Staff Canteen, Changi Airport - Bargain Basement

Trust me, it tastes a lot better than it looks

We landed in Singapore on our way through to Australia, and found ourselves with 8 hours to kill before our next leg of economy insomnia.

With heavy rain pouring down outside the airport, we needed somewhere to camp out and relax. The usual international fast food suspects were all there, standing by, but we were in Singapore, where an awful lot of good Asian food lives, so we needed something a bit more interesting.

After a very honest chat about our preference for real food, with a friendly lady at the Airport Information Desk, we were directed to the Staff Canteen, discreetly located just outside the airport exit, around a corner and down some stairs.

It took a while to find, but when we finally arrived at the canteen, we were presented with a sprawling underground lunch room full of tables, chairs and various airline and airport employees busily enjoying their meals. Tiny take away places crammed next to each other along one wall added a lot of colour, sound and steam to the whole scene, and gave us a big number of things to choose from. There were places serving everything from Japanese soups and sushi, to American themed places serving burgers and chips. Everything was made to order, and everything was cheap. Super cheap. There were two prices for everything; one for airport staff and another price for non-staff.

After browsing the mind-bending array of options available, we settled on a couple of Laksas from a Malaysian spot. Laksa is one of our all time favourite foods, so we couldn't justify getting anything else. Thick egg noodles and bean sprouts, boiled up and dropped into a steaming bowl of curried coconut broth, tofu chunks and salty clams... how could anyone resist something like that? An extra dollop of chilli paste and the dish was ready to be devoured.

Nice clams.

Laksa is one of those dishes which hit every bit of your taste buds. There is sweetness from the coconut milk, as well as plenty of saltiness from the clams. There is heat from chilli, and a mildness from the bean sprouts. The sprouts also bring a lot of fresh crunch, while the noodles carry the dish with a heavy smoothness. Laksa is everything I want from a meal, all poured into a single, sloppy bowl.

This particular laksa had a milder broth, but the thick chunks of tofu had soaked up plenty of flavour which made up for that shortcoming. The yellow egg noodles were not as thick and gnarly as they could have been if they were freshly made. Because of that, the dish didnt feel quite as thick as it should have. On the very bright side, there were at least a dozen little clams buried amongst the slippery noodle pile. Chomping down on them was like placing a large piece of rock salt on your tongue, which kept my taste buds on their toes.

This was our pick of the bunch. I can recommend it.

RECOMMENDED

There were so many other dishes we would have liked to try, but sadly we were only around long enough to justify one meal in Singapore this time around. I gladly  recommend that anyone who finds themselves stranded in Changi Airport for a few hours should take a look at this underground treasure trove of taste, since no matter what your preference or budget, you can be sure to find something here to tickle your fancy.

The bill (for 2):
1 x Large Laksa - SGD$4.00
1 x Regular Laksa - SGD$3.50
TOTAL: SGD$7.50 (Approx. US$6)

Restaurant address: Staff Canteen, Changi Airport, Singapore.

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