【 283 】 A TEENAGE GOURMAND'S GUIDE TO SINGAPORE 「 AKB48 CAFE 」

AKB48 CAFE

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My first ever cafe and/or restaurant review and it's starting off to a very unsure start. The AKB48 Cafe was not really something I would choose to begin with as my food review debut, but honestly, I feel like a lot of people out there are willing to try it, but they do not know what to expect from a cafe that caters to a niche. And that is where I come in, at least to give you all the tidbits of detail on what the cafe's all about. Trust me, though, apart from the perky, nicely outfitted servers, I was more pleasantly surprised by the food that they had to offer.

I visited the restaurant with a special guest; my resident hipster bro nerrin (Nerr) and I were loitering outside the cafe like two very awkward boy and girl and just kind of looked around the exterior decorations before we went in (and I believed we also confused the waitress because we went in and out of the cafe once and I saw one of them almost running to the entrance to greet us whoops, our bad). When we got in it was quite...desolated. There was this one family of three seated in the middle of the room and to our right was this wall of frames after frames after frames of the AKB48 personnel, autographed and everything, and then there were two video screens just smack dab in the middle of the "Wall of Fame" airing the girls' concert recap. I'm not sure if I was the only one or Nerr felt it too, but amidst all the cutesy pop filling the cafe, it felt awkward to be in there somewhat. Good thing it didn't take long for us to be seated!

The most unexpected element in the cafe was actually the food, in which, after I was given the menu, almost ninety percent of the dishes looked appetizing enough to make me want to order more than I should. However, due to money constraints, I solely ordered the Curry Omu Rice with a Grenadine Mixed Berry Float (Team A) while Nerr ordered herself a bowl of Curry Udon and a Blue Curacao (you may correct me on this, because I am not 100% sure of the spelling). Also, I'd like to add that they paired the food item with either the team(s) or one of the personnel of the band. I first thought that it seemed a bit unnecessary or like, "LOL WHAT'S THE POINT?" but then if you're a fan, then it might be a guideline for you to choose the food that matches with your favorite team(s) and/or girl. Whichever rocks your boat.



After waiting and talking about the not-so-great view just right outside the windows (mind you, me and Nerr took the seat near the windows and had the unfortunate experience of getting a blocked view of the cars and the forest by this giant ass pillar) our drinks came by and it was served on this nice float glass with a slender spoon by the side to chomp off the ice cream on top. While I was sophisticating-ly stirring my float and drinking it at the same time to prevent all the liquid from rising up and flowing off, I then laughed at Nerr because she got too aggressive with hers and ended up spilling this puddle of blue on our table. This was probably why we ran out of tissues by the end of our visit. Anyways, the drinks that we had were successful - they tasted like what a good mocktail should be. Mine had a right amount of sweetness to it and it was refreshing to boot. The ice cream they used for the float was also an additional bonus; it had an overall nice and soft texture, although it may come off as a bit too sweet at times, especially if you constantly keep eating it.



The Curry Omu Rice that I had came with the curry separated from the egg-wrapped ketchup fried rice. And to top it off, which I think was really smart of them to do, was that the curry fillings (carrots, leeks and whatnot) were also separated from the curry and was given to you in another small bowl, already sauteed. So if you're not feeling like carrots, just go for the leeks or the other way around. Although I found that the ketchup fried rice tasted a tad bit odd (perhaps because I was not so used to the flavor), it amazingly blended well with the curry in this harmony of flavors between the rich saltiness and the sweet and tangy. Nerr's Curry Udon was also nothing short of phenomenal. I thought that the udon were very voluptuous and had a very good mouth feel. The curry broth was thick, flavorful and a lot. It was literally four inches deep and both of us could only finish until halfway through the bowl. However, the 12.90S$ was well worth the pay.



At the end of our meal, the restaurant garnered a few more guests - another parent with their children and a group of girls just chillin'. I was also surprised by the fact that this cafe was indirectly family oriented in a way? It seemed AKB48 attracted more little girls than I would have ever expected. And I thought this place was going to be frequented by all the otaku guys, but it was not the case when we were there.

Service wise, the waitresses were polite and weirdly enough, their outfits reminded me more of Scandal rather than something out of AKB48. And they were still nice enough to help us clean our table when Nerr spilled another round of her float. It was really hilarious.

Would I go back to this cafe again? Yes. Would I go back to the cafe alone? No. Due to the awkward atmosphere, I would advise you going to the cafe with a friend because it would REALLY lighten up the mood (basically only me and Nerr were screaming loudly in the cafe). And yes, this is a restaurant where you would want to go for the food and if you're a fan of the band, then I think the experience would be even more spectacular. The only thing I was disappointed about was that 'Heavy Rotation' was never played in the concert video that the cafe was playing, but oh well.

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FOOD
★★★★✩

SERVICE
★★★★✩

ATMOSPHERE
★★✩✩✩

OVERALL
★★★✩✩