Two Parks and a River – PART 2: NY & SFO-SIN on SQ15 (77W in Y)

[yflyer]

Today, I chose the Indian selection.



On the whole I have eaten a fair bit of AVML / Indian meals on SQ and they have ranged from good to excellent.

Today's meal was good, but not the best I have had.

For a start, the menu listed curd, but what was provided was western style plain yogurt, which is similar (and a common substitution), but not the real thing, which you do get on SQ for certain routes. Also the Indian bread was on the hard side.



On the plus side, the curried vegetable preparations were quite tasty, and I quite liked the use of the paper lining to keep the gravy from mixing with the rice in the tray. Overall, I enjoyed my meal.

Dessert was that old standby on this route, cheesecake ice cream.



They have been serving this dessert on this route for years, but I am not complaining as it is quite delicious.

[yflyer]

We landed at Changi Airport just before 1am.

Overall, great flights on SQ15 on both SFO-ICN and ICN-SIN sectors, and a nice end to a very long trip that took me to Germany, USA and Korea.

One nice thing about my itinerary was the fact that I flew westbound throughout. It is commonly believed that westbound travel is less prone to jetlag (That is my personal experience as well).

My routing on this trip was SIN-FRA-MUC-FRA-JFK-SFO-ICN-SIN, with a few days in each destination, which made it slightly easier to get over the jetlag during the trip as I crossed from continent to continent...not a bad routing which I would not mind doing again if the need arose.

My ticketing strategy for this journey was SIN-FRA-JFK and SFO-ICN-SIN on a single SQ Y ticket (I believe they treated this as an open jaw to USA ex-SIN), with separate tickets on LH and UA: A round trip FRA-MUC-FRA on LH, and a one-way JFK-SFO on UA's premium service, and this seemed to work out best from a pricing perspective.

My SQ ticket was a flexible discount Y ticket, not full fare Y, but it did provide me the flexibility to change flight dates and even routings without charge (My SFO-SIN was originally SFO-HKG-SIN but I changed it at no charge to SFO-ICN-SIN with a stopover in Seoul).

My LH and UA flights were cheap tickets with restrictions. My UA ticket was non-refundable and non-changeable but at SGD 298 for JFK-SFO I wasn't about to complain.

Any advice on alternative ticketing options on this type of itinerary would be appreciated from the experts on this forum.

And that wraps up this two part TR. Thanks for reading!

[ycp81]

Nice report! Brings back memories of my trip to NYC and SFO last year! Quite similar west-bound routing as well (but via LHR instead of FRA).

[kelvgoh]

Glad you enjoyed Shake Shack. Personally I prefer the Madison Square Park location - more outdoorsy and a more "local" vibe, compared to the Broadway branch.

[yflyer]

Nice report! Brings back memories of my trip to NYC and SFO last year! Quite similar west-bound routing as well (but via LHR instead of FRA).

Thanks, ycp81! I also looked at LHR-JFK as a possibility when I booked, but the fares for that sector were really expensive.

[SQueeze]

Thanks, kelvgoh, for the wonderful dining suggestion! Shake Shack joins In-N-Out and Byron (In the UK) on the list of my favourite burgers outside of Singapore....

these will beat anything in Singapore! Why do you need a list for öut-of-singapore"? out of singapore list means world's best list.

oh boy... now craving for shakeshack.
Too bad the nearest one I know is in Kuwait!

[yflyer]

these will beat anything in Singapore! Why do you need a list for öut-of-singapore"? out of singapore list means world's best list.

I meant the "Out-of-Singapore" list to be burgers to eat when overseas ...and agree that those are better than most burgers in Singapore. Oh well, but at least we got the best mee pok, chicken rice and laksa here...

That said, over here, Omakase burger is pretty good. Quite pricey, and the bottom bun tends to get soggy, but flavour and texture wise, I find them quite satisfying!

oh boy... now craving for shakeshack.
Too bad the nearest one I know is in Kuwait!

