Kurimu, SYD Airport

Update Review, March 2024 Visit

In November 2023, I discovered the Kurimo popup at the PappaRich stand inside the Sydney International Airport, and frankly, I couldn't wait to go back (see below for my original review).  Yes, it meant *leaving* Sydney again, which I never want to do, but, I was eager to enjoy another one of their croissants.  I hoped the popup was still running.

I power walked to PappaRich the moment I got through border control and security.  I saw the signs showing the partnership with both Kurimo and Hokkaido Cheese Tarts and power sprinted forward.  

I was met with some disappointment however.  I was planning to try one of the charcoal flavors this time, or maybe the salted caramel or salted egg yolk filled ones, but ... none of those were anywhere to be seen.  The display case and signs no longer even showed them.  I saw plain croissants, savory sandwich versions, and a single mango and almond croissant (the same I had last time, that I enjoyed, but I was all prepared to try a new one!).  There *was* a sign for the salted egg yolk, but none were on the display.

I took a step towards the counter and asked, "is this all you have for sweet croissants today?", gesturing at the case.  The worker said yes.  I pushed more, asking about the salted egg one, given that it still had a sign there.  The worker told me they had a very busy day the previous day, and weren't able to prep any, a response that somewhat confused me, as I thought they were made off site by Kurimo?  I then asked specifically about the charcoal ones, which there was no evidence of ever having existed, and he seemed surprised, and said those just didn't sell well, so they stopped carrying them.  For reference, this stand opened in November, just days before my first visit, and it was only mid-February, and it is located inside the international terminal, so I don't think they necessarily expected to have repeat guests at that point.  So, my choices were a plain croissant, the sole mango one I had already tried, or a savory sandwich.  Sadness.

Mango & Almond.

So, I had the mango & almond again.  It was a big let down at first.  I think it may have actually been a day old?  It was nowhere near as good, when I ate it "fresh".

The croissant was not crispy.  It didn't seem to have as much buttery goodness as I remembered.  The mango cream filling was still great, thick, rich, good mango flavor, but I again wished it had more actual pieces of fresh mango.  At first, I thought this was a low ***, carried by the strength of the pudding, and the great crunch from the slivered almonds.

But I brought the rest home, scooped out the pudding, and heated it a bit in the toaster oven.  And suddenly ... it was entirely revived!  Crispy!  Buttery!  Exactly what I remembered.  I stuffed it with ice cream and fresh raspberries, and absolutely adored it.  So, perhaps that is my note to self: if not super fresh, these aren't stellar, but it doesn't take much to transform back into magic.  **** or even ****+ once I got it home.

Original Review, November 2023 Visit

When I was recently walking through the Sydney airport, one of the food stands caught my eye.  I'm not not normally drawn to the high priced and generally lackluster food options in airports, but, alongside the PappaRich was a popup, featuring Kurimu pastries.  It is the later that I was drawn towards.

 "KURIMU is a Melbourne-born, Japanese inspired pastry brand.  Our signature product is a choux pastry filled with creamy custard and topped with crunchy almonds. We’ve created a pastry to change the game."

I love baked goods and pastries in general, and some of these were quite eye catching.  In case you are wondering, Kurimu is Japanese for cream, and most (all?) of their pastries contain cream in some form.  They have a single store in Australia, but have several popups in different cities around the country.

Menu.

This popup was a triple collaboration between PappaRich, which was hosting them, plus both Hokkaido Baked Cheese Tarts (available in many flavors, which wasn't all that novel to me as they seem to have popups all over Sydney regularly) and Kurimu.  I'm not exactly sure who was responsible for the savory croissants, but they looked pretty lackluster, and were just basics like tuna, chicken, and egg salad or ham and cheese.

I went straight for the sweet croissants.

Golden Hour.

Kurimu provides very clear instructions that you should try to eat your treat within the 3 hour "golden hour", but if you must miss that time frame, they have an explicit technique to eat up at home, by simply turning on your toaster oven, heating the oven up, lining it with foil, and then adding your pastry *after* you turn it off, for just 45 seconds.  The idea is to crisp up the pastry, but not warm the cream filling, which, makes sense.

Signature Original Choux.

"Our sweet creation consists of a crunchy, almond flavoured choux pastry filled with a creamy custard, made from Australia’s finest ingredients. The result is an extremely delicious and addictive treat."

I'm not usually one for choux pastry, so I skipped their signature item, although when I saw it, it reminded me of the famous Croquantchou Zakuzaku I had in Tokyo.

