Cafe Cartel

[psychomatic]

Hi, just wanna start off with a review of my first time at the new slightly changed Cafe Cartel. :)

I have always frequented Cafe Cartel for this place has no service charge (Singaporeans like me very 'neow'). The food Cafe Cartel offered had always been very worth my money, with huge portions and free flow of bread. The 10% off during lunchtime and it's $9.50 special is as attractive.

Recently, i have found it hard to try the $9.50 WeekDay Set Meal Special@ its Junction 8 outlet, as it always seems to be out of stock. Disappointing as it is, but i eventually went to Cafe Cartel last week, deciding to give a treat to my friend for his 16th birthday. I was shocked. They now have a 10% service charge, where they now bring you your food and take your orders. Previously, diners had to write down their offers and bring it to the counter, paying on the spot, and waiting for the food to arrive.(Okay, serving of food has not changed) So i ordered my food, and waited.

Now, since I had to pay 10% service charge, i thought, "Why didn't they offer to help us cut the bread?". Self service is always pleasing; after all, i'm used to the serviceless Cafe Cartel. So i got some bread, waited and at long last, my food came. This was when i was informed that payment can be made after my meal.

The food was great. The grilled chicken i ordered was a fairly large portion, topped with rich mushroom sauce and slices of button mushrooms. As usual, it came with sweetened carrots and cucumbers, but what's new is the marcoroni that came with it. The marcoroni was rather bland despite being fried with some spices, and it was not served hot, nor cold. It was something like cooking lots of marcoroni at one time and leaving it there, only to serve when the customer orders. The chicken meat was cooked to perfection- tender and juicy. The sauce that came with the chicken added a fine finish to the tasty chicken.

My friend's Sirloin Steak's doneness was medium, and it tasted alright. I'm not a fan of steak, not to mention medium done and rare steak, so i'm not really gonna comment on it. Marcoronni and sweetened vegs came with is as well, on top of a rather large amount of fries.

When payment came, i showed my Cafe Cartel Student Priveledge Card, and was offered a 20% discount on Ala Carte items. The Sirloin Steak however, was a set meal that came with soup and drink, hence, discount was unavailable.

I was satisfied with the food Cafe Cartel offered. For students, lunchtime is a great time to try out the food. At a little more than $10, one can get a sumptuous and filling meal. For those without the card, a 10% discount is available during lunchtime. The 10% service charge is fine with me, as many restaurants do have this service charge too. However, for that slight bit more in the bill, I found the share of food much larger than before. Service wise, i was not offered much service. Not to mention that the 2 glasses of ice water served, came only when we were about to finish our meals.

Cafe Cartel has not disappointed me. Those who've got some bucks to spare might want to try it out. Be warned, the menu has not changed much other than the addition of a sticker warning you of 10% service charge.

[acidboy]

oh.. i didn't know about this... mmm.. not all cafe cartel have the student card promotion right?

[imastomper]

Cafe Cartel without the 10% tax is a good deal.

Cafe Cartel with the 10% tax raises my expectations of the quality of food.
Verdict: Not value for $. Tasteless.

[lightning]

Hey i agree... cafe cartel food is quite tasteless. only the sauce got taste leh..
like the ribs ah, aiyo! such strong pork taste! the sauce is merely put over the ribs after the ribs were cooked. or rather they taste so... the marination (if there is) did not seep into the meat, and when i chew on the meat, aiyo!! PORK taste! <i mean.. of course u get pork taste when u eat pork...> But hey, real gourmets know that u dun juz get pork taste when u eat pork.. u all get what i mean?

awy, i feel the food not very nice. not juicy also.

[psychomatic]

What you all said makes sense. So what do you all recommend?

[Kosmicheskaya]

Changing Appetites, which is pretty much almost next door to Cafe Cartel in Marina Square (how ironic!). They serve Japanese and Western dishes with a little bit of fusion tossed in the mix. Price range is comparable to Cafe Cartel and the food is actually good!

[tayyq]

still got free bread? hahah

[luckyseah]

Not as good as before...

Food portion is okay and do you notice that the food they serve is mostly "cold" and not hot...

My family certainly would dine at any Cafe Cartel anymore...so sad.

[Ubergurl]

Gave up eating there a long time ago.

The cheapo Singaporeans heaping and wasting the breads on their plates totally cheeses me off.

