Ménage Café, a pet café at Sin Ming Plaza in Singapore, serves up delightful food for both humans and pets, along with a cheery ambiance that’ll make you want to return for more – with pet or no pet.
We don’t have any pets, well, at least not any four-legged ones - though we do have a dour-looking leopard sucker that had outlived all our goldfishes and is still going strong. I did have a Silky Terrier, that was until he went to doggie heaven. Then our kids came along and the never-ending work of parents with young kids saw that we never got another dog thereafter.
Now, my girls badger us to get them a dog, especially my eldest eight-year-old, Big E, who can hang out at pet shops for a whole hour hankering for the puppies behind their glass windows.
So you can imagine how excited our kids were when I said I was catching up with mummy's friend, Gigi Sng, who co-owns Ménage Café and has the sweetest Pomeranian ever! So off we went to a pet café with no pets in tow.
Ambience and decor
The first thing that strikes you when you arrive at Ménage Café is how bright and cheery the place is with its large windows, pastel-shade chairs and white picket fence.
There are plenty of instagram-able corners at the café like its signature blue-and-white swing chair and heart-warming quotes.
It was not crowded as it was a weekday, which is typically the case during weekday lunch time. But come dinner time and weekends, it can get pretty crowded such that reservations are recommended, Gigi says.
Food
As a former dog-owner, I know we bring our pets to pet cafes so our furkids can have fun and hang out with us like a family. But it’s still pretty important that the hangout serves decent human grub. Hence I’m pleased to say humans too would be well fed at Ménage Café.
We ordered the Le Original Burger ($16.90) that came with a ground beef patty - which Big E attests is tender and juicy - cheddar cheese, carmelised onions and grilled bacon, alongside salad and fries.
We also enjoyed the sinfully delicious creamy Carbonara pasta that came with sauteed bacon and shimeiji mushrooms, topped with a perfectly-made onsen egg ($14.90).
The main courses also include the café's signature fish and chips, duck confit, pan-seared salmon and oven roasted chicken leg and a good range of pastas like truffle crayfish linguine and seared scallop spaghetti ($14.90-21.90).
If you prefer to come in with your furkids for some snackies, it has an array of appetizers ($8-15.90), desserts ($7.90-11.90) and drinks ($3-6) kids and adults would approve. These include truffle fries, beef cheese fries, the café's triple threat wings, chocolate molten cake, crème brûlée and sparkling sodas like yuzu and bubblegum, just to name a few.
The café also has an affordable, healthy menu for pets. Opt from a good variety of chicken breast, salmon steak, duck breast, salmon steak, pork loin, lamb steak, Waygu beef, venison and crocodile steak done Sous Vide-style (also available for takeaway) and meatballs with cheese, rosemary duck or pork and salmon ($8.90-$12-90), which all sounds palatable enough for humans!
Crowd
While we were there, there was also a family with a Dachshund and a couple with two large local mixed-breeds. We were joined later by a noisy Samoyed, a gentle Chihuahua and a skittish Pomeranian. The dogs get to roam free and play with each other in the café.
Other pets are welcome as well. Menage Café has hosted cat birthdays and even pet parrots have visited the café too.
So do no-pets people come to the café too? Not a lot, pretty much 90% of patrons come with their pets, Gigi says. But that said, when we were there, a lone student with no pets was there having lunch and studying.
Oh, and if you’re concern a pet café might have a wet dog smell or you might see doggie pee/poo everywhere, be assured there is none. We detected no smell (trust us, Big E and I both have bloodhound-like sensitive noses!) and didn't see any doodoo on the floor. Pet owners who come to the café are pretty responsible and they usually clean up after their furkids, Gigi says.
Bonus tips for your trip
- Located on the first floor of Sin Ming Plaza, the building has its own outdoor carpark and the café is right in front of parking lots making it very convenient for pet owners who need to ferry their furkids and not so furry kids to the café.
- Though we didn’t have any pets, we would go back to Ménage Café again for the yummy food and nice ambiance. If you have kids like ours, who like dogs but get a tad nervous around big pooches, opt for the quieter weekday lunches.
- If you have pets, I'd highly recommend you bring your furkids to Ménage Café. Well, even if you don’t, I'd still recommend it, especially if you have children who pester you to get one. Speaking as a former dog-owner and also judging from the patrons at the café, I’d say dog-owners are usually a pretty friendly bunch who don’t mind you patting their dogs.
- As part of Ménage Café's 1st year anniversary celebration, get a free soft drink/juice and a scoop of ice-cream of your choice with purchase of a main course or pasta during 1-31 May 2019.
In case you think I might be biased because we are friends with Gigi, just check out the brilliant reviews on Ménage Café's Facebook page. Nuff (or ruff) said.
Find Ménage Café at 6 Sin Ming Rd, #01-01/02, Singapore 575585 or call +65 9669 8372 for reservations.
Disclaimer: We paid for our own meals, and my opinions and reviews here are strictly my and my family’s own.
©Vivian Teo. All content and photos are copyrighted to Vivian Teo unless otherwise specified.