Charcoal Salted Caramel.

My eyes were immediately drawn to the charcoal croissants, available in several varieties.  I was most tempted by the salted caramel, but when the server told me they didn't actually taste any different from the regular croissants, I moved on, because the regular croissants had more appealing fillings, and salted caramel isn't that unique.

Charcoal Strawberry.

Same with the strawberry, eye catching charcoal, but, if it wasn't going to taste any different, why bother?

Salted Egg.

I was very, very tempted by the salted egg regular croissant, as I adore salted egg things, but, it didn't actually look all that great.  I later saw online though that it should have had a salted egg lava filling, and definitely felt remorse at not purchasing this one.

Mango & Almond. $7.

I went with the cashier's recommendation of her favorite, the mango and almond.

It was a reasonable pastry, clearly considerably better than most airport choices, but, likely not nearly as good as when you get it fresh from one of the real popup shops.

The pastry was fairly flaky and messy, with shattered bits going everywhere.  Great rich buttery flavor.  It was slightly soft in a way that gave away the fact that it wasn't super fresh, but, certainly above average pastry.  I really liked the almond flakes coating it for crunch and flavor.

Inside was mango cream and a small amount of fresh mango bits.  The cream/pudding was quite fruity, strong mango flavor, and was thick and creamy.  I liked it, and think it would make for a decent standalone pudding dessert too.

Overall, I liked the pastry, appreciated the nuts, and enjoyed the filling.  More fresh mango, and a fresher, crispier pastry would certainly take it up a notch, but for an airport item, I was more than happy.  ****.

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Mochiko

I remember when I discovered Sushirrito.  I lived right near their first location, and attended a pre-opening.  I was hooked, instantly.  It was 2011, a bit before all the hybrid and fusion trends really hit, and I found the concept both exciting/novel *and* delicious.  Sushi.  Burritos.  Zomg.  I was thrilled to watch their success, as they opened more locations, tweaked the menu slightly (but kept my precious sumo crunch!), and flourished in the fast casual space.  I've been a loyal regular for years.

So when I heard the founders/owners of Sushirrito had a new concept in the works, Mochiko, I was definitely interested.  This time?  Mochi pizza.  The concept makes complete sense to me.  As you may know, I like to waffle nearly anything (that is, turn leftover things into waffles, not by adding batter, but by literally just putting into a waffle iron), and I've done that many times with leftover mochi to create a crispy waffle base (also, yes, I've even waffled leftover Sushirrito).  The pizza concept seemed much the same: crispy but chewy mochi base with some kind of sauce and toppings?  Why not!

"Asian-style pizza with a mochi crust made with our secret blend of rice flours that bake up chewy, crispy, and irresistible! Eat it while it's hot for the best experience."

Unlike most pizza places that often carry a lackluster gluten-free option, because the crust is made with rice flours, it is naturally gluten-free (although note that not all toppings are gluten-free).  The entire concept is built around it, so gluten-free diners are not getting a subpar experience.

The menu is fairly small right now, with only 4 options, none of which are vegetarian (but I think you can get plain cheese?).  No sides, no desserts, no special drinks (literally only boxed water).  I'd love to see them expand (once successful) to possibly include some sweet mochi pizzas, or even fuse the Sushiritto and Mochiko concepts, that is, offering the sumo crunch toppings on top of a mochi crust.  I'd love that.

I visited the pre-opening for their third location, in San Francisco.  The first opened in Burlingame last year, the second fairly recently in Palo Alto.  Currently sharing space with Sushiritto, but perhaps they'd separate if the concept takes off.  You order via a QR code or the website online, and it doesn't include mixing and matching from Sushiritto, which is a shame given that at least for now they are co-located - the Sushirrito lava nachos would make a great starter while you wait for your pizza to bake, and the Asian drinks seem like they'd pair just as well here.

Anyway, I think this concept has strong appeal, and I hope it takes off.

Pepperoni.

"Pepperoni, mozzarella cheese, tomato jam, fresh garlic chives."

The most familiar and approachable pizza is obviously the pepperoni.  While it does use tomato jam instead of classic tomato sauce, it is otherwise a "normal" pizza with flavors and components that Americans are used to.

I didn't try it, but I actually think it probably wouldn't be a great choice ... the mochi base really is quite different from standard pizza dough, I don't think those flavors would match all that well.  It did come nicely loaded with large pepperoni.

Chicken Curry.

