Who would have thought that hidden in the west side of Singapore (namely, Choa Chu Kang area), there is another chillout place that while is not eye-catching, does offer a getaway from the stress of the day and an escapade from doing nothing at home on a boring evening.
Club July (formerly known as "Pet Lovers Cafe") has several outlets, we visited the one at 5 Stagmont Ring, Singapore 688241 - interesting as it is situated, I quote the Beau, "at the end of the railway tracks". The number to stay connected is 6363 3381. And yes, the entrance is shown above here - a fence that swings in! Can't blame me for feeling a little frisson of trepidation when I saw this, lol.
As the name suggests, this place is also the perfect haven for pet owners, as you could bring your beloved dogs, cats etc here while you dine. Look, there is even a cute little swimming pool up here for those cute furries of yours.
Ambience-wise, do not expect much. This is very much an alfresco dining concept that resembles a dolled-up coffeeshop, with a spacious outdoor area (for the pets to roam around?) and music from the radio station all night long.
We chose to sit indoors, where the furnitute looked slightly better, and we noted that there is actually a Karaoke room further in. Service was slow, but we were brought to a table eventually.
This is the view I got - seated beside the fence facing the main road. I actually found it to be rather interesting since I have never dined in such a setting before. The feel is totally relaxed and mellow, one could just kick back the heels and stare at passing cars, understand the sense of "on the inside looking out" kind of feeling. It was also appreciated that this outdoorish dining area did not have any bugs or mosquitoes at all (I am sensitive to mosquito bites).
My Plum Juice got served first - I was complaining that a 'plum juice' could cost SGD$4.50, but when it came, and after I took the first sip, I felt it was all worth it. The drink consisted of crushed iced tasting very strongly of plum's sweet fragrance. The tiny "pearls" were delightful because they were so crispy they popped in your mouth litereally. It was a very refreshing and delicious beverage, especially for those dining outdoors on a warm evening.
Next, the Salted Egg Prawns were being served. Actually, given the location and standard of mediocre service, we both had to admit that this dish surpassed our expected standard. The gigantic prawns were rather succulent, and the shells were all fried to a golden-brown crispiness. The flesh was tender and sweet. The best part was the salted egg paste of course - it clung onto the crispy shell, giving it a very scrumptious sandy, buttery texture and taste, turning the sea-sweet delicacy into a saltish tongue-teaser.
The Tomyam Bee Hoon (dry) was served next. The texture of the beehoon was springy, and the entire dish was moist (with stock / tomyam?) but not soggy. There weren't much ingredients save for some shrimps, squids, eggs and vegetables, but the taste was good and highly redolent of tomyam's spicy-sour flavor. We thought the food pretty much compensated the lousy service we were accorded.
Finally, the Pineapple Fried Rice - not spectacular at all, especially after we had tried two other items of far more superior quality. It was sweet with raisin taste, but there was not a trace of pineapple to be found anywhere in the fried rice - not cubes of pineapples nor flavor at all.
We spent SGD$44.60 in total for the meal and were glad we dined out so that the lights in both our homes were shut to observe Earth Hour 2014 :)
Some additional remarks on the lousy service here (they charge 10% service charge, mind you):-
(i) kept us standing outside a long while before coming over to attend to us - they had 3 to 4 staff on duty
(ii) there was a Sprite can with half-drank Sprite on our table (left behind by previous diners??) but no one bothered to clear it even though the wait staff came to our table a few times to attend to us on other things
(iii) when the Beau tried to change / replace prawns with chicken for his pineapple fried rice, the F***p**o watiress kept insisting that we would have to top up $$$ to add chicken if we wanted that. I explained that we were asking for chicken to replace a pricier item (i.e. prawns) then she said she would give us "alot, alot of chicken". She then suggested we could ask for "no prawns", so I asked her what would they replace it with if that was the case. She replied, "vegetables." Hellooo???!!! Ridiculous logic, no?
(iv) I discovered that my metal table spoon was dirty, so I asked another passing waitress for a change of spoon. She immediately informed us that they had no more spoons. Huh? Then could she not offer to clean it or something? Anyway, I later asked another male waiter and he gave us one full set of clean utensils politely! No spoons??
(v) Very limited parking space - probably because they didnt expect a full house? Cars were parked all ways, blocking each other. When we wanted to leave, we had to ask the waitress to make an announcement for the 4 cars parked in front of the lots blocking all means of getting out
Bottom line is, come here for the chillax ambience and quite good food, come here for your pets' comfort, but forget about service even though you have to pay for it.
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