Singapore Airlines restores ‘Book the Cook’ from Frankfurt

Good news for those of you travelling on the upcoming Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) between Germany and Singapore. If you’re flying in First Class or Business Class on Singapore Airlines out of Frankfurt you’re now able to make a ‘Book the Cook’ meal selection before departure.

As most of our readers know, ‘Book the Cook’ allows you to choose from a more extensive list of dishes (in the past, up to 70 were on offer) compared to the regular inflight menu on offer.

It is normally available from selected departure points for those travelling in First Class, Business Class and Premium Economy Class.

Currently, due to COVID-19, it’s only possible to take advantage of ‘Book the Cook’ on flights in First Class and Business Class departing from:

Frankfurt is being readded to the list

Singapore Airlines confirmed to Mainly Miles that Frankfurt will be reinstated to the eligible ‘Book the Cook’ list of departure points from 7th September 2021, when the inaugural Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) flight departs the German city for Singapore.

“SIA will reinstate Book the Cook for our services out of Frankfurt, starting from 7 September 2021. SIA will also progressively reinstate Book the Cook on other services [originating] outside Singapore.”

SIA Spokesperson

The news comes in the same week Singapore Airlines also made First Class available on its Frankfurt – Singapore VTL flights, from the same date.

We’ve clarified that those flying on the SQ325 VTL flight or the SQ25 non-VTL flight from Frankfurt will be able to choose from a selection of dishes in advance, to be served as the main course of your inflight menu.

Munich – Singapore services will not gain a ‘Book the Cook’ option at this stage.

SQ325 – VTL

On SQ325, which departs Frankfurt at 10pm and arrives in Singapore the following afternoon at 4.25pm, supper is served after takeoff followed by dinner before landing in Singapore.

Here’s how the enhanced selection looks in First Class and Business Class, with the ‘Book the Cook’ menu allowing you to substitute your regular inflight main course selection for one or both meal services, with six additional options.

Frankfurt to Singapore
~
Book the Cook

Asian	Chicken in Massaman Curry Chicken in Thai massaman curry with vegetables and steamed rice
	Honey Glazed Duckling Honey-glazed duckling with vegetables and Chinese egg noodles
	Prawn Wanton Noodles Prawn wanton noodle soup with chye sim, pickled green chili, roasted onions and spring onions
Deliciously Wholesome	Wholesome Ballontine of Chicken with Farro Salad Farro and avocado salad with ballontine of chicken in red capsicum, lime and jalapeno dressing. This cold salad is packed with the good unsaturated fats from avocado and farro’s complex carbs contains magnesium that relieves muscle cramps and tension
	Wholesome Red Lentil Souffle with Farro Salad Farro and avocado Salad with red lentil souffle in red capsicum, lime and jalapeno dressing. Lentils are protein dense and avocado offers healthy unsaturated fatty acids. Inspired by Singapore Airlines International Culinary Panel Chef Alfred Portale
Western	Bavarian Style Pork Belly Served with savoy cabbage, roesti potato and beer sauce

Source: Singapore Airlines

You can make your ‘Book the Cook’ selection up to 24 hours prior to the departure time of your Singapore Airlines flight, via the Manage Booking portal.

Inflight menu

The regular inflight menu for the VTL flights has not yet been made available.

These are now uploaded to SIA’s new Digital Menu System eight days before departure (printed menus on board are a thing of the past), so we’ll get a look at these for VTL flights on 31st August (FRA-SIN) and 1st September (MUC-SIN).

What we can see so far is the Business Class selection for Frankfurt – Singapore passengers on SQ25 (non-VTL) in early September, which is likely to remain the same on SQ25 for the whole month.

Due to its timing, SQ25 offers a lunch followed by breakfast service, so it many not be very representative for the VTL flight (SQ325).

Nonetheless, here’s what is being served.

Singapore – Germany ‘Book the Cook’

‘Book the Cook’ is already available on Singapore – Germany flights, as it has been throughout the pandemic for First and Business Class departures from Changi, though a more restricted selection is currently on offer.

We have both First Class and Business Class redemptions coming up from Singapore and the following options are available as substitutes to the inflight menu main courses:

First Class

• Beef tenderloin with garlic mashed potatoes
• Chicken Rice
• Classic Lobster Thermidor
• Fish Congee
• Nasi Biryani
• Nasi Lemak
• Oven Roasted Corn Fed Chicken Breast
• Red Rice and Fish Porridge
• Singapore Laksa
• Singaporean Style Chicken Satay
• Grilled Chilean Seabass
• Spiced Buckwheat and Pumpkin Pancakes
• Warm Waffle with Strawberry Coulis

Business Class

• Beef Rendang
• Chicken Rice
• Grilled Beef Tenderloin
• Nasi Biryani
• Nasi Lemak
• Indian Style Braised Lamb Shank
• Oven Roasted Corn Fed Chicken Breast
• Peranakan Itek Siow
• Spiced Buckwheat and Pumpkin Pancakes
• Warm Waffle with Strawberry Coulis

This is just a selection of the options currently available, which depend on destination, flight duration and the meal service offered.

What about Munich – Singapore?

For those heading back to Singapore on VTL flights from Munich, it’s a slightly different matter.

Singapore Airlines confirmed to us that these flights will not offer a ‘Book the Cook’ option when the VTL launches, even though they did in both Business Class and Premium Economy, prior to COVID-19.

Presumably this is due to the limited VTL flight schedule of twice per week on the Munich – Singapore flights, with SQ331 only operating on Mondays and Wednesdays from 8th September 2021.

For those flying from Munich to Singapore on the VTL, we can probably already predict the inflight menus from the SQ327 service in early September, which has almost identical timings to SQ331.

Here’s how it looks:

It’s nice to see Singapore Airlines making considerable efforts to ensure the Germany – Singapore VTL is well received, with many customers having gone 18 months without overseas travel opportunities.

This week we’ve seen the airline reinstate First Class on the Frankfurt – Singapore route, and now we have confirmation it will bring back the popular ‘Book the Cook’ service out of Frankfurt too, making it only the third city on the network to benefit.

The selection is certainly less than we’ve seen in pre-COVID times (that goes for the flights and the food!), but we applaud the efforts to try and make the premium travel experience as close as possible to ‘normal times’.

The VTL will hopefully be expanded to include other two-way travel options in the months ahead, so if everything goes well we can expect a similar rollout of SIA’s most premium cabin products and service standards for other parts of the network.

Don’t miss our comprehensive article covering everything you need to know about the VTL, to help you decide if it’s worth the hassle for what might be your first overseas trip in some time.

(Cover Photo: Singapore Airlines)