PS.Cafe Raffles City — Restaurant in Singapore

Tl;dr: the food was good and I love the ambience, but I marked them down because of service and overall user-friendliness. Too expensive for my experience.

RESERVATIONS: reserved online for Sunday dinner the day before and got an automated call prior to my dinner to confirm it.

SERVICE: front-end staff did not greet us when we arrived thus we were awkwardly standing at the waiting line for a while before I went ahead and said we had a reservation. Our server taking the order literally sighed before taking out her notepad to write our order because we had a few items.

Then we got the wrong drink served anyway lol. It was also pretty hard to get the attention of staff during the meal for service.

Our soup was also served late, barely 5 minutes after it was served our mains arrived already so we did not even have the chance to finish our soup before eating. For their price-point, I definitely expected better timing and service for the restaurant.

AMBIENCE: I love all the PS Cafes and their facade, very garden feel despite being indoors in a mall. However I have major gripes with their tables. There is absolutely not enough space on a single table to have 2 mains, drinks, and a plate of soup. There were only 2 of us so we were seated at a single table despite there being plenty other tables available. It would have been fine with the table was bigger, honestly. This probably applies to all the other PS cafes too. Again, for this price, I was disappointed.

FOOD: got the fish and chips, and PS burger. Good quality there. The aioli for the fries was fragrant and went well with our food. The mushroom soup starter was also very filled with mushrooms that i could drink the soup with a fork lol, no complaints about that there because I love mushroom soup.

What I didn't understand was why the fries had to be served... in a bucket, but like a floating boat. If i did not want to use my fingers (for goodness sake I'm in a restaurant not McDonald's), i could not stab the fries with my fork because the fries would just all collapse into the bucket and then it would have been a mess. If it was to save space on the plating, the fries could have just been stuffed vertically into the bucket and it would have been easier for me to scoop out with my utensils also.

Had the double chocolate cake for dessert. It was literally double, chocolate cake, because that was how huge the slice was lol. Served with chocolate sauce and vanilla ice cream, it was almost a meal of its own. Excellent...

Update: Ray has reached out to me personally on this matter. I appreciate his sincerity and kind gestures, which made my sister and I feel much better. For this, I have increased the service rating to show my appreciation to Ray. Thank you.

Honestly, I regretted choosing PS. cafe for my sister’s birthday meal. I made a reservation at 6.45pm and even left a note that I plan to celebrate my sister’s birthday there. When we arrived, we were brought to our seats in the most crowded section of the relatively empty restaurant. We ordered 2 mains, 1 side and a drink. Waitress asked if we were sharing, we said yes. She commented that the table would be too small for all the sharing plates and food and asked us to be prepared for that. I’m not sure what that was supposed to mean? Was I supposed to remove some orders? Or not share my food? She was about to just walk away after making that remark, without offering us a solution, like moving us to a bigger table. I looked around and noticed the restaurant still had quite a number of tables around. So, I asked her if she could move us to a bigger table. Apparently the best she could to was to move us to a round (instead of square) table at some awkward corner because there was just 2 of us - we were forbidden to take the seats that could accommodate up to 4. Then came the dishes and truly, we were out of space on the table because of the size of the plates. So we just spent our evening eating very carefully trying not to knock anything off the table. And I looked around throughout my dinner, there were still empty seats all around. And a 4 pax table with just 2 diners, comfortably and happily chatting away. Wow, what’s with the difference in treatment? I was ready to splurge and pamper my sister but I felt discriminated instead. Food was not that worth the price either. The spicy prawn aglio oglio was subpar and the roast chicken was a tad too salty for our liking. Above all, I feel too sorry to my sister for choosing a restaurant that couldn’t even provide a comfortable...

The atmosphere at PS CAFE is undeniably great and fantastic, always transporting you to a different world with its modern and relaxed vibe. However, I must express my disappointment in the significant drop in their food quality and service standards, especially considering the price point.

The truffle oil in their truffle fries has noticeably decreased, and the food consistently arrives lukewarm 🫠Whether it's the breakfast set, roast chicken, or pasta, it feels like they have been sitting in the kitchen for some time before being served.

While some of the service staff are new and genuinely try their best, it's the manager who seems to lack leadership and poses a problem. For instance, upon arriving at 8 pm, he greeted us with the question, "Table for 2, here for dinner right?" It's disheartening to receive such a poorly executed welcome conversation, as it sets a negative tone for the entire dining experience.

To make matters worse, when his staff came to the table to surprise my friend with a birthday cake, the manager approached us at the exact same moment to ask for payment. I found myself torn between paying the manager on my left or singing the birthday song and celebrating my friend's special moment on my right. Eventually, I paid first and requested that they prioritize and handle one task at a time in the future.

I have been a patron of PS CAFE since 2013, dating back a decade at Harding Road outlet. It's a brand I have always admired, but I understand that the F&B industry faces challenges in terms of manpower. I sincerely hope that they can address and resolve these issues soon. However, based on my recent 2 experiences, I can only give a...