"Fried chicken karaage, mozzarella cheese, corn, jalapeño, Japanese curry, fresh cilantro."

Next up was what I think is their most popular, the chicken curry.  If I liked chicken, I'd certainly go for this, as the components sounded really well thought out and like a great match for the mochi crust.  Basically, think of a Japanese style chicken karaage bowl normally served with rice and curry, and, uh, pizza-fy it.  The rice flavor to the crust and Japanese curry just make sense together, and I loved the idea of the jalapeño for some kick too.

Soy-Braised Beef.

"Soy-braised beef, mozzarella cheese, corn, roasted garlic kimchi sauce, cilantro."

Next is the one I wished in retrospect that I had picked, the soy braised beef.  Next time, I'd certainly try this one.  Corn, mozzarella, beef, and kimchi definitely are well known Korean inspired pairings (mmm, corn cheese!), and another one where the mochi rice flavor totally works, e.g. mirroring tteokbokki.  I don't love kimchi, and would prefer a gochujang based sauce, but, conceptually, this is another that just makes sense.

Spicy Pork.

"Spicy minced pork, mozzarella cheese, sesame spinach, romano cream sauce."

So, what did I pick?  I went for spicy pork.

Like all the pizzas, it has the mochi base, which I found fascinating.  It was very crispy, a slice was easy to pick up, no fork and knife required.  But it was also chewy as mochi should be, and a bit almost gooey inside (but not in an underbaked way).  The texture was great.  It did have a pretty strong mochi/rice flavor, it certainly wasn't pretending to be regular pizza crust.  If you've only had mochi in sweet items, this likely would be a revelation.  Yes, it works as a neutral or savory base too!  As a concept, this mochi base is a definite winner.  ****+ crust.

Spicy Pork.

The spicy pork comes with a rich romano cream sauce along with the mozzarella, which makes for a very cheesy and dairy heavy foundation, as both were quite generously applied.  The sauce was quite true to what it was, very creamy, very cheesy, but for me, it was just a bit too detracting from the lovely mochi crust.

The other toppings were good - I didn't necessarily taste the sesame in the spinach, but the minced pork was flavorful, and there was good spicing (definitely not too spicy).  These elements were both fairly lost against the heavier cream and cheese though.

Overall, I loved the concept, and liked the elements, but this isn't one I'd pick again.  ***.

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Singapore Airlines Lounge, Sydney Airport

Update Reviews, November 2023 and March 2024 Visits

November 2023

I entered the Singapore Airlines lounge at 11:28am, right as the staff were starting the swap over to lunch, and right as it was clearing out as a Singapore bound flight was boarding.  I managed to grab a few breakfast items before they were taken away.  The scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns, and dim sum were picked up right as I entered, which I didn't mind, as I didn't want any of them.

I returned later at 12:30pm to check out the lunch offerings, and found they were still setting those up.  Several of the hot dishes were missing, and desserts were nowhere to be found, just empty vessels, even at 1pm when I left.

Overall, the hits were the same as my past visits: loved the bircher muesli, liked the yogurt, adored the condiments for breakfast dishes, and found everything else fairly meh.

Bircher Muesli.

I made it before they took away the bircher muesli, literally, by about 30 seconds.  I was overjoyed, as I have really liked this muesli before, and both hotels I stayed at in Sydney had versions I didn't care all that much for.

It was exactly as I remembered - super creamy, a rather soupy style, and quite mushy, and I loved it.  Not too strong in anything like apple or coconut, I think milk based, not yogurt.  Very creamy, very comforting, and the best I had on my trip. ****.

Sweet Greek Yogurt with Mixed Berries.

I sampled the sweet Greek style yogurt too, it was fine, a smooth, runny style, not really what I think of as Greek yogurt.  Sweet, not tart.  Decent berry compote.  Fine, but not special in Australia, where I often love the yogurt.  ***+.

Coconut Yogurt (vegan).

The vegan coconut yogurt was very creamy and smooth too, and tasted strongly of coconut.  It made me want some fresh mango.  ***.

Salad Bar.

The salad bar is quite small, with just two pre-mixed green salads (garden, Greek), artichokes, olives, beet and pumpkin salad, and a trio of unlabeled dips and honey mustard dressing.

I did try all the dips, as I've loved some of them before, but these weren't really my style.  Basic hummus, tzatziki, and I think an eggplant one that wasn't particularly flavorful.  I had really enjoyed an orange dip (red pepper?) on a prior visit, and a pink one (beetroot?), so I was excited for these, but none really did it for me.  There was also no veggies to dunk in the dips, nor bread to spread them on, so not really sure what you were supposed to do with the dips.

