Bark Cafe - a lively cafe in a secluded part of Singapore

BarkCafe4

Bark Cafe is located along Upper Changi Road North. For many of us, Changi is already a far away place. “Upper” Changi moves it even more out of reach. Add in the “North” and you feel that you could almost touch Johore, Malaysia from here. But that was where I happened to be the other day when I caught a glimpse of the bright blue signboard. I parked the car and went in to investigate.

Parking is easy because you use the parking lots of the Changi Chapel and Museum which is next to the Bark Cafe. The Chapel and Musuem were parts of the old Changi Prison that were preserved when it was replaced by the new one which is now further down the road. You can find out more about this at their www.changimuseum.com.sg website. Enough of history, back to the business of food.

The cafe is larger than it looks from the outside. Its Balinese resort looking structures were spread out across the grassy area next to the Museum. I had expected this place to be deserted and quiet but I was wrong. I was there at about 6 pm and was already starting to fill up. There were family groups, couples and office workers. I am not sure where they work but they could be staff from Changi airport or the related logistics/aviation sectors. By the time I left, the place was half-full.

The cafe serves a good variety of western and local food ranging from fish and chips ($17.90) to seafood mee goreng ($13.90). You can see their menu online. Since this was just a stopover, I had a small beer ($7) and their highly recommended chicken wings ($8.90). The chicken wings were indeed well done. They were large and meaty, cooked to high crispiness outside but remaining moist inside. The service staff were also pleasant and efficient.

I don’t think I will drive all the way here just to eat, but if you are in the Eastern end of Singapore or just want to try something really out of the box, you could soak in some history at the museum (free admission) and adjourn next door for happy hour.