Atelier Royale was one of the experience zones for AFAX, as well as the first Butler Cafe in Singapore.
My first experience of a Butler Cafe (執事喫茶), and its here. From the person who's skeptical about the autheticity of manifestations of such Japanese pop culture in Singapore, saying that i quite enjoyed it would be odd, but yes, i did.
While i'm not too fond of the idea of paying to be treated well, objectification works just as well for both genders, and i thought i'd pop in for the experience of being part of hoity toity high society.
I mean, come on, butlers, BUTLERS.
To say that it wouldn't be right to evaluate them based on my meagre experience in Butler Cafes is an understatement, so reviewing them based on the original criteria isn't going to work cause I've never actually been to one.
What i can say though, is that, despite the insane queue (that wasn't as long as the one for MMK, thank god), and rather pricey food, it was worth it.
Unfortunately because of this, which is possibly the most ironic photo in this post, i didn't manage to get photos of the food, or the interior. Obviously this photo was taken outside.
The butlers were impeccably dressed, the food was decent, and service was, well, butler-ly, as far as i can tell, which isn't really saying anything.
We ordered two strawberry shortcake sets, and one dark chocolate mousse set. Definitely expensive, for about 18SGD. Each set that came with a reasonably large slice of cake, mini fruit tart, some berries on the side, a drizzle of sauce, and a cup of tea. Taste-wise, everything was average, or slightly above that i guess.
Wasn't expecting too much of the food, since it was a mobile event and all, but i did expect prettier tableware. Tableware provided were of the standard all-white plain type, and i'd wanted Royal Albert imitations/lookalikes at least.
Also, the ambience was absolutely destroyed by Mr. "Emcee-with-horrendous-singlish-accent" on the mini stage a short walk away. I'd make comments on the interior design, but a mobile cafe's a mobile cafe. Perhaps if/when they open a physical one, classic polished wood furniture could be considered, as well as pretty tea sets; the ambience and atmosphere makes a huge difference.
Also, the ambience was absolutely destroyed by Mr. "Emcee-with-horrendous-singlish-accent" on the mini stage a short walk away. I'd make comments on the interior design, but a mobile cafe's a mobile cafe. Perhaps if/when they open a physical one, classic polished wood furniture could be considered, as well as pretty tea sets; the ambience and atmosphere makes a huge difference.
There were a set of house rules stuck outside the makeshift walls of the cafe that i found amusing, especially this point:
"Please refrain from any physical contact with the butlers, including during photograph-taking."
It just conjured up images of rabid fangirls flailing and frothing at the mouth. Thinking back, that image sounds a lot more like a zombie apocalypse than anything else. hahah. Then again, if girls go to butler cafes to be princesses for the day, it would be counter productive to behave like an escapee from bedlam, no?
Everything else were generic "no phototaking", and time limit rules (45 minutes per table). People couldn't choose which butler they wanted to serve them, but they could choose which butler they wanted to take photos with, at the price of 5 SGD, and an additional 2 SGD for every extra butler.
Now for the fun part; Butlers.
Firstly, i need to say that i've never had much faith in the appearance of Singaporean boys. Call this a generalisation, but at least 99.99999% of them smell like used locker rooms and look more like a hot mess than actually being hot as in sexy hot. (idk what i'm saying anymore. hahah)
So i was especially skeptical about, y'know local male specimens in an occupation specifically requiring good looking men. All i can say is, they've proved me wrong, though i still do believe that 99.99999% of local men are just undesirable. Despite the fact that i'm probably part of the 99.99999% of women who men think go "DO NOT WANT" at.
Our butler for the day was Hiroshi, though Akira did hang around our table to chat for a bit. I thought the atmosphere would be a lot more aaaaaaaawkward, cause i'd expected a small army of Sebastians (Kuroshitsuji). But they weren't polite to a fault, and it was fun to just sit around, talk, and try not to burst into giggling fits. Both of them being exceptionally friendly was also a plus point on the ratings board. The bells on the tables were a curious touch of authenticity, though i never needed to use it. A true testament to their expertise in pre-empting their customers' requirements; very impressive.
At this point, it should be said that, evaluating people is very strange. Back to the butlers, i know going down on one knee all the time would probably have hurt a bit, since there seemed to be a neverending stream of customers, but thank goodness for that cause even with heels, i need to look up to speak to them. Proof of how tall they were and my deplorable height. OTL.
My friend and sister did express that it was rather uncomfortable to be addressed "Ojou-sama". This is extremely subjective, because i didn't have any problem with it.
I like to think that, once you're in an establishment as such, the best thing to do would be letting go of all predisposed expectations of waiters and waitresses. Instead, play pretend. If anything, it's good for a short break from school/coursework/life as a whole. That's the main idea of Butler Cafes, or Maid Cafes, it would seem. Bridging the gap between reality and fantasy, and bringing a little of that fantasy to life.
In short, the ambience was subpar, but i suppose it couldn't be helped, the food was pretty okay, and the Butlers exceeded expectations, which is great, considering this was their debut appearance and all. It seemed like they were well received by patrons.
Though the event is over, if you're interested, feel free to head over to the official AFAX page for Atelier Royale or their facebook page.
disclaimer: blogger has not proofread this, also, feel free to correct any inaccuracies by dropping a comment below.
I'll leave you with a badly taken photo of myself and the furtail i cannot stop molesting.
Flying off to Korea tomorrow morning!
Will try to blog over there, but i'm not bringing my laptop, so new blogposts are highly unlikely.
Till next time!~
