Taking airport food to new heights

TGM provides a unique Japanese and Korean cuisine experience for travelers.

Virtually anyone who's ever been to an airport has not-so-nice things to say about several establishments contained within them. Airport food isn't something people would associate with value for money, but TGM, a joint in Changi Airport, promises a new kind of airport dining experience with their quality Japanese and Korean cuisine.

Located on Level 3 of Changi's Terminal 3, TGM is noted for promoting a green and natural way of eating, bringing all guests healthy option, offering top-notch food at the airport, all under one roof.

"Airport food unfortunately has a rather poor reputation, and is often associated with junk food, poor quality but high price, in other words, bad value," says Woo Chee Kiang, head chef, Plaza Premium Group.

TGM is noted as having an interesting combination of cuisine. "It's not your typical sushi joint. We love Japanese and Korean food and have therefore brought our own interpretation of Japanese and Korean food to create TGM," says Kiang.

At TGM, diners will find a live cooking kitchen, a "Grab & Go" menu, featuring a grab & go display counter; and its signature all-you-can-eat salad and dessert bar. 

Passion, travel and food

"Our team are observers and airport dwellers, we’ve travelled extensively and studied the needs and patterns of airport and its passengers to create our own concept," says Kiang. The food plays within the spectrum of Japanese and Korean fusion to their liking with respect to the flavour, plating, and ingredients.

TGM was founded by Kiang, Mei Mei Song, Eran Wun and other members. Kiang is the head chef of Plaza Premium Group's F&B operations in Singapore and brings over 20 years of experience in various airport restaurants around the world with an expertise in Asian cuisines. Song takes charge of product development at group level and works closely with Kiang and Wun.

"We have invested a lot in terms of resources and manpower and taken years to study the preference of airport passengers and travelled extensively in Japan and Korea before putting up this restaurant in the airport to bring the great and authentic taste of these countries to a wide audience of international passengers," says Kiang.

"Being a country’s first point of touch, airports in our eyes are fabulous platforms to showcase the best to a huge audience of international diners. Having this vision in mind, we challenge the status quo and initiate a paradigm shift," says Kiang.