There is a Shake Shack in the Mall of the Emirates in Dubai now as well. So any time you have a craving for a Shake Shack burger, fly via DXB

[chisquared]

Thanks, kelvgoh, for the wonderful dining suggestion! Shake Shack joins In-N-Out and Byron (In the UK) on the list of my favourite burgers outside of Singapore....

Byron is good, but Patty & Bun and Honest Burgers blow it out of the water. Some people think they're much better than Shake Shack too! You should give them a try next time you're in London.

Great TR!

[stargold]

The three of them (Byron, P&B, HB) are collectively a distinct step up from most others, but having tried all three, I don't think the latter two "blows Byron out of the water" at all. I'd say we're talking maybe 10%-15% difference at most. And there are so many more Byrons around, with generally no (or at least significantly less than the other two) queues, making it a better option for everyday burger needs.

Shake Shack was good, but not significantly better than Byron. In & Out may prove to be more impressive once I get myself to that region of the US...

[yflyer]

Byron is good, but Patty & Bun and Honest Burgers blow it out of the water. Some people think they're much better than Shake Shack too! You should give them a try next time you're in London.

Great TR!

Thanks, chisquared!

Appreciate the 2 burger recommendations as well. Must look out for them the next time I am in London! Looks like a lot of votes are going to Patty & Bun...I recall Kyo mentioning Patty & Bun as well in another post .

[yflyer]

The three of them (Byron, P&B, HB) are collectively a distinct step up from most others, but having tried all three, I don't think the latter two "blows Byron out of the water" at all. I'd say we're talking maybe 10%-15% difference at most. And there are so many more Byrons around, with generally no (or at least significantly less than the other two) queues, making it a better option for everyday burger needs.

Always a good sign if there are many branches of Byron, and the quality remains consistent. The repeatability is important!

Shake Shack was good, but not significantly better than Byron. In & Out may prove to be more impressive once I get myself to that region of the US...

I haven't had the opportunity to directly compare the Byron, Shake Shack, In-N-Out as I ate them on dates too far apart for my "taste memory" to recall. They were all very good -- fierce competition there! That said, the difference between these and regular fast food like McD or Burger King/Hungry Jack's is very obvious...

[chisquared]

The three of them (Byron, P&B, HB) are collectively a distinct step up from most others, but having tried all three, I don't think the latter two "blows Byron out of the water" at all. I'd say we're talking maybe 10%-15% difference at most. And there are so many more Byrons around, with generally no (or at least significantly less than the other two) queues, making it a better option for everyday burger needs.

Shake Shack was good, but not significantly better than Byron. In & Out may prove to be more impressive once I get myself to that region of the US...

I have been known to be too loose with hyperbole. :big grin: However, I do think P&B and HB are significantly better than Byron. There's also an easy way to avoid the queues: go at odd hours (say anytime between 2 and 6 PM). However, if you must have your burger at 7 PM, and don't have the time or patience to wait, Byron is your best bet.

Try not to set your expectations very high w/r/t In&Out. It's a sure way to be underwhelmed. That being said, I do think it's also very good, and definitely worth a visit.

[yflyer]

Try not to set your expectations very high w/r/t In&Out. It's a sure way to be underwhelmed. That being said, I do think it's also very good, and definitely worth a visit.

My impression is that In-N-Out is positioned more as a cut above regular fast food: fresher, tastier, and a burger joint "done right", whereas Byron, Shake Shake etc are more like high-end "gourmet" burgers with pricing and menu to match, so agree that In-N-Out is really a different category. But still delicious...

[Kyo]

P&B was recommended by my close foodie (then London-based) cousin and the W's doorman. It's difficult to imagine my cousin getting his burgers wrong.

In-N-Out, not a good comparison for sure - very simplistic, but gets it done the 'right' way and is an institution of its own. No West Coast US holiday is complete without popping into a branch when I'm passing through!