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Address: Changi Airport Terminal 3, Singapore
Date of visit: 30 May 2008

I went to the spanking new Changi Airport Terminal 3 for the first time. It was certainly impressive. Big atrium. Walls with green foliage. High ceilings with well lit natural like lighting. Everything was well thought out and planned. Meticulous effort placed into ensuring things were where they should be. The works. The Singapore Way.

However, with the wow factor subsiding, there was a gradual realization that the place was very much a shell. There was no soul to the place. It was cold, calculating… dead. Things were clinical. A very well though out master plan with not much room for emotional input and expression. The Singapore Way.

It may be due to the fact that there were not many airlines operating from Terminal 3 or I had encountered a low peak period. I hope this place gets infused with life. I have always loved airports. It may be because it usually means that I get to leave this place for short periods of time for my holiday. A chance to get away and experience change. A way to experience cultures different from the Singapore Way.

I was not on a trip. It was another happy occasion - celebrating a friend’s belated birthday at Sakae Teppanyaki.

I have not had many chances to experience Teppanyaki. It was frankly quite exciting. Who wouldn’t be excited by the fine and dandy cutlery placed in preparation for our dinner…hur hur.

There were 5 of us. We had quickly made an assessment and gone for their Beef Set which seemed to be the most value for money. There was a dissenting view with a solitary person going for the Chicken Set instead.

Love it when there is clear effort placed in preparation of an impending dinner. It was especially satisfying when the meal preparer does the deed in full view of the patrons.

Our Beef Set started with the Chawanmushi prepared on the hot surface. Quite a feat as a friend of mine keeps mentioning to me his various failed attempts at preparing the dish in the comfort of his home.

The unique factor here was that they used some sort of onion bowl to contain the egg mix. Prawns and crab sticks are then ladled into the bowl to cook.

The novelty and presentation factor increased the score for this dish. Excellent.

The Sets all came with Salad. Tomato, lettuce, some gooey condiment or sauce.

On to the main courses. Oil was used liberally.

The smoke generated was removed through the ingenious use of a erm…”sucker” or air vent. This was located behind the grills in the picture. I found it intriguing.

The main course for the Chicken Set was done up first. There was Tofu, a full Oyster, Squid and of course the Chicken Meat. We hazarded a guess that the other items were added to increase the attractiveness of the set and thus justify its price of around S$19.

The chef, not sure if we could really call them chefs, then started cutting up the Squid. I wonder how much training these cooks get before they are sent to the front line. As a kid, I would probably aspire to be a Teppanyaki cook if I ever encountered one. You get to handle knives and cut things up. Not in a psycho way though. It would be rather horrifying if a Teppanyaki chef suddenly runs amok - suddenly jumping over the counter and pressing a patron’s face against the hot metal surface when the said patron had the temerity to ask for ketchup to go with his meat or something…

Maybe that was why we were all rather well behaved with our chef. No special requests whatsoever.

The Squid was done up with Garlic and some Dark Soy Sauce.

It was pretty well executed. The squid was not overcooked and had the right texture.

The next item in the repertoire that was our Beef Set was the Foie Gras. This was to me the highlight of the day.

To hell with the suffering of anonymous geese, this was gastronomical enjoyment at its peak. My lament was that we were only served with three paltry pieces of liver.

Our Beef quickly followed in turn. Not too bad either. Again, Garlic was the main seasoning used.

We thought that our dinner was concluded then. But the Chef then brought a whole load of Mushrooms to the table. As expected, Garlic figured in the preparation. No complains though as the mushrooms went very well with the by now familiar taste of the pungent spice.

The Chef also whipped out the Rock of Salt. The Salt was ground into the Mushroom. Erm…I am probably not conveying in text the excitement we had when we first saw the huge ass piece of salt. It was exciting. Although on hindsight, the reasoning now escapes me.

Total cost of dinner was around S$110++ for 4 Beef Sets and 1 Chicken Set and a healthy dose of garlic breath for the rest of the evening.

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