Review of Tampines SAFRA BBQ Pit
Pictures of Tampines SAFRA BBQ Pit when you need it… Because there aren’t any out there.
The reason for this post came about because I was looking around for pictures solely showing more of SAFRA Tampines BBQ pits, but I couldn’t find any decent ones at all. You know how when you plan for outdoor activities in Singapore, you either find a sheltered area within a minute if not mere seconds’ sprint away, or you have a wet weather plan in mind should Mother Nature offer sky juice samples on that day. And like all mothers, they don’t take no for an answer when they shower you with unconditional love.
I wanted to put my membership to good use, at the same time find a pit that provides adequate shelter from the rain. From previous visits there, I faintly remember the BBQ area to be rather special, as you have to climb the stairs to a second level, and then I can’t remember how far the shelter overhead can reach.
After our staycation at Quincy Hotel, we went ahead to prepare the BBQ. In the spirit of adventure, more so due to lack of intel on hand despite having Google at my disposal, I booked Pit 1 online a few weeks back.
“What are the chances that one pit is under shelter, and the other isn’t?” I thought. Behold the pictures taken on that day. It was an unexpected outcome after all.
On The Ground
Surprise surprise! Pit 1 is only covered by shelter to the visuals of the stretched lining of bubble gum that’s on the verge of bursting.
Pit 2 on the other hand…
Interesting pit design, among others I have used. Upon closer inspection, you may see that there are two levels above the charcoal tray. Initially I wanted to use it like the steamer concept, cooking two types of food over two levels. Hey, I’m proud of my roots as a dim sum connoisseur who is used to seeing bamboo steamers stacked together.
Lucky Mr Lee, he got the pit that’s 100% rainproof while ours is… Relative to theirs… A little over 50%?
But like most things in life, there’s the give and take component, because we have the bar counter for extra storage. A place for music to play with little fear of getting drinks spilled on the speakers.
Some random guy looking to score his third strike over at Orchid Bowl.
Dayum.
That’s how you leverage on body weight to bend the grill to your favour. For the additional height, the length doesn’t match conventional pits – at least 3 inches shorter so we had to bend the grill to fit snugly.
I like that the pit is self sufficient with the tap just beside it for easy cleaning. There are no less than 6 power sockets on the level to ensure you can power speakers and charge devices. Not in the rain of course.
Do you spot one power socket in the wild?
Eventual use of the different layers of the pit. The added height probably prevents damage to the concrete, rather than fitting another layer of food for cooking.
Plenty of seating room, for 11 people. There was probably room for 18 people just on our side. Unless your neighbour is having a huge party, there’s no stopping you from pulling more chairs over.
Awesome dessert.
Pit 1 allows us to put our stuff behind the counter to avoid the punishing effect of sunlight, at our own risk of course. Though the sign said 5pm onwards but there was no event before us so we placed our Styrofoam boxes there first. From 3pm onwards. That’s because the BBQ delivery was way earlier than expected. Good thing I live nearby to make arrangements to sign off for the stuff. That’s one thing about BBQ delivery – convenience comes at a price. The wide range of delivery timing between 2pm to 4pm makes it tough to plan exactly as you would like. Fortunately Grabcar was having a good deal for their owner’s wedding, giving Uber a run for its money that weekend.
Conclusion
If you’re looking to have a BBQ under shelter, then Pit 2 will be the obvious choice over at Tampines SAFRA. In fact, I will likely have future ones there as well. But if you can stomach the risk of wet weather, and would rather have the bar counter to yourself, then by all means ignore the recommendation. Hope these photos are useful for you to better understand the ground situation over at Tampines SAFRA without having to conduct a ground recce. Feel free to share this post with anyone looking to have events there.
Altogether now!
Most crucial action before anything – seeking the blessing of the cat goddess for good weather.