Wild Olives

Ventured into the staff canteen to have lunch and hunted down the much reviewed western stall. 

We ordered: 1) Mushroom soup - it's good. Not your hawker-open-can-heat-up standard. 

2) Tom Yam Seafood Spaghetti - strong Tom Yam flavour without much spice. Tasty, my big girl could even eat a few mouthfuls before the spice got to her. 

It's a good stall to eat from if I'm at the canteen but not likely I'll be driving there to eat this especially.

It's our Nth patronage to Wild Olives, a tad Chinese-styled Western food stall I'd say. They use spring onions as garnish instead of chopped parsley ;)

Some of the dishes we've ordered:

1) Mushroom Soup. Must-order dish at only $1 with a meal. The soup is not the creamy type. They've added mashed potatoes to give the soup a wholesome feel, a comfort food of mine. The mushroom flavour is mild and delightful.

2) Grilled Fish with Lemon Butter Sauce. The nicely grilled fish was tender with slight charring on the outside. The sauce was light and pleasant. Though the potato side dish was cooked Chinese-style; stir-fried with dark soy sauce and onions, it's yet another comfort food and reminds of mum's cooking :)

3) Grilled Chicken with Mushroom Sauce. The chicken was not dry and goes very well with the sauce.

4) Mushrooms Fusilli. The cream sauce was quite rich and of the right consistency, but it was too salty. Fusilli was rather well done though.

5) Chicken Ham Bolognaise. I appreciate their effort in preparing their own sauce, in which small chunks of tomatoes could be spotted. However, I think they can neutralize the over-sourish sauce a bit. Spaghetti was overcooked, which did not give a good bite.

We'll be back!

one of my new year resolutions is to write more food reviews. i've been to many good food places over the years and have always resolved to write a review after, but ended up putting it off. so now, more sharing!

ever since my favourite pasta joint (cheap and good kind) closed at old airport road food centre, i've been trying to find an alternative that's at least as good. i think Wild Olives surpasses it easily and probably some of the italian restaurants too.

i've worked up a pretty good appetite when i got here. why you ask? well, that's cos i parked at the wrong carpark and ended up scouring the whole area, sprinting up and down stairs in a vain effort to find the staff canteen. so for you foodies who drive, it's at carpark 2A, NOT 2B. take the lift or stairs to level 3M. don't make my mistake unless you fancy some exercise before your meal.

anyhow, we finally got to the canteen and quickly spotted Wild Olives. hmmm, not much of a queue, maybe cos it's already past 2. anyhow, after a quick glance at the menu, we ordered the linguine vongole ($4.20) and fish n chips ($5.90). prices are a little higher for public (as opposed to airport staff) but still very cheap.

the linguine vongole is really fragrant with generous amounts of white wine in the sauce as well as garlic. the clams are pretty decent-sized too. i think the portion is ok but perhaps i was too hungry, so i didn't feel it was enough.

i took a couple of bites from my companion's fish n chips and got smacked by her. no wonder; there's no better batter! there's nothing i can fault; the chips and coleslaw are good but the highlight of course is the fish. three pieces of fish fried to perfection with a wonderful batter and moist, tender fish within. enough chatter, go try it!

if u happen to be in changi airport T2 and don't feel like eating at the many restaurants (fast food or otherwise) there, pop up to the staff canteen and give Wild Olives a shot. no regrets, i promise.

I've never felt luckier finding this staff canteen tucked away in a remote corner of the airport carpark.

This stall though sells limited pasta dishes but they all taste great. What i love most was the vongole, the sauce was just superb and i really love their soup of the day.

The roasted pumpkin soup was a treat which is only available on friday =)

Their grilled dishes can match up to restaurant standard, especially the herbs potatoes that goes along with it. However, i find the fried dishes not really to my taste.

Food is reasonably cheap i can say, but location wise abit far for ppl travelling across the west. However, it is always worth a try if u happen to drop by changi airport =)

Feasting Day ends with dinner at Changi Airport T2's staff canteen. It's been more than two years since we have gone there. T2 staff canteen used to my Hb and my revision location as it was spacious and mostly quiet and of course the meals are much cheaper than most cafes.

