Celebrity Life

Aesthetic cafés around the metro and beyond to visit in the new normal

By Dianne Mariano

Looking for a change of scenery with a great cup of coffee and scrumptious dishes? Cafés are the way to go.

During quarantine, everyone is advised to remain indoors to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. It's been more than a year since the pandemic started and people are increasingly becoming more impatient and itching to go out to try new things and eat at new restaurants.

Luckily, several local cafés around the metro and neighboring provinces are open to serve customers. Skip the coffee chains and try out local cafes that offer cozy ambiance paired with delicious food and great quality coffee.

If you're on the lookout for pretty hangout spots, check out these aesthetically pleasing and minimalist cafés around the metro and beyond for your next coffee run.

Kale Café + Restaurant

This hidden gem lies in the small neighborhood of Fairview, Quezon City, and offers great coffee, unique dishes, and a cozy environment to its guests.

Established in July 2018, Kale Café + Restaurant is committed to providing the best and unique dining experience to their customers as well as building meaningful interactions with them.

Kale Café + Restaurant's best-selling specialty coffee are Spanish Latte (P150), Butterscotch Latte (P160), and Horchata (P125). They also offer heavenly hot meals like Baked Salted Egg Penne (P229)and Salmon Donburi (P285).

This local cafe also offers indoor and al fresco dining and follows health protocols to ensure everyone's safety.

Prominent

Launched in 2017, Prominent greets guests with an inviting ambiance with its clean and minimalist design and big windows to allow natural light to come through.

This local café uses quality ingredients and creates its own delicious concoctions rather than using commercial flavors.

Try their top-selling products like Chocnut Mocha (P150), Caramel Latte (P150), or Coconut Latte (P150).

Elevate your dining experience and pair any of these drinks with their Grilled Cheese (P260), Mushroom Truffle Cream Pasta (P280), or Butter Garlic Shrimp (P280).

Located at D. Tuazon, Quezon City, Prominent also offers limited dine-in and alfresco dining.

Inarawan

This beautiful café began as a pop-up store in Barangay Inarawan in Antipolo City that only operated during Sundays. The owners, Paul Torzar Nicolette Gutierrez, took the name “Inarawan” and transformed their bakeshop into a coffee shop.

This local café puts a lot of love and dedication in every cup of joe they brew and the flavor of Philippine coffee shines through.

Situated in Marikina City, Inarawan, which means Light of the Sun, has a black-themed design as the owners believe that there is always beauty and light in darkness.

Inarawan offers specialty coffees like Spanish Latte (P110) for 12oz (hot), Caramel Macchiato (P110) for 12 oz (hot), or Benguet Arabica (P70). Paired any of these beverages with their delicious desserts like Oreo cheesecake or leche flan cheesecake for P170 per slice.

They currently operate at 50% seating capacity for indoor dining and make sure to wear a face mask before entering the premises.

Kalinaw Coffee

Located at West Triangle, Quezon City, this rustic-industrial-themed café offers the best of both worlds for coffee and wine lovers alike.

This local coffee shop aims to give the impression of "whoever you are, you are always welcome in our local coffee shop” to customers and passersby with their simple yet flexible design.

Kalinaw Coffee offers great quality coffee flavors like caramel macchiato and cafe mocha, as well as cold brew by the bottle, fancy gift bags, and drip boxes.

They also help other small business owners by giving space in their shop where they display different local brands.

If you're still hesitant to go outside, here are some online cafés to satisfy your craving for caffeinated drinks.

The Kula Press

This online café was started by three sisters, Ashley, Alexi, and Tasha Cantong, during the pandemic and aims to provide not only great coffee but also to establish strong connections and unique relationships with their customers.

Get a taste of The Kula Press's crowd-favorite drinks like French vanilla, caramel dolce, or macadamia latte for P100 each. For teas, they also offer apple rose tea, tres marias, and lychee berry for P80 each.

Perk Up Coffee

This local brand's goal is to spread eco-consciousness and make use of reusable glass bottles for their specialty coffees.

Perk Up Coffee also uses eco-bags rather than single-use plastic for their deliveries as a way to contribute to sustainable business operations.

What makes this small online café unique is that they use single origin Kalinga Robusta in all of their coffee products.

Try Perk Up coffees best-sellers like the Long Black (P90), Spanish latte (P135), and strawberries and cream (Php 135). Milk-based drinks and tea lattes are also available for P130 to P140 per bottle.

For more lifestyle content, head over to GMA's Lifestyle page.

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