Cheese / Dried Fruit / Fruit Salad.

Very basic cheese platter, and fruit salad with melon that I'm allergic to, so I avoid this region.

Miso Soup.

The soup of the day was miso.

Rice, Chicken.

Token chicken dish (roast thigh with peri peri) and rice came next.

Fried Rice / Noodles.

Two vegetarian carb dishes, fried rice or noodles were next.  I tried the noodles, and they weren't particularly flavorful.  The fresh bean sprouts on top were a nice crunch.

Vegetarian Curry.

The vegetarian main dish was a chickpea and eggplant curry, I think an Indian style curry, with a bit of an odd smell to it.  I also didn't see any eggplant in it.

Morrocan Baked Fish.

I did try the fish dish as it was brought out fresh at 12:30pm.   The fish was mushy, and I'm not sure what kind it was.  The sauce was flavorful, but I'm not too into the Morrocan flavors.  The veggies were either too crisp or too mushy.  Meh.  **. 

Garlic Bread / Condiments.

During breakfast this area has the breakfast pastries and incredible condiment lineup, but at lunch it had just ketchup, bbq, and indian chutney, plus garlic bread.

No Desserts.

There were still no desserts when I left at 1pm.  Given the other lackluster items you'd think I would not care, but, I had actually liked some of their little cakes before. :(

February 2024 Visit

Three months later, and I was back.  I arrived at 11:15am, when breakfast was still in full swing (although there was no dim sum this time and no space for it either ... I'm not sure if it had run out, or if they removed it.  It was always so popular!).  

Lunch switchover was slooow, and started at 11:30am.  It wasn't fully changed out until after 1pm, which normally is when I'm boarding my flight, but alas, delays due to weather gave me the "opportunity" to get the full spread.

Pastries.

11:15am meant for a fairly picked over pastry platter, but there was still croissants, banana bread, and a few assorted danishes.  They all looked generic buffet quality, and yet ...

I snagged the berry topped one that looked like a smushed kouign amann.  I actually somewhat liked it.  The pastry was soft and not crisp, and it certainly tasted full of preservatives, but, it had its charm.  The berry goo was sweet, pleasant, and had its place.  I'm not saying this was anything like a fresh bakery pastry, don't get me wrong, but, I enjoyed it for what it was, and would get another if in the mood.  ***+.

Muesli / Chia / Yogurt.

The same bircher muesli and berry yogurt were available, including some pre-made little pots of the berry yogurt, the bircher, and regular sweet yogurt (which wasn't available in bigger bowls).  There was also lychees, but nothing to serve them with, no spoon or tongs or anything.

I had both yogurts and muesli, and loved them as always.  The yogurt is just so creamy, so much better than US yogurt, and the bircher muesli was the best I had on my trip - not too acidic, not too sour, not filled with apple, etc.  It is a bit mushy and soft, but, I like it.  The plain yogurt pots were sweetened yogurt, not plain, but it was a lovely sweetness that reminded me a bit of white chocolate, not the usually cloying sweet "vanilla" flavor.

Muesli: ****, yogurt: ****.  I like them all equally.

Granola, Coconut Yogurt.

I skipped the granola and coconut yogurt, as they are good, but, I had my fill of the others.

Mixed Greens / Potato Salad/ Dips.

After the lunch switchover, this section was such a highlight for me.

Fairly fresh and crisp mixed greens, which made for a great base for sampling all sorts of other things. 

Potato salad: This was very good.  Nicely al dente potatoes, well dressed.  I really liked it, and would gladly get this at a deli anytime.  ****.

Dips: My favorite orange (red pepper?) dip was back, and I loved it just as much as previous times.  I still find it odd that there are no veggie sticks to dip in it, but, I love it nonetheless.  So creamy and flavorful. ****+.

Seaweed Salad Wasabi Pea Sesame Dressing.

This odd salad was fairly fascinating.  A cabbage slaw base, and many kinds of seaweed, and wasabi peas on top for crunch.  Good textures and flavors, unique.  It was a bit bitter though in a strange way. ***+.

Beef Pies.

I didn't try the beef pies, which I've seen there before.

Butter Chicken.

My office had relatively good Indian food daily, so I still had Indian food on the mind, and tried a bit of the butter chicken, even though I hadn't liked in the past.  It was not particularly good flavor, oily, and thin. * 

Thai Style Fried Rice.