[beseen]

There's one cafe at Novena, opposite Novena church...called D'Pantry Cafe.
Novena ville along Thomson Road, i think.

Concept is similar to Cafe Cartel, but cheaper and food is better.
Their dessert's so much better too! Esp the Mango dessert & cheesecake. Yummm...

[serious_thinker]

its too expensive for me, with discount card or not.

[zhuangenlie]

i tink Cafe Cartel has got such value-for-money that even with its purported increase in tax, it still beats many of its competitors out 'er.. in singapore, da saying goes, "you get wat you pay for" ;)

[imastomper]

But the food is not nice!
I rather pay a bit more & enjoy nicer food!

[chipdale]

Hi All,

Seems that you are all very disappointed with Cafe Cartel recently. However, not to worry, I have discovered a great Italian restaurant in Holland Village which serves very good pizzas and pastas. Their selected pizzas and pastas are going at $8.00 during lunch time everyday including weekends. There are also set lunches which costs only about $14.90. Its a great hang out place with friends too as the ambience is extremely cosy. It is called Amici Authentic Italian Restaurant (behind Sushi Tei). There are actually two branches, the other one is in 24 Tg Pagar Rd (diagonally opp. Maxwell market).

Don't give it a miss or you will regret it!

[serious_thinker]

You can get unlimited servings of bread

[bread]

Cafe Cartel has not disappointed me. Those who've got some bucks to spare might want to try it out. Be warned, the menu has not changed much other than the addition of a sticker warning you of 10% service charge.

U sure they deserve the service charge? I went to the outlet at Marina Square twice and was so fed-up with their slow service. I waited for my food for 45 minutes the last time and still it didn't come. In the end I cancelled that dish and share something else with a friend (who couldn't finish her food).

And now without the self service for the bread, i find it much more troublesome cos most of the time the waiters are so bz that they always forget the bread even after you request for more. I prefer the old times where we could just go up and cut the bread as and when we want it.

So at the end of the day, I don't really like the change at all. :(

[tiaotiaohu]

Ya, Cafe Cartel has imposed service charge recently but I still go there once in a while with my buddies. I like their bread and their strawberry delight.

Cheers to strawberry delight.

:)

[protos22]

Terrible food. Ate there once. Never again.

[angtauchwee]

Hi, just wanna start off with a review of my first time at the new slightly changed Cafe Cartel. :)

I have always frequented Cafe Cartel for this place has no service charge (Singaporeans like me very 'neow'). The food Cafe Cartel offered had always been very worth my money, with huge portions and free flow of bread. The 10% off during lunchtime and it's $9.50 special is as attractive....

Cafe Cartel has not disappointed me. Those who've got some bucks to spare might want to try it out. Be warned, the menu has not changed much other than the addition of a sticker warning you of 10% service charge...etc etc.

Wah lau! You sound like you are the PR spokesman for Cafe Cartel.

Generally, I prefer places where I'm served rather than using your energy to get service. After all, you are paying service charge which is automatically deducted. Even fast food places are recognising that they have to provide service, like Coffee Club Express in Kino.

What do Stompers feel? You want to queue up or get serviced?

[vincesgp]

i agree with your observation that the food is not warm...I was at their Serangoon gardens outlet....and the samba dori fish was not warm when delivered. Asking for service takes long time...and when told it is not warm, waiter just looked as if this is the standard fish is prepared. At counter, after eating, the cashier also did not know how to react. When told the second time, she merely 'shouted' to her colleague that a customer has complained. Appears to me that she is showing me that she is doing her job...or discouraging me from complaining? So my advice to owner/s of cafe cartel - if u want to expand chain, educate yr service staff, and do spot check on yr chain from time to time. If you do not hv time, enlist members of this foodie group. tks.

[vincesgp]

I was hoping that after 4 mths of not being there - Serangoon Gardens' Cafe Cartel - that service level will improve. I was there over the weekends with my kids, and left disappointed again. The air con is not felt when you are sitting at the far end of the room. You are perspiring as you eat, even though it was not crowded (only one table filled) then. And when this was brought up to the counter when paying my bill, the cashier (who appears to be the most senior) just looked at you blankly. She has to learn from a junior (temp?) waiter who was more spontaneous and said that he will check it out. This same waiter was quick to point out that I have the student pass of my daughter to qualify for a discount. Asked if the boss ever comes round to inspect, I was told that 'no' and the crowd will come in later'. Clearly, there is no checks on the service delivery, and I wonder how long more it will survive in a location filled with eateries.

