Located in the midst of factories and industrial buildings at Kallang Place is a cafe known as the Backstage Cafe. I chanced upon an online review of it when I was searching for cafes near that area, and thought of trying out the place.
I love the spaciousness of the cafe. Most cafes in Singapore are crammed, crowded and have little walking spaces. But this cafe has a very high ceiling, wide walking spaces and because most of its walls are white-washed, it makes the whole space feel even bigger. The industrial design of the cafe fits very well with its environment – The cement floors, brick wall on one side and the exposed ceilings complete the look.
What we didn’t know though was that the day we visited was the first day they reopened after renovation. That actually wouldn’t mean anything except that we waited more than an hour for our food that day. We were subsequently told (upon asking why our food took so long, and seeing that every other table in the cafe were not getting their food either) that their permits for additional chefs were not approved yet. They were thus operating with only 2 chefs for the entire cafe’s orders. To cut the story short, they could not manage the orders and everyone’s orders were delayed. Thankfully, I was not there during my precious one-hour lunch break. Still, one hour of waiting without any prior notification was less than acceptable.
The latte came only 15 minutes after ordering. And this latte had nothing to do with the kitchen’s chefs, so it made me wonder if service was generally slow at this particular cafe.
Salad that came with the set lunch was decent though, with fresh, crisp vegetables and thinly-sliced apples.
Soup was not too bad too. Portion was just right.
When our food was finally served an hour later, we were famished. The food was very good though, so that slightly made up for it. The kids’ fish & chips was fresh, crispy and delicious. I like the french fries a lot!
Hubby’s chicken compote was yummy, with really finely-mashed mash potatoes that tasted great.
But my fav of all was the Salmon with mango & passion fruit sauce. Thick slice of salmon cooked to perfect on a bed of the wonderful mashed potatoes. I finished it in record time (Also because we were rushing to another event).
I would say give it a couple of months before you visit this cafe, just in case they haven’t got their chefs permits sorted out. The food’s pretty good, so I wouldn’t mind visiting it again.
BACKSTAGE CAFE
Address: 158 Kallang Way #01-06
Tel: 6743 6893
Website: http://www.backstage-projects.com
Opening Hours: Mon – Sat 10am to 9pm