Did not try.

Pork and Kimchi Stew.

Did not try. 

Sweet & Sour Fish.

I didn't try the fish (likely barramundi?), but did try the sauce.  It was pretty pedestrian, like you get from a can. *+.

Penne Boscaiola.

I was definitely drawn in by the pasta.  It was super creamy, and it looked great, but flavor was not very good.  Somehow not cheesy nor interesting, and it had a strange aftertaste.  Pasta cooked reasonably.  **+.

It was also my first time having boscaiola pasta, so, kudos to them for introducing me to it I guess (although the internet tells me it should have bacon, and this was vegetarian)? 

Desserts.

Since my flight was delayed, I was there to see the desserts again finally.  None were labelled, but I took the one that looked vaguely like it might have a cheesecake base, on the far left here.  The others looked to be brownies, two kinds of muffins, and an apple crumble slice.

Whatever my little cake was, it was very good.  The yellow/orange layer on top was a very fruity gel, I think mango, but perhaps passionfruit?  Great flavor, not fake tasting.  The body of the cake was a firm and smooth consistency, I think perhaps a white chocolate mousse?  It didn't really have the tang of a cheesecake as I had originally suspected it was, and it was snow white.  It too was enjoyable.  And then the crumble base, not a cardboard or grainy texture like so often is found on bars.  Again, enjoyable.  So what was it?  I'm still not sure.  I'll dub it a mango white chocolate mousse cake, and I'll dub it a successful one at that.  I'd gladly get another.  ****.

Gluten-Free Dessert: Apple Crumble Cake.

I also tried the gluten-free dessert, a crumble topped cake.  This was exactly the kind of dessert that gives gluten-free a bad reputation.  It was awful in all dimensions.

The texture of the cake itself was all wrong.  Strangely mushy and crumbly in a way that fell apart like sawdust.  The filling, equally bad, it looked like apple pie filling, but it was all mush and tasted like applesauce.  No actual bits of apple.  Even the crumble top had no hope, it wasn't crispy, and was complete mush too.

Horrible textures, bad flavors, just all around bad.  No redeeming qualities. No stars.

Update Review, March 2023 Visit

Another flight out of Sydney, another chance to swing through the Singapore Airlines lounge (after a visit to the Air New Zealand lounge next door of course).  I always stop at Air New Zealand first as I adore their breakfast yogurts, and they switch over from breakfast to mid-morning food choices at 10:30am on the dot.

Singapore Airlines very slowly switches over from breakfast to lunch, over the course of about an hour once their 12pm-ish flight takes off, whereas Air New Zealand does it in an instant (which, is pretty impressive, really).  This meant I was able to sample a few of the breakfast items, a few of the lunch items, and watch just how slooooooowly they do the change.  I left at 12:10pm, but they still hadn't brought out desserts.

Yogurt, Bircher Muesli, Granola.

I discovered the Singapore Airlines bircher muesli last time I was in the Sydney airport, and I'll admit, I was pretty thrilled to get a chance to have it again.  Yes, Air New Zealand has some great yogurt in the lounge next door, which I did get first, but, the Singapore bircher was so memorable.

I had high expectations going into this, and, well, they were met.  Truly just some of the best bircher muesli I've had.  My hotel had some in both the lounge and restaurant, but I find theirs a bit too acidic and tart (from both citrus and apple), and the Air New Zealand version was too spiced.  This was just right.  Yes, soft and mushy, but, that works for bircher muesli.  Nicely creamy, spiced but not too spiced, just, well, right.  It made me wish I was more hungry, but, I did have breakfast at the hotel,  and far too much yogurt parfaits next door at Air New Zealand, so I could only really do a small portion.  ****+, and worth a visit to the lounge, just for this.

Nasi Lamak Toppings.

I was pleased to see the toppings for the nasi lemak, with cucumber, egg omelet shreds, peanuts, fried anchovies, and sambal.  <3 fried anchovies and sambal.  It had been ages since I had decent sambal.  The fried anchovies were standard but good, nicely crispy, super savory.

Congee Toppings.

More great toppings were available for the congee, including fried shallots, sliced chiles, and fresh green onion, along with bbq and tomato sauce for the scrambled eggs.

Again I was pleased with the condiments, Singapore Airlines really does this well.

Yum Cha: Pork Sui mai, Scallop Dumplings.

The yum cha basket was empty the first two times I went through, but eventually was refilled.  Note that this goes away when they switch over to lunch, it is a breakfast only option.

