Not Your Typical Cheese Store

By PAMELA

When we say cheese, no not at the camera but those you can eat, which are the cheese can you think of? It'll probably be the ones you can find at supermarket stores such as Kraft cheese or The Laughing Cow (that red cheerful cow with a pair of earrings), or maybe parmesan or mozzarella cheeses. However, the types of cheeses do not stop there.
In fact, there are cheeses that may be dying out there and so The Cheese Ark brings in these rare cheeses to save them from phasing out, just like the story behind the Noah's Ark and that explains the reason behind the name of the store.
Read on to find out about my discovery about this cheesy business.

So on Monday (17th June), Weisze and I headed to the recently opened and highly featured food place, Pasar Bella at Turf City, which is now The Grandstand.
Our excitement got us carried away when we're planning to make our first visit there, and we realized we did not know how to get there so after Weisze, who is much better with directions, did some research and found out they have FREE shuttle bus services DAILY:

Newton MRT (Bus Stop no. B40181)
7 Botanic Gardens MRT (Bus Stop no. B41021)
Toa Payoh MRT (Bus Stop no. B52189)
(You may check the shuttle bus schedule at the site as well)

So yes, we met at the designated bus stop at Toa Payoh, engulfed in the hazy weather condition and hopped onto the shuttle bus that arrived punctually.

Don't mind our faces, it felt like a mini excursion to us so we were exhilarated.

Turf City is now The Grandstand and Pasar Bella is located at the North Grandstand.
Once you enter Pasar Bella, you don't feel that you're in Singapore at all, the concept is similar to Marché and Medz, just that you don't buy your food with a card, inside are independent stores which means, you pay for your food at the particular store's cashier.

So we roamed around, and a neon signboard that writes 'THIS WAY TO RARE CHEESE' (First photo) caught my tastebuds (This explains why the little rat chef from Ratatouille is my idol). So we followed the sign, looked to the right and there's a corridor that leads us to the shop, 'The Cheese Ark'.

Along the corridor are seats and tables stacked with wooden planks, and walls that looks like hay filled with photographs of cows, goats, farms, farmers and of course, cheeses.



The corridor leads us to the store, on the left are shelves of cheese related merchandises such as various cheese knives, jelly that goes well and even perfect with cheese according to the owner, Ms. Syu, of course they have crackers, and even handmade tote bags with the store's logo printed on it.
However, "don't just look at the inedible, look at the edible" this is what Ms. Syu says whenever her customers first browse her merchandises instead of the various cheeses she displayed on the table top.
She invites customers to try her cheeses, for free. Yes, tell her your preferences and she will find the perfect cheese to your satisfaction, even if it takes more than three tries, she is still determined to find the right cheese for you. At the corner of the table top, there are several cheeses in cubes on a parchment paper with their names written and age on it for customers to sample.

If you're planning to have your cheese at Pasar Bella, Ms. Syu will ask her customers if they want to have their cheese platter served with a glass of wine (that's if you are at a legal age to drink). She doesn't have a wine cellar neither nor she offers a wide range of wine, in fact she got her wine from the wine shop just a few steps away from The Cheese Ark.
I had an interview with Ms. Syu for more than an hour that day because the interview has to halt when there are customers and I even went back the next day for more questions and she's really nice and spontaneous. Well, right now I'm still in the midst of painstakingly transcribing the interviews, since the second attempt took well, almost two hours as well.

But here are some background story of the store. The Cheese Ark imports rare cheeses directly from Europe that are on the brink of extinction by time and evolution besides just artisanal cheese and the store lives by, "Eat the Cheese, Save the Cheese".

So remember, The Cheese Ark only caters rare cheeses you can't find anywhere else, so don't ask for mozzarella or parmesan.

I bought their cheese and cracker!

I got the Campino Al Pepe Nero (112 grams / $11.75 not inclusive of GST). I asked Ms. Syu if there's a cheese that's smoother and slightly less strong in taste than Gouda and after two tries, she got me in love with this! It tasted exactly what I was looking for, smooth, not a strong flavour yet not too creamy that makes you feel sinful and guess what, it has pepper in it! Yes, The Cheese Ark carries rare cheeses in a way that the cheese makers from Europe make their cheeses according to their own style so don't go into the store to ask for a list of cheese names because it isn't possible to have one. Cheese makers make their cheeses according to what taste they want it to be, and they even name their cheeses after themselves or their wives.

I'll definitely go back for the same cheese on my next visit!

The Cheese Ark
PasarBella @ The Grandstand Bukit Timah Singapore 200 Turf Club Road Singapore 287994