[slogger7]

umm.. just FYI... they have this item on the menu... the seafood platter or something like that. they put on there "feeds 5" while my 2 friends and i ate it all up and still didn't feel full LAWL. and it costs like 50+?

[jingeileen]

the seafood platter is nothing much at all..just a few pieces of fried stuff and so ex.

i stop going to cartel ever since they changed their managment style..

[nikonll1]

umm.. just FYI... they have this item on the menu... the seafood platter or something like that. they put on there "feeds 5" while my 2 friends and i ate it all up and still didn't feel full LAWL. and it costs like 50+?

you should get the rodeo combo...

[Darksoth]

I don't see not paying service charge as ngeow. It's more like whether Singapore service industries deserve that extra 10% or not. Most of them don't deserve but they force us to pay, making us more demanding for better service.

And to make things worse, they charge GST to the service charge! :mad:

[sariahzc]

I was at the sgoon garden branch and the service really pissed with me off. If it wasnt for my friend I would have left.

When we reached there, the guy just stand there and looked at us. After we got a seat, we still need to wait for like 5 before asking for the menu. After that it took us 10 mins to get the waiter to come and take our order.

We had nachos and I dont think that it was worth the cash. The drinks are not that good. Just alright and its super ex to pay for it.

In all, service was super super bad and food was just alright which is not worth the price. I can eat at somewhere pay abit more and get good service and much better food.

Cartel is x out of my list already.

[DiamondLover]

I only go there when I feel like eating their bread. I think they have very delicious bread. :p

Don't be mistaken that I am a cheapo like someone mentioned earlier, of course, I order the full course meal as well. :)

[etteNNaej]

was at the city hall brach. service sucks like dunno wat.

1st, they all had a "smelly" face. on top of that, they showed attitude.

The bread was serve COLD. and i mean real cold. like those placed under the aircon for hours. cold, hard and dry. the butter was cold as well. cold and hard. how to eat?!

when i request for chilli sauce, the waitress just nodded with the kind of stare... and she just drop it down loud on the table. she din even bother to be polite and say things like " Here's your chilli sauce" etc.

we also had a HARD time trying to get the crew's attention. mind you, it's not peak hours or wat, it's like 4pm in late noon whereby half the restaurant is empty.

You might think perhaps i'm the sort of unreasonable customer in the 1st place, bossy and stuffs. but hell. no. i work in a restaurant too. so i understand the "hardships" of being a service crew. i even tried my best to polite when they showed attitude. but this is way too far. their service is the worse i've encountered. and who've expected this kind of service at city hall branch?

was really disappointed. will never go back there again. :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

[kaleidoscopian]

ate a few times....

great portions loh tho food is standard american
artery-clogging junk food..... ordinary....

cakes....u can forget it.....

its dry n hard like desert sand.... :eek: bleurgh
cos i'm a big fan & critic of cakes....

[jason_lkw]

Disappointed meal
My family was at the IMM , The Café Cartel, for dinner.
We are told that the soup of the day is mushroom soup. Due to run out of ingredient, no mushroom was found in the soup. Caesar salad was bad, missing ingredient. Totally different from the menu. According to the staff, the kitchen runs out of ingredient. The mushroom and ham pasta is too dry and tasteless. Service recovery is bad. Manager, Mr. Eric Chan did not meet us for feedback. Due to the missing ingredient for the Caesar salad. How cans your restaurant still can sell incomplete items. This is cheating to your guest. Upon payment, I requested a feedback form, staff mention they do not have any feedback form. Luckily, I manage to found the web site.

[lehcarbmud]

Well if you guys are looking for good food and service at a similar price TCC totally rocks.;) But would advice you guys to go the less crowded branches especially during peak hours!:)

[redarkness]

Well if you guys are looking for good food and service at a similar price TCC totally rocks.;) But would advice you guys to go the less crowded branches especially during peak hours!:)

Good food? I totally agree for TCC. But goot $$? No way.

[lehcarbmud]

Just sign up for the TCC card! 15% discount which = no service charge!;)

[deltiologist]

Cafe Cartel should revamp their menu, their choice of drinks is poor and the standard of their food is getting worst. :(

[ladyluck1801]

im ok with cafe cartel....like the free flow bread there :D

but gotta agree that the svc at serangoon garden sucks big time....