The lineup was the same as before, pork sui mai and seafood dumplings.  They didn't look great, weren't very good my last visit, and honestly my hotel had pretty great dim sum items at both breakfast and evening canapes, but I still tried.  I was in the mood, but also, I think because the basket was empty the first two times, it made me have a sense of missing out, and thus, I wanted it even more.

The seafood dumplings were labelled "scallop" but they were certainly not scallop, rather, they were filled with pieces of cut up shrimp.  I think these were exactly the same as last time.  Again I found the filling pretty succulent and decent, and the wrappers just thick, gummy, and a bit odd, something just off about the texture, and they seemed ready to crack.  But the filling was nice.

The pork sui mai had actually great wrappers, a complete contrast to the dumplings, just like last time.  I really liked the flavor and texture of these wrappers.  The pork ball inside was fine.

On the side was soy sauce, sweet chili sauce, and hot sauce.

This not very good dim sum actually really did satisfy me.  ***.

Pastries.

The pastry lineup was just small croissants, pecan plaits, and banana bread.  After resisting these my last visit, I decided to try a pecan plait.  After all, some hotel breakfast buffets can do these reasonably well.

The pecan plait was slightly above average good enough hotel buffet quality, if that makes sense.   The kind of item you enjoy, and might even take again if you stay a few days, but wouldn't rave about or go out of your way for.  The pastry was crispy and lightly buttery, the filling sweet and gooey, small bits of pecan.  I suspect it would be glorious warmed up and topped with ice cream. ***+.

Lunch: Salads, Dips.

I eagerly awaited the lunch salad bar switchover, as I had loved the dips before.

Also in this area was a mixed greens salad, potato salad, squash salad, olives, and assorted pickles.

I tried a bite of the squash salad, it was nicely cooked.  I also tried the potato salad, which had peas, but that worked for me.  The potatoes were softer than I really like, and it had a bit too much mustard zing, but it was basically fine. ***. 

Dips.

The dip lineup was a bit different from my last visit, no vibrant pink beetroot one, but still had the orange one I liked before, along with an eggplant dip and yogurt based dip.

The dips were again all good.  The orange was my favorite, super creamy and smooth, I think red pepper based?  It made me want something yummy to dip into it, either veggies, interesting crackers, or chips.  The eggplant one was fairly standard babaganoush style, soft, decent smoky flavor.  The yogurt one was fine, good to pair with the others.

The dips made me happy.  ***+.

Chicken Curry.

I was in the lounge through 12:10pm, but most of the hot dishes were sloooooowly being switched from breakfast to lunch still.  Most were either empty or vacant entirely, but one, a chicken curry, was brought out.  I didn't try it.

Update Review, August 2022 Visit

After 2.5 years away, I finally got to return to Sydney!  While I was sad to leave, that of course meant I got to check out the airline lounges as I departed, to see what had changed (answer: not much, really). 

I started in the Air New Zealand lounge (update review here), but checked out the Singapore lounge as well.  I was able to see both the breakfast lineup (served until about 11am, later than the Air New Zealand lounge) and the lunchtime switchover (which was still happening around 11:15am.).

Breakfast (Pre-11:15am)

Congee & Toppings.

Kudos to Singapore Airlines for having great toppings.  I didn't have the congee, but was excited by the chiles and crispy onion to add to other things.

Scrambled Eggs & Sauce.

To go with scrambled eggs they had both tomato and bbq sauce, not something I've seen before.  Sometime, I must try bbq on my eggs ...

Baked Beans.

I didn't try the baked beans either.

Dim Sum.

The dim sum selection was not labelled, but there were two kinds, I guessed a prawn dumpling and a pork sui mai?

I lurked around hoping for a fresh basket, but no more were ever brought out in the 40 minutes I was there.  The dim sum is only available in the breakfast lineup, sadly.  I finally tried one of these clearly kinda old items.

The prawn dumpling had decent filling, juicy shrimp/prawn, but, the wrapper was pretty awful.  It was quite thick, and gloopy.  *** filling, but, ** overall.

The pork sui mai fared better - the wrapper was fine, and the filling was ... different.  It basically reminded me of a very dense sausage ball.  The seasoning didn't seem particularly asian.  But it wasn't bad. ***.

Sauces.

The sauce lineup here was great: sweet chili, soy, hot.  I again give them credit for having good accompaniments! 

Cheese / Charcuterie.

The breakfast cheese and charcuterie line was a rather sad selection.  A better cheese board comes out at lunch time.

