So let me just say, the cafefest is a huge flop. I'm sorry Sarah and Gabriel, that your good intention has turned its table instead.
I was really as excited as you guys when I first heard of Cafefest - the very first cafe event to be held in Singapore! With 12 cafes coming from different parts of Singapore, how can that not be awesome? That means to save my transport fees and yet I'm able to try out their coffees and food I've been dying to get on hands.
Also, at the price of $25 ($20 for early-bird regular passes, $25 for regular passes), I thought, it wouldn't be so bad considering that I get to purchase the food items at a much lower price from what the cafes have been selling them at at retail prices. The passes were to differentiate the pass-holders from the public, which means only the pass-holders are able to buy, but not the public.
To my dismay, even the public gets to buy the items! There were 2 prices stated on every cafe stall's board: Festival and Regular. I thought regular would be the retail prices, so they want to show us the difference in purchasing at retail and at the fest itself. But no? Public gets to buy them at the REGULAR prices! I felt really cheated :(
Moving on, I still liked the concept of having different cafes all in one place and enjoying their coffee and cakes outdoor.
We bought:
Maison Ikkoku - Iced Latte ($6)
I Am... - Rainbow Cake ($7)
Pat & Stick's - Ice-cream sandwich ($6.90)
While the event stated that it will be opened from 10AM-8PM for Day 1, many of the things were sold out by 5PM+, which was a huge disappointment. Before 7PM, I remember seeing Toby's Estate and Tiong Bahru Bakery already packed and closed. Some of the items were also stroke off the list, and there's also a stall selling "Hot dog buns with no buns!" because they ran out of buns. What even...
Which led me wondering....
Did the organizers even let them know how many people will be turning up for the event? Passes are all sold, which can only mean that there will be this much of people attending and as such, these cafe owners should have prepared enough to cater to the number of people! If they're still left with many ingredients, I'm sure they can still use them for their next day operation, since they do have a legit shop.
I did not attend the second (also the last) day of the event, as Cafefestsg has planned to do a sort of compensation for the disappointed pass holders (like myself) if they're unable to attend on Sunday. (Till now, I'm still waiting for good news from them)
Dinner was at Koh Grill and Sushi Bar @ Wisma Atria. Long queues as usual and as expected, but we were served in a short while (maybe a good 10-minute of wait?) Shiok Maki took a really long time to be served due to overwhelming demands of the customers! I witnessed the chef preparing at least 6 plates of Shiok Maki and burning 2 plates at one go.
I can't wait for our next couple date again! :)
x.