Food Review: The Mad Sailors

Hey everybody!

Welcome back to a new post for the week! Just want to share with you guys about a cafe that I recently went to at Haji Lane.

So quick context: my friend and I went to the National Library at Bugis to try and complete our assignment for school and 2 hours later, we obviously got hungry. That meant finding a place to eat! We obviously wanted to find a quaint cafe and decided why not Haji Lane?

I always knew Haji Lane to be the place with a lot of graffiti walls and cool cafes and shops, I feel like that is one place in Singapore that just seems so artistic and cool? I finally got the chance to go there today and boy am I impressed!

As we entered Haji Lane, the first thing we saw was this cafe called: THE MAD SAILORS. We saw the sign that said "free wifi and power sockets" and immediately knew this was the place to settle down in. This place is not air-conditioned but its still pretty cooling though. The cafe ambience was overall a very warm feeling, it felt like I just entered someone's home. Hahah. There were photos of different illustration and books that were stacked against the windows for you to read. There were also table lamps for the tables by the window. I'm guessing those would come in useful when the night falls.

We then ordered our food! Wondered what we had? Here are two dishes that we tried!

1. Hunky Dory $14 (part of a meal deal which comes with a free coke or cold brew tea and an apple!)

Only from Mondays to Fridays 12pm-3pm.

Linguine in olive oil, garlic and red chilli with an Angka prawn, mushrooms and shrimps with shaved parmesan.

One word: Mindblown. The pasta was simple amazing! I really loved the prawns they were so fresh and complemented so well with the fried garlic scent. The mushrooms were huge and soft, tasting so good with the linguine. Despite the red chilli, it really wasn't spicy! So fear not if you think this dish is going to burn your tongue haha.

2. Welsh Rarebit $12 (part of a meal deal which comes with a free coke or cold brew tea and an apple!)

Only from Mondays to Fridays 12pm-3pm.

Pulled beef, mild cheddar, tomatoes and watercress with mild cheddar in ciabatta bread.

This just took my breath away... The sandwich was served together with a side of sea salt and vinegar potato chips. This is in all honesty, one of the best sandwiches I have eaten in my life (especially from a cafe). The cheese just went so well with the beef and the bread and it just made me one to take one bite after another. The beef was just the right amount and thank god it was tender. I am especially picky if the beef is hard or if they just stuff too much of it into the sandwich but this one was perfect.

So after eating, I went up to the owner of The Mad Sailor and asked if I could ask her a few questions regarding her cafe so that I could write about it here . It was a virgin experience of talking to someone and asking permission to do a small interview! It was definitely an interesting experience though! I'm glad I did it and went out of my comfort zone because I learnt new things from it.

Here are some things that Hayley, boss of The Mad Sailor shared with us:

So, the owner of The Mad Sailors is Hayley, she is British and you may probably be wondering: why is the shop called The Mad Sailors?

Well, this name originated from the word "Mat Salleh", a colloquial term used by the Malays in the past to refer to the caucasian men. Interesting right? Definitely new knowledge to me haha. Also, Hayley said that when they came up with the name, they felt that it was really fitting because when they got the space to set up this cafe in Haji Lane, it is also in the vicinity of what we know as Beach Road! So with Mad Sailors, definitely the menu was inspired by seafood, fish and chips and more! Hayley said she wanted to bring in British concepts obviously, as she herself is British. By the way, this is a halal cafe! Just a little heads up for you!

So what does Hayley enjoy about starting this cafe?

She mentioned that it is really interesting to get to meet a lot of Singaporeans and foreigners especially when Haji Lane is a tourist spot in Singapore and that she also gets to see a lot of filming being done in the area as well!

(Sometimes she will try to photobomb if possible, I would too.)

However, with all businesses, it is definitely not easy to run one. Hayley said the most difficult thing she has to face is manpower problems. She sets really high expectations for employees who want to work at her cafe and especially when most of her staff are students. But nonetheless, The Mad Sailors have been around for around a year already! In fact it seems to me that business is brisk and good because while I was there, I saw the reservations board getting gradually longer and longer with about 6 reservations for the day! Insane...

Apparently it gets really crowded near the evening, so if you want peace and quiet, I'm suggesting that you come in the afternoon! Overall I would rate this cafe 5/5 because it was really one that met my expectations and made me feel comfortable. Definitely felt the chill vibes.

So make your way to The Mad Sailors today!

Location: 24 Haji Lane Singapore 189217

Opening Hours: Monday to Thursday, 11am to 10pm

Friday, 11am to 11pm

Saturday and Sunday, 10am to 11pm

Hayley, if you are reading this, thank you for allowing me to interview and talk to you! It was really nice to know you!

Yours truly,

Amanda. xoxo