Yogurt / Bircher Muesli / Fruit Salad.

I'm so glad I tried the bircher muesli!  I love bircher muesli, and this trip had been wrought with bircher muesli disappointment.  My hotel, which usually has decent bircher, had very lackluster muesli in both the executive lounge and restaurant.  The Air New Zealand lounge, which usually has good bircher muesli, did not that morning.

But Singapore Airlines delivered.  Last day, last stop in town, and I got my good bircher muesli.  It was creamy, slightly sweet, and just good flavor and texture all around.  Raisins in it for a bit of chew.  I went back for seconds.  I'd gladly have more of this.  ****.    

Pastries.

The pastries looked very low grade, so I did not try.

Bacon / Sausage.

I also didn't try the token breakfast meats.

Beverages

Drinks are all self-serve, other than espresso beverages, which are served by a staffed cart.

Wine Selection.

Not the time of day for it, but, for completeness, here is the self-serve wine lineup.

Juices / Beer.

The juices looked reasonably fancy.

Soft Drinks.

No soft drink machine, individual cans here.

Lunchtime (After 11:15am)

The buffet switches over to lunch mode I think right after the Singapore flight takes off.  It seems intentionally timed to be after the lounge basically empties out, somewhere around 11:15am.  They also switch over much more slowly than the Air New Zealand lounge (which is quite impressive in that htey somehow do it in just moments).

The lunchtime lineup is mostly a hot buffet, with curries and stir fries.  They also bring out a soup.

All Spices Beef Ragu with corn chips.

This was a bit fascinating looking, but, I wasn't ready for savory food like that, as I was still enjoying my bircher muesli high.

Yang Chow Fried Rice.

I'm not one for rice, so they quasi-fried rice also did not call out.

Butter Chicken.

I did try the butter chicken, as I had great butter chicken the day before, and really was excited for more.  This however was not great butter chicken.  It was sweet and tasted like tomato.  So much tomato.  Not good at all.  *.

Fish Curry.

If I wanted lunch, I certainly would have gone for the fish curry, but since I wasn't ready for lunch, I just tried the sauce.  It wasn't very good either, no spicing.  **.

Salads, Dips.

The salad station had a basic mixed green salad, a cous cous salad, and roasted beetroot one with walnuts and feta.  There was also a bunch of not labelled dips, but one was hummus, one looked like sundried tomatoes, and two others were salad dressings I think.

I tried the beetroot dip, and it was decent, although I don't love cooked beets.  The other dip, the orange one, I quite liked, but again, not quite sure what it was.  Sour cream or mayo based, definitely creamy, maybe red pepper?  I liked it on some crackers, but wished they had veggies to dunk too. ***.

Desserts.

Next to the barista, a dessert selection appeared.   Four options: dry looking nut brownies, red velvet cake, and two other cakes.  Again, nothing labelled, so hard to know exactly.  I tried the other two cakes.

The green cake I hoped would be pandan perhaps, layered with cream?  It turned out to be matcha, which was still a nice surprise.  Fairly moist cake, creamy filling, light matcha flavor.  Not bad. ***+.

The other cake I hoped was cheesecake, perhaps with a mango topping?  It was indeed cheesecake, thick, well set consistency, decent cream cheese flavor.  It was rich in the right ways.  The topping though I'm not quite sure what it was - it tasted vaguely like pears, but I think it really was supposed to be a mango gel?  Decent cheesecake.  ***+.

Original Review, 2020

When I visit the Sydney airport, I always head straight to the Air New Zealand lounge, as, well, I love it.  But my visits are always around 10:15am or so, and it is the Air New Zealand breakfast offerings, followed by the mid-morning tea time (switchover is at 10:30am), that I really adore.

This time, I was flying a different route, and my lounge time started at 12:30pm, well after morning tea and breakfast.  Or so I thought ...

I decided to start at the Singapore Airlines Silverkris lounge instead of the Air New Zealand lounge (I had access to both, and they are side by side), as I thought it would have better lunch food - which everyone backs up in online reviews.

However, when I arrived at 12:30pm, it was still ... mostly breakfast?  Lunch offerings were brought out around 12:45pm, and it was still being transitioned over when I left at 1pm.  The timing was ... odd.

Anyway, I tried a few hot food items from the lunch buffet, and really didn't care for anything.  I didn't get a chance to check out any sweets though, they hadn't been brought out yet by the time I departed

I was generally underwhelmed and still greatly prefer the Air New Zealand lounge.

