Fancy dining on a roast rack of lamb, a multi-course Japanese kyo kaiseki or the perennial favourite of lobster thermidor on your next flight?
Seasoned Singapore Airlines travellers can do just that, thanks to the popular ‘Book the Cook’ menu which sees over 50 dishes available for pre-order, depending on your flight.
Book the hanakoireki set on selected flights to and from Japan
You can also order special dietary meals or reserve something from the standard onboard menu online. Here’s how it’s done.
Singapore Airline’s ‘Book the Cook’: exploring the menu
The menu options vary depending on where you’re flying from – naturally, flights from the home-base of Singapore will have the most variety. It’s a full restaurant–style menu offering, different to the selection of dietary meals typically offered on other airlines (which Singapore Airlines does as well).
From Australia, ‘Book the Cook’ is available from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Canberra and Adelaide in premium economy, business class and first class/suites where offered. A full list of ‘Book the Cook’ destinations and menus, including detailed descriptions, can be seen here.
From Australia, business class guests can tuck into delights such as Tasmanian salmon in wild butter sauce, grilled beef in green pepper sauce, or the local favourite Singaporean chicken rice.
Book the beef fillet with green peppercorn sauce
First class passengers can indulge in more options, such as veal mignon in red wine sauce or the curry patta lobster for something different – cooked with spiced spinach and corn, tomato pulao, and served with papadum, pickle and plain yogurt.
Singapore Airline’s ‘Book the Cook’: reserving your choice
‘Book the Cook’ tends to come online roughly six months before your flight, and you can choose at will until 24 hours before departure. The menu options will differ depending on your route and what time the flight is – breakfast flights tend to have a more limited menu.
To check what’s available, head to the Singapore Airlines website and access your booking.
Under the ‘Passengers’ tabs, you’ll see what meals are listed for the flight. If ‘Book the Cook’ is available, then there’s a ‘Select / Change’ button which you can click.
This brings you to three options. ‘Book the Cook’ will show up for eligible bookings in premium classes, while ‘Special Meals’ is where any passenger can choose a dietary preference.
The inflight menu is also available for viewing one month before departure, and if you fancy something on that instead, you can now pre-order from it to avoid missing out on your first choice onboard.
Whatever your choice, the process is the same. Choose which menu you’d like and then take your pick of the options presented, which you can sort by cuisine or search by keywords.
Once everything’s locked in, you’ll get an email summarising your meal choices. Of course, you’re welcome to keep on changing them up to 24 hours before the flight.
What's your go-to pick off Singapore Airlines' 'Book the Cook' or inflight menus?
Based in Perth, Brandon enjoys tucking into local delicacies, discovering new cocktails, and making aeroplane food look good on camera.
23 Feb 2015
Total posts 260
Sq beef fillet one of my all time favourites
09 Oct 2017
Total posts 6
Can I "book the cook" if using a Velocity redemption flight in J ?
10 Jul 2018
Total posts 104
Hi Rabtab, yes you most certainly can. Just make sure you get the SQ booking reference from the VA itinerary (or give Velocity a call).
25 Sep 2011
Total posts 16
I had the most disappointing flight with Singapore Airlines and my experience of 'book the cook'. I booked breakfast and as I saw people receiving their meals figured mine would be out soon. I continued to wait patiently and still nothing so I enquired. They had completed forgotten about my meal even though they acknowledged they had it listed. I received an apology and a voucher to spend on the in flight duty free (that has to be spent then). I wrote to them after the flight and although they acknowledged my email there was nothing further.
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