Sometimes, your standard commercial coffee shop that’s around every corner isn’t enough for a business meeting, a friendly hangout, or a family treat. There are times where you need more than just standard coffee and a premade, quickly-heated snack and you need to upgrade that to some specialty coffee drinks and a good, filling meal. Here are five of our favorite café-restaurants in the Metro that offer more than a typical coffee shop:
1. Burnt Bean
Burnt Bean’s menu offers a variety of flavors and cuisines, from French and American to Japanese and Mediterranean. According to them, what brings their menu together is that their food is touched by smoke and wood-fire. A spin-off of restaurant Holy Smokes BBQ, it is their wood-fire grilled items that are worth tasting, but their limited Potato Pave with Truffle Foam (served to only a few customers a day) is most excellent. Pair your meal with specialty coffee drinks like their Coconut Latik Latte or Manuka Honey Latte.
Locations: Taguig and Mandaluyong
2. Del Unión Coffee & Civics
If you’ve been to La Union, you might know well-known local coffee shop El Union. Their branch in BGC named Del Unión offers many of the same coffee drinks (made of local coffee blends) and their signature horchata drinks. They also offer delicious, made-to-order sandwiches, some with distinctly Filipino flavors like Toasted Longganisa and Tinapa Paté that you can enjoy in their retro seating area.
Location: Taguig
3. The Fat Seed Café + Roastery
The Fat Seed is definitely a must-visit place if you’re looking for great comfort food and specialty coffee made from locally-sourced beans that are roasted in-house. You won’t go wrong with any of their coffee options, whether that’s a Spanish Latte or an Espresso. For the food, they offer so many options like all-day breakfast or tons of different pasta dishes, but our favorite that really hits the spot is the Wagyu Pares.
Locations: Quezon City, Taguig, and Makati
4. Panco Café
Panco Café describes themselves as bringing the Australian café experience to the shores of the Philippines and giving it a Filipino touch. This blend of Melbourne coffee culture and Filipino cuisine makes for a very interesting and delicious combo. Have their Melbourne-sourced coffee drinks and signature iced coffee (like the Tiramisu Latte) with Filipino favorites like Inasal or Kaldereta that you can order Filipino style (i.e. with rice) or Melbourne style (i.e. as a sandwich).
Locations: Mandaluyong and Makati
5. INT.Bar / EXT.Café
In case your get-together stretches a little later into the night, INT.Bar / EXT.Cafe has you covered. This quaint space starts off as a café starting at 9AM then the bar area opens up at around 5PM. Hearty meals make up the food menu, but the highlight, as you may have gathered from their name, is that they serve film-inspired coffee and cocktails. There’s no other place to have a “La La Land” coffee (espresso with black currant syrup and berries) followed by a “Parasite” cocktail (with Peach soju and chili-infused vodka).
Location: Quezon City