Seating.

The lounge isn't very large, mostly arm chair seating as you see here, along with a few dining tables, and a bar along the window where I set up.

Coffee Machine.

Self-serve coffee (with to go cups, thank you!) came from a machine, although they also had a barista (new addition, people do recommend).

T2 Tea!

Major kudos for my favorite Australian tea: T2.

Bread & Toaster.

I saw this section out of the corner of my eye, and had no interest in it.  It was getting replaced around 1pm when I left, perhaps with snacks or desserts?  I wasn't able to stay to find out.

Yogurt, Muesli, Fruit.

The first thing I saw at the buffet was ... a yogurt station? I was so confused.  12:45pm and ... breakfast?

The lineup had granola, berry yogurt, lychees (!), mango puree, and bircher muesli, along with a mostly empty fruit platter.  

I applauded the lychees and mango puree, and couldn't resist trying the bircher muesli, as I adore bircher muesli, and didn't have any good muesli on my trip.

The bircher muesli was definitely good, creamy, not too sweet, not too sour, not too much apple, just, well balanced.  It had some nuts and fruit in it too. ***+.

I adored the mango puree.  ****.

Cheese, Fruit, Crackers.

The yogurt station turned into cheese and crackers at lunchtime.

Pastries.

The pastry lineup stayed for both morning and lunch service, and had a few danishes, twists, and sliced bread.

One danish looked like a kouign amann, so I eagerly grabbed one, but it turned out to just be ... a danish.  No caramelized crispy edges.  Not very fresh.  Filling was indeterminable.  Did not like. **.

Salad Bar-ish.

The salad bar was pretty meager, and I think might have changed out at the transition point to something else.  At 12:30pm however it had a rice noodle salad (?), shredded carrots, cherry tomatoes, olives, and peppers ... no greens for a base though, so not really "salad".  No dressing, but two unlabeled dips.

I actually really like the dips - the orange one seemed to be a roasted red pepper one perhaps, and the other ... I have no idea, just creamy.  Both were tasty, but what was I supposed to dip in them?  Olives?  I found myself dunking anything I could find in them just because I liked the dips so much. ***+.

Bacon, Sausage.

I was (originally) confused to find bacon and sausage at 12:30pm, and wasn't interested in them anyway.

Sauteed Mushroom with Spinach.

The veggie breakfast side also didn't look interesting.

Shakshouka with Bread.

Same with the egg entree, shakshouka, but I give points for not just powdered buffet scrambled eggs.

Yum Cha.

I was most excited for the yum cha (dim sum).

Sure, it is lounge quality, but, I know Singapore Airlines does a nice job with this in other lounges.  This is available in morning and afternoon.

The first two times I checked however, there was only one variety, even though the sign listed two kinds.  Finally I asked someone, and fresh items were brought out, both kinds. 

Yum Cha: Veggie Dumplings and Pork Shumai.

Unfortunately, it wasn't good.

The pork shumai were fairly dried out, and just hard balls of pork inside.  The veggie ones were worse, hard and slimy wrappers, mushy filling. **.

Soy sauce and sweet chili on the side didn't save them. 

Beehoon Noodles with Sliced Omelet.

The noodles were available when I arrived, and stayed through the transition to lunch.  I didn't try them, but many people seemed to be excited for them.

Macaroni & Cheese with Caramelized Onion & Crispy Bacon.

The mac and cheese was brought out right at 12:45pm, and I was excited.  It looked creamy and rich.  Plus, it promised caramelized onion and bacon!

Unfortunately, it was pretty blah.  It was creamy, and the pasta wasn't total mush, but, it also wasn't flavorful at all, I didn't taste any caramelized onion or bacon.

Kinda ... generic and not great mac and cheese.  (Side note: The Air New Zealand lounge had *fabulous* cheesy pasta - update review on that coming soon!). **+.

Basa Fish Fillets with Tangy Chili Sauce.

I was really happy to see a fish offering, particularly when it was put out fresh when I arrived, although, I should have known better.  I thought it was topped with crab or something, and eagerly took a big mouthful of what looked like shredded crab.

It was ... uh, fish mush?  I tried a more solid fillet as well, but it too was mushy.  

I appreciated the lemon slices, but, yeah, mushy and not good. **.

Hainanese Style Chicken Rice: Chicken.

 I know people love the classic chicken rice, but I didn't try it as I don't care for chicken.

Chicken Rice: Rice.

And I don't care for rice either.  So alas, this traditional dish was lost on me.

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