Baang Coffee

Baang Coffee 
Tomas Morato 
Quezon City 

After a heavy dinner, I wanted to wash down the food with coffee or tea, but didn’t want to go someplace over-the-top like Starbucks. In my head, I wanted to seek temporary caffeinated refuge in a hole-in-the-wall restaurant, preferably with quaint mismatched tables and ivy vines creeping up the iron-wrought windows. But I don’t think there are any affordable cafes like that in the Tomas Morato area. Baang Coffee, seeming strangely welcoming and non-judgmental, was our final destination for coffee then.



Ambience
Had this place been around a university area, I wouldn’t be surprised to find it teeming with college-age people lugging kilos’ worth of textbooks around. It’s in Tomas Morato though, so most of its customers seemed to be people who just wanted to get away from the neon lights of the rest of the area, to actually converse seriously. I like the layout, although we weren’t able to properly see the second floor. There is an option for al fresco dining, too. Given it’s in the side of Tomas Morato that doesn’t seem too rowdy, opting to stay outside doesn’t seem very dangerous either.

Food
I actually really just wanted coffee, so I only got an M-sized Café Mocha. There were cakes and assorted bread with filling though, so it’s really got most stuff students need to pull all-nighters. I don’t have very good taste buds, and I can’t differentiate coffee varieties very well, but I didn’t hate their flavor. It wasn’t too bitter, but even with half a pack of brown sugar it wasn’t too sweet for my sweetness-averse preferences.

Budget
You can find coffee under PhP100, but if you’re planning to stay there for a long time, bring more. There are coffees over that price, and a considerable number of options under it, too, but the most affordable samples come in S-sizes. Most stuff beyond M aren’t friendly to the traditional UP student budget.

Service
I spilled some water on the floor after tinkering with a display mug that had Ara Mina’s name on it, and when I told the lady at the cash register she actually took me seriously and went to get a mop. I like how they seem to devote time and attention to the preparation of their coffee. Serving my Mocha cup wasn’t just a one-minute flurry of activity – I saw the barista making almost amusing and fluid movements with the large, silver equipment, and because of that I didn’t quite mind that it took about five-minutes to have my take out order completed.

Even after we got my Mocha, M and I decided to stay and watch the digital ads, because one of the running commercials had Horoscopes for December 2012. The rest of the digital commercials were cute. We actually learned things, like statistics of average Filipino consumerist behavior.

Recommended for 
People who don’t really like entering Starbucks branches for various reasons. It’s a cozy place, and it’s very laid back, so there’s no pressure at all to look sophisticated or cool. You can do pretty much whatever you want to, including waiting for your Horoscope to come out on a TV flashing digital ads.

Website
Baang Coffee on Facebook

Photo Credits
Baang Coffee on Facebook