Courtyard Paw Party :: Second Edition

The Courtyard at Raffles Hotel began to welcome pets on the last Sunday of the odd month. I was really pleased about it. It's not an everyday affair, but it would do. The first edition of the Courtyard Paw Party began in November 2025, and the second was just this Sunday past. Reservations are an absolute must. 

I'm not exactly there for the pop-up vendors; about four to five of them. Shopping isn't exactly my interest and most of things for floofs are very colourful and very frilly, and totally not my aesthetics. I refuse to dress Choya in gaudy garb. I'm there at the Courtyard for the fact that I can have lunch in a comfortable space and my dog is welcomed to sit with. 

Now, pro-tip, please bring portable fans of your own, otherwise it's unbearable to be plastered in perspiration within 15 minutes of arrival. The venue has tried to keep the design in mind and installed fans within, but these fans are too small and ineffectual against our brutal heat and humidity. In this breezy and 'cooler' season, the wind doesn't come in to this venue. It sits within a courtyard, literally, and it's in the stale square since the wind is blocked. I brought three fans and we were quite okay.

I'm not sure I'd return to the Courtyard for future editions of the Paw Party unless the friends want to, and we simply make up a table and have a chat. The menu at lunch has been tweaked, and looking through the list of items, I'm not exactly hot about them. I was rather upset with the Courtyard's interpretation of laksa. We went at lunchtime (the lunch menu is from noon to 2pm) so there would be more items available. However, the expected Singapore laksa wasn't on the menu at all. Even the tea-time 2-6pm menu didn't offer that. They took it off the menu entirely. 

The menu offered laksa as 'laksa alla chittara'. I absolute disliked it. It was utterly disappointing. Luckily I didn't order it as a full portion. I had it in a bundle that came with beef rendang and fried mantou, and spicy tiger prawns. However, the chicken fried rice was splendid. I wasn't expecting such good wok-hei in a non-greasy version. It's just... A LOT OF CARBS.