Kiss Award’ will not be handed out to any of the food items on the menu, no. Instead, I’ve reserved my unabashed, unreserved, and whole-hearted love for the restaurant venue itself—the super jumbo that I accept as my own version of the Queen of the Skies. Though many in the aviation industry seem to be split down in the middle when it comes to the A380, her sheer quad-engined beauty will never not leave me in awe.
Final thoughts
I think we can all agree that a plane-turned-restaurant is a much, much better idea compared to flights to nowhere. I was actually expecting the crew to rid the aircraft of its seats and replace them with actual dining tables and chairs, because having your dinner facing the back of a seat hardly seems charming, especially if you’re in economy.

Nonetheless, I understand the holistic flight experience that Singapore Airlines is attempting to recreate, and I validate it. For some, flying will never just be a means to an end. For some, flying is the fanfare itself; that sense of wonder and ecstasy when you’re 35,000 feet up in the air is second to none.
And for me, I will always hold the exhilaration of the aeronautical realm close to my heart. Oh, to feel so much for so many things, all at once.
Expected Damage: S$53.50 – S$642 per pax
Price: $ $ $
Our Rating: 4 / 5
Singapore Airlines
65 Airport Boulevard, Changi Airport, Terminal 3, Singapore 819663
Singapore Airlines
65 Airport Boulevard, Changi Airport, Terminal 3, Singapore 819663