Excellent House Rules at Bailey & Patch Pet Cafe

I'm very iffy about stepping into pet cafes. After all, ill-disciplined unleashed dogs and unreasonable owners seem to like these places, and the food almost always is terrible. After all the hype, I decided to brave one visit to this social enterprise cafe at Enabling Village. 

We went to check out Bailey & Patch. It was really quite conveniently located with plenty of parking available on a week day at 12.45pm. Once you drive in, turn right and go on to the end of the road. The cafe is located on the right corner at far side of the Village. 

I was really pleased to see Bailey & Patch's house rules for pets prominently displayed with excellent copywriting. What a pleasure to read. It advocated space for the dogs, and requested owners to be responsible. All dogs are to be leashed; no random wandering about. That's great because it isn't just a pet cafe. Its menu ensures that it gets a steady flow of diners at lunch from the nearby offices.

I was just bemused by this elderly lady who was walking ahead of us with a limp and a walking stick. I wasn't in a hurry to over-take her. Choya was happily sniffing around the grass patches and pillars. We kept a safe distance behind and didn't rush her. 

We realised that she was headed to the bistro as well. For lunch, presumably. At the entrance, she turned around to ask if Choya was friendly and if she would bite. She said she was scared of dogs. 

I was like, 'walao Auntie, you do know that you're entering a pet cafe right?' I didn't say that out loud of course. Instead I said, "She's very sweet and friendly. She doesn't bite." I paused. "Unless you make her angry." 

In response, the elderly lady looked damn disgruntled, and muttered something under her breath and shuffled into the cafe. I happen to have very sharp hearing. I heard it, but let it slide. Why bother. People who are dumb would remain obstinately dumb. 

We were pleasantly surprised that the food at Bailey & Patch is actually decent! We ordered food to share, and went easy on the carbs. The claypot sesame oil chicken was delicious, and less salty and less oily than those at the zi char restaurants. I only wished it held more spring onions. Heh. I was very extra and very happy with the way the spam (or luncheon meat) was sliced and served. For S$4.80, it was wonderful. 

Added the bok choi. I liked it that the gravy/sauce was poured in separately at the table, so that I could control the volume. Next time I'd request to skip the sauce. Blanched vegetables are just lovely for me. Skip the nasi lemak-anything. It's nasi lemak cina; very forgettable — the lemak cannot make it, the sambal is a mega fail. 

The drinks were okay too. The Milo-peng was done quite thick and satisfying. I had nothing to complain about my glass of iced lemon-honey. I'm just so happy that it offers Asian dishes instead of the usual fried foods and eeeky items so typical of middling cafes. We were there to try the food more so than the bakes. I'm not keen on sugar, so I'm not even bothered to try the desserts. But the man was more than happy to get a small box of brownies to-go.