Pitch Black

Arts Café, that’s what they call themselves.

Tucked away in Haji Lane is Pitch Black, a small café seated comfortably among the role of shophouses. It is not the kind of café that will grab your attention with loud colors, and that is perfectly why I find it cosy. It’s not a big place to speak of, with little space available. However small, I was compensated with a lazy couch to enjoy my drink.

A few steps up the narrow staircase, is their screening room. My first impression was a messy little place, with uncoordinated sofa and seats. Yet, this small screening room is capable of holding up to 30 persons. A very basic setup of a projector and the sound-room hidden in the rear is the source of every screening. Perhaps, it stops only as far as that. If only the place was kept cleaner, and with proper seat arrangement.

If you’re thinking of attending a live show, you will be disappointed. The sound quality is good, but don’t expect the best. The projection is better than our TV, but don’t expect HD quality. The screening room is simply not fitted with equipments to cater to that. But for a minimum food expenditure of SGD$5 to attend a screening free, it’s quite a bargain. For that, don’t demand sound-proof walls like those in theatres.

Pitch Black’s two young staffs are probably the only people you will see behind the counter. Being such a cosy arts café, they are easy to talk to and they will serve your drinks and food right up to your seat while you enjoy your screening. You don’t need to pay big bucks to enjoy that service. Coming to that, I realized I didn’t have a proper place in the screening room to relieve myself from holding on to my drinks and food throughout the entire show.

And yea, only one washroom to cater to the entire place. Be prepared with Queue Singapore.

My verdict? There’s a lot more to do to sufficiently call it an Arts Café.