Opening Hours: Sun–Thurs: 11.30am–10.30pm
Fri–Sat–PH: 11.30am–11.00pm
Date: 15 Jun 2011
Time: 7pm
Nature of restaurant: Western (American)
Café Cartel has been around in Singapore for quite a few years. It serves mainly american cuisine such as sandwiches, pastas, pizza, snacks, pastries, coffee, ice-cream and hearty mains of seafood, beef, chicken and pork.
There was no queue and the restaurant was relatively quiet even for a wednesday night. The waiters were quick to get us seated on the sofa seats with soft cushions. Upon being seated, cold water and complimentary homemade bread were served. The menu was nice and clear and the waiter was very polite and pleasant.
Having eaten pork ribs for the past few trips to Café Cartel, I have decided to give its chicken dishes a try. Together with another friend, the two of us ordered a chicken cutlet and a grilled chicken chop. After recommendations from the waiter we topped up our mains with a soup-of-the-day, garlic bread and a coleslaw for a promotional price of $4.95.
The garlic bread, coleslaw and soup came within 5 minutes after ordering. The soup was a little cold but the garlic bread was warm and crispy, while the free bread tasted more like sponges. The free-for-all bread corner will certainly be ignored. The coleslaw was below average.
Promotional side order $4.90 2.5/5
The mains came together shortly after. The effort is appreciated as one wouldn’t have to wait for another’s dish to arrive. I have to say that for a restaurant that is renowned for its pork ribs, its chicken cutlet certainly exceeded my expectations however not as a whole.
Chicken Cutlet $14.90 3.8/5
The chicken cutlet is crispy on the outside and tender inside. There is a unique flavour in the chicken and the sauce was sweet and tasty. However I wished they had given a bit more sauce. The vege and the mash potato were at best filling up the long rectangle plate. The vege was far from being fresh and the mash potato had a very weird taste to it. The mash potato would fail utterly if it matched up against the mash potato of KFC’.
Grilled chicken chop $16.90 2.8/5
When this (above) came, I was surprised at the difference in size as compared to the chicken cutlet when it actually costs more. Overall it tastes just like any typical chicken chop in the coffeeshops. (Or maybe worse than some) Personally when I order a chicken chop I do not expect to see any bones in it. This one had two huge bones in it, making it a double boo. The fact that the waiters were quick in refilling my cup did cheer me up a little though.
The ambience of the restaurant made things better too. Café Cartel played Westlife music and other popular hits from the 90s. The restaurant was American themed and the colours and decorations were pleasant to the eye. We sat facing the mandarin hotel and watched the cars go by. It isn’t great scenery but was good enough for my liking. However there’s no washroom in Café Cartel, which means one would have to walk out of Café Cartel and all the way to the end of basement one to get to a washroom. The air-con was good and the service was quick. (Taking into account how fast the bill came when it was asked for)
Total cost for the chicken cutlet, grilled chicken chop and the side orders including GST and service charge: $42.90. Expected price for dining at a place like Café Cartel but barely reasonable considering its overall average standard of food.
Verdict:
Café Cartel @Marina Square
Location: 3.5/5
Food: 2.5/ 5
Ambience: 4/5
Service: 4/5
Value: 3/5
No queues and no reservations required makes Café Cartel a nice and convenient place to simply walk in and chill during weekdays. Great service, above average ambience and average food. I would bring my friends there someday to try the chicken cutlet and its pork ribs again but it would never be a place where I would recommend for occasion dinners.
Overall rating: 3/5