We ordered the Grilled Catfish. The catfish was nicely done with a little charred. Meat was succulent and comes with cooked vegetables.

Yes, this is as good as the previous reviewers say it is!

I fly about once a month, and complain about the dearth of decent cheap eats at the airport and T2 especially. I'm so happy to have found this!

The fish and chips were fantastic! The batter was truly outstanding and fried to the right level (perfection maybe?). I need say no further - try it yourself and appreciate!

They will give you tartar sauce and you can help yourself to chilli sauce and tomato ketchup. If you order soup, they will also offer you pepper.

The other really impressive item is the calamari rings! This is labelled as a must try item on the menu, and I found them to be excellent. They come with curry leaves and they are outstanding in texture and taste!

Important: the fish and chips are only served on Mon, Fri and Sun (updated Sep 2008) - sadly the most unlikely days for me to fly at lunchtime! This is down from the old days when they had it 4 times a week. Grilled fish is served on the other days.

To get there, go to the far end of T2 (away from the MRT station). After check-in Row 12, go one level up from departures, and walk to the car park. At the start of the car park is a flight of steps up to level 3M, and a sign indicating staff canteen up those stairs.

Note: the staff canteen closes pretty early for dinner. Don't turn up at say 8.30pm expecting it to be open.

as the title of my post suggests, the food here is cheap and delicious! i've tried the following dishes before:

(1) pasta with mushrooms in cream sauce

the serving size is just nice for people like me who don't have huge appetites, and it's really cheap ($2.90)! the sauce is thick enough (but not overly creamy to the extent of becoming nauseating) and made more delicious by the addition of herbs and black pepper, the pasta is chewy and not too soft, and the fresh mushrooms (there's a generous amount of it!) are tasty and well-cooked.

(2)fish & chips

its taste is comparable to those served at reputable western seafood restaurants such as fish&co and manhattan fish market, and its serving size is decent, but its price ($5.50) is considerably lower. the outer shell is crispy and not overly oily, while the fish inside is fresh and full of flavour!

(3)sambal seafood pasta

i can't remember its price but should be about $4. the seafood is fresh, tasty and well-cooked, but the sambal chilli is not spicy enough for a chilli lover like me...

the speed of service is slightly slow for a food court stall, but the food is great so it's worth the wait! also, the stallkeeper is friendly and bilingual, so even your chinese-speaking grandparents can order food from there with ease.

A friend of mine revealed a little secret tucked in Changi Airport Terminal 2. It’s a staff canteen that serves surprisingly good food. One of which is Wild Olives which serves really good western food and pasta at really low prices even for public customers.

After coming here, you’ll suspect that other western food stalls are either paying astronomical rentals, or they are really ripping you off. With a pasta main as low as $2.90 and the most expensive at $4.20, it is not hard to start guessing. Others like Fish & Chips and Breaded Fried Chicken cost $5.50 and $5 respectively.

Anyway, pretty much everything they serve is really good. My list of favourites would include: Fish & Chips, Breaded Fried Chicken, Fusilli Di Bosco, Linguine alla Vongole and Potato Salad.

Fish & Chips

The fish is fried to perfection with a light and crispy outer shell that covers the moist and flaky fish. The generous dollop of tartar sauce ensures that you can enjoy every morsel of the fish and its sides of chips and coleslaw.

Potato Salad

This cold dish packs a real surprise on the palate. The diced potatoes are mixed with mayonnaise and then sprinkled with spring onions followed by yellow raisins. The myriad of textures is just amazing with every bite. The sweetness of the raisins marry perfectly to the potatoes.

Fusilli Di Bosco

For something with mushrooms, it is surprisingly cheap. What’s more, this pasta dish is served with portobello mushrooms. At $2.90, it is an unbelievable steal, not to mention that it tastes absolutely fantastic as well.

Linguine alla Vongole

You can taste that a good amount of white wine was actually used in this dish. The result is a creamy sauce which is rich with the taste of the wine. Easily a favourite with white wine sauce lovers.