Bino

This year marks eight years since Finnair launched the Singapore – Helsinki route (AY132) and the airline is launching a new summer menu for this occasion, one that is crafted in consultation with award-winning chef Tommy Myllymäki.

The new menu will be made available from 6th June to 5th September and showcases Nordic cuisine. Think: seafood, wholesome light bites, mushrooms and onions.

Chef Tommy Myllymäki, has been a Finnair Signature Chef since 2017. Myllymäki has been nominated chef of the year in Sweden, is the creative director for five Stockholm restaurants and has represented Sweden with great success in the prestigious Bocuse d’Or competition. He lives in Sweden but both of his parents are Finnish.

I recently attended the preview of this new menu, with fond memories of my time exploring the Nordic countries a couple of years ago. I remember thoroughly enjoying the fresh fish back then and this new menu reflects the emphasis on seafood.

The dish created by Chef Tommy will be served on the Finnair flights as a starter course. Specifically, that’s the salmon tartar, served with marinated mushrooms, fresh trout roe and sprinkled with fried onion. During the preview, we got an added treat with some fried rice paper served alongside the tartar.

Alongside this dish, mains of pan-seared perch with chilli-lemongrass sauce, bok choy in Balinese sauce and rice with sweet potatoes; and braised beef cheek with red wine sauce and mashed potatoes with truffle, carrots and pearl onions will be served. Kikorangi blue cheese and Brie will accompany the courses, and a choice between ice cream, petit fours or fresh fruits are offered as dessert options. While I did not get to try the perch, I got to try Baked Cod instead – another common dish in the Nordics – which had an almost melt-in-your mouth quality to it. The asparagus that came on the side was especially crunchy.

I personally have not been on a Finnair flight before (you can read my other business class flight reviews here) but blueberry juice is apparently one of the specialties, I suppose that’s because no other airline serves this in their regular beverage line-up. As an ode to that, we had blueberry pie for dessert. 

Finnair has one flight daily (AY132) departing from Singapore at 11:25PM and arriving at Helsinki at 6:15AM the next day. Finnair is known for its excellent connectivity in Europe, where it flies to several continental destinations. Finnair uses the Airbus A350 to service its Singapore – Helsinki route.