This is the 1st overseas maid cafe report as well as my 1st "wandering" overseas report.

(If you have difficulty reading English(...MUHAHA(^^)), please refer to the Japanese version in my own blog.)

Cosafe has been running for over two years. I think that it can be said to be "The most successful maid cafe" outside of Japan because most overseas maid cafes failed to keep their business. In Bangkok/Thailand, both Akiba and "Pinafore Bangkok" has already closed down in 2008 respectively. In Shanghai, @Niaohai was closed down with the reason of relocating to somewhere else.

First of all, I'd like to introduce its history.

[2006: What's Cosafe?, background history]
In 2006, Cosafe was opened in Singapore. Its founder is a girl named Ferlyn "Yoshimi" Tan. What's amazing was that she was only sixteen years old back then.

When she took part in the World Cosplay Summit/Nagoya[2006] as one of Singapore's representative, she was inspired to open a local version of maid cafe in her own country...

For further info, Please see the following articles, which was written in its startup era.

A. Interview by Japanese IT news: ITmedia[JP-only]
B. SG anime blogger's review(by ADD, and bj0rn)
C. My own report[JP-only, PART-1, PART2]

<2007: Cosafe minor update>
 In 2007, Cosafe had a minor update. It dramatically beefed up its menu, and increased the food menu and alcoholic beverages offerings(*1). It changed the
name from "Cosafe maid cafe" to "Cosafe maid bar & restaurant" along with its menu renewal.

 (For further info, Please refer to photo-rich reviews[by Zer0, and Windbell])

 This year, Ferlyn-san/maid-in-chief left Singapore for Tokyo/Japan( for a year[s] long Japanese language training/studying).

<2008>
Finally, This is my overall impression. During my Singapore stay in this May, I went to Cosafe several times.(To the point where the manager could identify me easily (^^;)

This is my the 1st visit after its minor update. Although its decor is almost as the same as before, its menu is really like a fine dining restaurant rather than a typical Japanese maid cafe. I'm a little bit surprised at seeing such a long wine list(Please see photo).

I also had two other surprises (^^;. One was seeing Ferlyn-san whom I couldn't meet in Singapore during my previous trip. According to her, She eventually came back to Singapore during the Japanese Golden Week holidays. Two was that she had a great(?) command of ギャル語(gyaru-go(*2), [Girly Japanese]).

Here's my short summary/review.
(Note: full marks is *****)

[Location: *****]
Excellent, Chijmes is a renovated historical building, and stands right in the center of CBD area. You can easily walk from the MRT station.

[Atmosphere: ***+]
The atmosphere is like an upmarket restaurant. Its lighting is very dim. Most seats are outside or in the courtyard as many other Chijmes restaurants. If you don't like the hot weather, this may be a weak point.

[Foods: ****]
I ordered non-alcoholic drinks, a soup, a salad, pasta, and a dessert in all. Everything I ordered was very good. Here's an example of the pricing: A smoothie and a cake is about S$15. A bowl of soup, a salad, and a pasta is about S$30 in all. I don't think that it's too expensive for its premier location.

[Staff's attitude/Service: ****+]
Near perfect. It's a huge plus that taking the maids' photo is allowed on request. The waitresses' service is prompt/reliable, and they never forget to smile(^^). Its infamous slow service was completely gone. But they have no Akiba-style Moe service. If you were expect it, you may be disappointed.
Their uniforms are all maid costumes, but each waitresses' costumes are all different from each other.

(From the left to the right, Xuehui-san, Ferlyn-san[maid-in-chief], and Luel-san) Ferlyn-san's uniform looks like Akihabara's @Home cafe's maid costume.

[English availability: *****]
Of course, I can give full marks unconditionally(^^).

[Overall: ****]
Although It's very different from a genuine Akihabara maid cafe, I think that Cosafe is a very good (mass market-aimed) restaurant rather than a niche maid cafe. Ironically, it seemed to be the secret recipe for their success that they dared to exclude the Akiba-ness(*3)

[Note]
1) I think, this is because rent (in Singapore) is dramatically increasing during recent years. Many long-run shops, and even cash-rich foreign expats are quietly evacuating from the CBD area to suburban area. The room charge of most hotels in the CBD area has also doubled or tripled since the SARS outbreak era.

2) Gyaru-go[Girly Japanese, The counterpart of tweet English] is still controversial in Japan. If a girl fully speaks Gyaru-go, I may not able to understand what she is saying. Gyaru-go is used in both spoken and written Japanese. For example, The female Japanese magician: Princess Tenko's(*3) blog is notorious for its girly Japanese(^^;. (How old Princess Tenko is ?(^^;;, But It's commercially correct. She is a witch, seventeen years old forever --- MUHAHA)

3) She is formally known as The 2nd Hikita Tenko.

4) This may be a point that both restaurant and client can agree. For example, Kitchen Mogu-Mogu（キッチン　もぐもぐ） in SG adopted a Japanese anime/maid cafe themed uniform (please see photo in my own blog[JP-only]). Kissa Koyotei（喫茶・紅葉亭）in Penang/Malaysia also chose this kind of uniform (please see  report1-EN[by Shin], report2-EN[by hostplay], and my own report[JP-only]). But Kitchen Mogu-Mogu and Kissa Koyotei is not a maid cafe at all.

[Cafe/Restaurant DATA]
Name    : Cosafe, Maid bar & restaurant
Address : 30 Victoria St., #01-11 Chijmes, Singapore 187996
Phone   : +65-6339-2276
Business time: 15:00 to 26:00, 7D/W
Near station : MRT City Hall
Official HP  : Still under construction
Contact : floyd@cosafe.com.sg

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don777: An Otaku ippiki in Tokyo

[JP]  http://don777.cocolog-nifty.com/

[EN] http://don777-ax.cocolog-nifty.com/
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