The Bark Cafe

The Bark Cafe
1000 Upper Changi Road North

http://www.thebarkcafe.com/


Good Food, Good Ambience, At A Price

(Ratings: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 = Worst and 10 = Best)
Overall: 8
Ambience & Setting: 7
Food & Beverage: 8
Service: 8
Value for Money: 7
Spent about SGD $32 per person.


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Situated next to the Changi Chapel And Museum, The Bark Cafe is somewhat secluded, but the quiet ambience, idyllic surroundings and calm, relaxing greenery make up for the travelling time.

Service at The Bark Cafe is pretty good. Staff are equipped with tablets to take orders, and food arrives quickly. However, as the staff are foreign, some of their accents may be hard to understand.

The quality of the food at The Bark Cafe easily rivals those from a restaurant... and so does its prices. Generally, food is perfectly cooked, and many items are even made in-house. However, prices aren't so friendly on the wallet, with mains averaging SGD $20 per dish. Order appetizers, mains, desserts and drinks and you'll be set back about SGD $60 per person. In perspective though, The Bark Cafe is next to a tourist attraction, so the steep price is somewhat expected.

During some evenings, The Bark Cafe features a live band. I think The Bark Cafe is a great place to chill out and relax!


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Love the creative design of The Bark Cafe Menu, made to look like a magazine. Be careful though, some of their menus are missing pages within, so the menu you're looking at may not be complete.

The Bark Cafe Menu

Hearty and fulfilling, the Chapel Beef Stew features a rich, meaty gravy made from beef. The portion of thickly sliced beef is rather generous, and the mash potato is excellent.

Chapel Beef Stew

The Ginger White Wine Mussels has a nice clean flavour, though the mussels were somewhat small. Luckily, they were quite fresh, and the ginger gave the dish a refreshing zing!

Ginger White Wine Mussels

The Roasted Smoked Pepper Duck With Sour Plum Sauce is undoubtedly the signature item here. The salty smokiness of the duck complements the slightly sourish tang of the sauce, and the black pepper gives a nice zing. Highly recommended!

Roasted Smoked Pepper Duck With Sour Plum Sauce

The best thing about the Silence Of The Lamb is its creative name. The dish in general is just above average, a good cut of lamb, well grilled, with a nice mint sauce, but not particularly spectacular. Just a simple well-done dish.

Silence Of The Lamb

The Crayfish Hor Fun is also a signature dish here. A huge serving of hor fun, drenched in a savoury gravy with fresh, well grilled crayfish.

Crayfish Hor Fun

The Rockstar Amigo is a mocktail, a tropical fruit thirst quencher. Rather expensive for what its worth.

Rockstar Amigo

The famous Bark Cafe's Specialty Chicken Wing is really excellent, and makes for a perfect beer pairing. The skin is nice and crisp without being too greasy, and the chicken meat within is still juicy. Also great for sharing!

Bark Cafe's Specialty Chicken Wing

The Honey Butter Homemade Pancakes With Fruits I didn't quite like, because I felt the pancakes were a little too thick and not soft enough in texture. Also somewhat expensive, recommended to give this a miss.

Honey Butter Homemade Pancakes With Fruits

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Update Jan-2016: It's been 3 years since I last visited The Bark Cafe. Happy to say they're still going strong! The ambience at The Bark Cafe remains the same, its large but airy al-fresco dining area still features the dark, wood and rattan textured furniture. It remains as exposed to the elements. The service at The Bark Cafe is good, staff are efficient and polite, consistent from my last visit. The food at The Bark Cafe is better than ever, the menu seems to have been expanded, and though prices have increased slightly, and some of the reciepes tweaked, the dishes here are still large in portion, and good value for money.

The Beer Guinness Draught (SGD $13) is a dark Irish dry stout, named after Arthur Guinness, and is brewed by Diageo PLC in Dublin, Ireland. Among the most famous beers worldwide, this has a deep, dark black brown colour, with a creamy white foam head. The aroma and taste is similar, consisting of smoked malts, roasted coffee beans, faint caramel, and barley. The body is rich, velvety smooth, almost creamy, with a bitter sweet grainy flavour.

Beer Guinness Draught (SGD $13)

The Chicken Wings (SGD $8.90 / $15.90) remains as crisp, juicy, and meaty as ever, though the fried chicken batter has been changed slightly. It's slightly lighter now, with a more Asian spice / Singaporean flavour. Great!

Chicken Wings (SGD $8.90 / $15.90)

The Chapel Beef Goulash (SGD $17.90) still has that rich, thick, meaty beef goulash gravy, with a smooth mashed potato scoop, and fresh, bright chunks of broccoli and string beans. The steamed then baked beef knuckle chunks are savoury and tender, carrying an aromatic taste of tomato from the gravy. The Garlic Bread served alongside is crisp and fragrant, yet not overpowering. I enjoyed this dish. Highly recommended!

Chapel Beef Goulash (SGD $17.90)

Garlic Bread

The Crayfish Hor Fun (SGD $18.90) is still executed well, with the strands of flat, thick hor fun rice noodles having wok hei (breath of the wok), savoury with a hint of smoky. Accompanied with fresh, meaty prawns, squid, and a whole crayfish, along with crunchy kai-lan / chinese broccoli, generously coated in a supreme egg gravy. Highly recommended!

Crayfish Hor Fun (SGD $18.90)

This light appetizer of Grilled Scallops With Tropical Salsa (SGD $15.90) is a perfect starter. The fresh, bouncy scallops are large, meaty, and sweet, enhanced with a crunchy sweet salsa of cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, and mango cubes. Topped with briny fish roe and black caviar, this is an elegant treat!

Grilled Scallops With Tropical Salsa (SGD $15.90)

Grilled Scallops With Tropical Salsa

The large slab of Barbecue Pork Ribs (SGD $27.90) is meaty and filling! Done classic American barbecue rotisserie style, inspired by the Texas outback, this meaty and savoury pork ribs features a sweet savoury sticky barbecue / BBQ sauce glaze, with meat that comes easily off the bone. However, I also find the taste to be gamey and strong. The salad has an Asian twist, with a wafu sesame seed dressing, which the thick cut fries are hot and fluffy in texture.

Barbecue Pork Ribs (SGD $27.90)

Barbecue Pork Ribs

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