Scuttlebutting at Owl Cafe

On Friday, 21st September 2012, I decided to pay a visit to the newly opened Owl Cafe at The Star Vista Mall. Owl Cafe is owned by Super Group and is Super’s first foray into a physical store. The main purpose of my visit was to observe how the cafe looks like. I should say my overall experience was a satisfactory one. The cafe is located very near an escalator leading to the mall from Buona Vista MRT station. Thus, human traffic is high and I saw many people walking past the cafe to get access to the mall proper. Curious passers-by may pay a visit to the cafe since the Owl brand is well-known to many Singaporeans. The cafe has an outdoor seating area and an indoor air-conditioned one. The outdoor seating area is just in front of the MRT track and one can watch the trains go by.

 Outdoor seating area

Indoor seating area (right-side of cafe)

Indoor seating area (left-side of cafe)

The interior of the cafe is well-designed. It has a minimalist design and is well-lit up by designer hanging bulbs. The colours of the wall panel are consistent with the colour of their logo. There was also a stand holding various types of Owl coffee.

Hanging bulbs from the ceiling (ignore the ghostly images of the bulbs)

Design of the wall panel and hanging light

Owl coffee stand

The menu’s design was pleasing to the eyes. Once I opened the menu, there was a design of an owl made up of coffee beans and I found it extremely creative.

Menu

Creative design of an owl

I ordered a Cheesy Ayam Cutlet main course together with Gula Melaka Cham Teh drink which is a concoction of coffee, tea and gula melaka (palm sugar). Both were the Chef’s Recommendation and I was not disappointed. The chicken was sumptuous and the price was reasonable. The drink was unique as it was the first time I drank a mixture of coffee and tea. The cafe also sells the priced kopi luwak, one of the world’s most expensive coffee.

Cheesy chicken

Food and drinks ordered by my friends and me

Two staff came to ask feedback about the food. At around 7pm, the cafe started to get crowded and the indoor area was almost full, surprisingly. I guess many wanted to try out the new cafe. It will be interesting to note if the crowds will be sustained many months later.

 Indoor seating area almost full at around 7pm

We left at around 7.30pm after paying our bills. To our pleasure, we received a free gift for spending more than $20. It is a sample of the all the coffees under the Kopitiam Roast product class.

Free gift (front)

Free gift (back)

Free gift (the contents)

A name card of the cafe was placed near the payment counter.

Name card (front)

Name card (back)

I enjoyed my trip to the cafe and I would not mind going back again for drinks and food. The website of the cafe can be found here for those who want to learn more about the cafe.

I have two suggestions to spruce up the revenue stream of the cafe. One is to allows customers to sample the various coffees offered by Owl ala Brewerkz style. At Brewerkz, customers can buy small samples of the beers offered by the brewery and then can decide which beer to buy. Another suggestion would be to have a discount card. This helps to create brand loyalty and brings repeated customers to the cafe.