One rainy afternoon, foodtripbuddy and I were again on the search for a coffee shop. It was already closing time at the library and we needed to find a new place to work at (plus, I was a bit hungry). I remembered that there’s this curious place along Maginhawa St. that I have long been looking for. I didn’t know exactly where it was and I was thinking that we could just ask around for it. Unfortunately, the rain made it quite difficult and inconvenient to stop by people on the street and inquire. And so, we ended up at this nice looking cafe, still along Maginhawa St.
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| Cafe Quezon picture taken from www.spot.ph |
Whenever I and my friends drive along Maginhawa St., this cafe never fails to catch my eye. I don’t know if it’s because of its wide glass panels, or its white name display, or its peculiar spot between two residential houses. But whatever it may be, I have always deemed the place to be quite expensive. To me, it looked too much classy and clean to be affordable. But because I and foodtripbuddy have already agreed to go for the next nearest cafe, I thought it was time to finally give the place a try.
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| Interior of Cafe Quezon |
The cafe wasn’t that small but it was a bit crowded. There was that extra table (can be seen in the picture) set awkwardly in the middle which made it difficult and inconvenient to get to the back tables. Other than that, the shop housed rattan-metal chairs, soft brown couches, and wooden benches which all gave it its modern Filipino theme. The interior was really simple, with only this
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pot holders from different tourist spots pinned on a rattan background with a wooden frame
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and another ethnic display on the other side as wall decors, but it was good enough.
As its name suggests, the cafe specializes in delicacies from Quezon Province. Its menu consists of different dishes with longganisa as its main ingredient. Foodtripbuddy ordered
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| Longganisa Spaghetti (P95) |
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| and Coffee Float (P50). |
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| Chicken Honey Mustard Sandwich (P75) |
They were good in terms of presentation and even better when it comes to taste. The Longganisa Spaghetti surprisingly held its flavours in a sumptuous combination. The tomato sauce wasn’t too strong, the noodles were perfectly firm, and the longganisa discreetly melded with everything else. We even tried putting vinegar into it and the taste was still amazing. One flaw is that there wasn’t enough sauce. Maybe it was really made that way to make one craving for more.
Similarly, the Sandwich I ordered was equally (if not better) good. The Honey Mustard Sauce is what brings out the taste. Although there was enough sauce on it, the bread itself was too small. Maybe that fact also serves the same purpose.
Meanwhile, the Coffee Float wasn’t outstanding. The flavour of the ice cream was too faint that the drink seemed to be just black coffee instead of a float. Moreover, the initial temperature of the coffee was too hot that even though the cold ice cream had already dissolved into it, it remained hot and awkwardly drinkable.
Overall, the place served good food. It had a vast menu for appetizers, meals, desserts and drinks that it seemed to be more of a cosy restaurant than a chill-out coffee shop. Although I do appreciate cafes with real food to eat, I believe that one that offers too many options isn’t really a coffee shop anymore; rather, it’s a small restaurant with wiFi, comfortable seats, and a lot of caffeine drinks. Moreover, the waiters were quite inattentive. It was a challenge to call on someone because they weren’t really “waiting on” their customers but were busy preparing orders in the kitchen.
Anyway, I’d still recommend it as a good place for online/computer work. Internet is free and charging of laptops is free for the first 30 minutes and P50 afterwards.
Cafe Quezon
179 Maginhawa St., Sikatuna Village, Q. C.
Mon-Sat 9:30am-9:30pm
Php45-200
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