Address: G/F Unit 3 The Linear Makati, Malugay St. corner Mayapis St., Barangay San Antonio, Makati City
Opening Hours: 7:00 A.M. – 2:00 A.M. (every day)
Telephone: (02) 246-90-69 (ext. 957)
Mobile Number (for delivery): 0915-475-5999
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Metro9-Cafe-524895004330636/
Happy Thursday, everyone! Now that the Chinese New Year is only four days away, we'll be rounding up our remaining posts for the week with — you guessed it — Chinese-Filipino-related articles. We've already touched on that in a previous post (more to come tomorrow!), but for now, we'll concentrate on a Taiwanese third-wave coffee shop: Metro9 Café.
Unlike similar establishments in Makati City, Metro9 is located outside the Central Business District (CBD). Specifically, it's right across Cash and Carry Mall, about three blocks along Malugay Street. And because it (1) markets itself as a maker of Taiwanese blends; (2) has only opened last July 2015; and (3) is still under the radar as far as the larger blogs are concerned, it's the perfect subject for today's review.
The Place
From outside, there's not much that calls attention to the café, other than the logo that wouldn't look out of place in Batman's repertoire. You'll have to go inside to appreciate the uniqueness of this place.
That's because the first thing you'll notice is how open the barista's workstation is. Granted, most cafés have open workstations, but few have it right in the middle of the place, as opposed to taking up one wall or one corner of the room. So no matter where you sit inside the first floor, you can watch the baristas at work. (Metro9 has a second floor, by the way, if you can't find seats in the first floor but don't want to sit outside. No baristas showing off their skills there, though.)
Apart from that, they have the usual coffee shop staples like warm lights, wooden furniture and Wi-Fi. They also like to play music from the year 2000 onwards, rather than the usual jazzy/classical pieces you hear in most coffee shops. If you plan to use the place as a makeshift study hall, consider yourself forewarned.
The Food
For this review, we ordered three items: the Metro9 House Special (Php79, hot, 12oz), the Devil's Cake (Php119) and the Ham and Egg Sandwich (Php79). Since we're already having coffee and dessert, we figured that ordering either a Crème Butter Coffee Bread or Crème Chocoffee Bread would be too much, hence the choice of sandwich.
Opening Hours: 7:00 A.M. – 2:00 A.M. (every day)
Telephone: (02) 246-90-69 (ext. 957)
Mobile Number (for delivery): 0915-475-5999
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Metro9-Cafe-524895004330636/
Happy Thursday, everyone! Now that the Chinese New Year is only four days away, we'll be rounding up our remaining posts for the week with — you guessed it — Chinese-Filipino-related articles. We've already touched on that in a previous post (more to come tomorrow!), but for now, we'll concentrate on a Taiwanese third-wave coffee shop: Metro9 Café.
Unlike similar establishments in Makati City, Metro9 is located outside the Central Business District (CBD). Specifically, it's right across Cash and Carry Mall, about three blocks along Malugay Street. And because it (1) markets itself as a maker of Taiwanese blends; (2) has only opened last July 2015; and (3) is still under the radar as far as the larger blogs are concerned, it's the perfect subject for today's review.
The Place
From outside, there's not much that calls attention to the café, other than the logo that wouldn't look out of place in Batman's repertoire. You'll have to go inside to appreciate the uniqueness of this place.
That's because the first thing you'll notice is how open the barista's workstation is. Granted, most cafés have open workstations, but few have it right in the middle of the place, as opposed to taking up one wall or one corner of the room. So no matter where you sit inside the first floor, you can watch the baristas at work. (Metro9 has a second floor, by the way, if you can't find seats in the first floor but don't want to sit outside. No baristas showing off their skills there, though.)
Apart from that, they have the usual coffee shop staples like warm lights, wooden furniture and Wi-Fi. They also like to play music from the year 2000 onwards, rather than the usual jazzy/classical pieces you hear in most coffee shops. If you plan to use the place as a makeshift study hall, consider yourself forewarned.
The Food
For this review, we ordered three items: the Metro9 House Special (Php79, hot, 12oz), the Devil's Cake (Php119) and the Ham and Egg Sandwich (Php79). Since we're already having coffee and dessert, we figured that ordering either a Crème Butter Coffee Bread or Crème Chocoffee Bread would be too much, hence the choice of sandwich.
It was hard to tell whether the sandwich was fresh or not, considering how much they peppered the ham/egg with spices. Being the optimists that we are, we hope that it was simply an honest mistake, rather than a deliberate attempt to cover up the staleness of the bread!
The Devil's Cake, on the other hand, is exactly as it sounds.
The Devil's Cake, on the other hand, is exactly as it sounds.
With a thick top layer of chocolate fudge lined with tiny Hershey-like bits, a middle layer of cream, and a bottom layer of chocolate, this piece will push your tolerance for sweets to the limit. If you plan to have a strong, bitter cup of coffee, this is the perfect dessert to complete your daily pick-me-up routine.
Of course, we're saving the best for last.
Of course, we're saving the best for last.
Being called a "house special," this made us curious about what it was that made it, well, special. After one sip, though, we feel that the label is well-deserved.
See, most cups of coffee make you take one sip at a time. Not Metro9's House Special, though: This one will make you want to keep sipping and sipping until the cup is drained. It's tinged with a sweet, fruity flavor that's sure to please people who aren't fond of bitter coffee (as odd as that sounds). Unlike other fruit-flavored coffees, the sweetness tastes like a natural part of the drink, rather than something tacked on for the sake of novelty. We highly recommend that you try this one before their other hot drinks.
Aside from coffee, Metro9 also serves cold drinks like frappes and milk teas. Due to certain constraints, however, we weren't able to try those out. If the House Special is anything to go by, however, we're confident that these other beverages will be just as good!
The Service
As expected of coffee shops, the baristas are friendly and helpful. They were more than happy to answer questions about, for example, what areas in Makati their delivery service covers. They also recommended alternative pieces when our intended orders weren't available. (Originally, we wanted to order the "Cake of the Week" instead of the "Devil's Cake.")
We just have one nitpick with the service, though. Initially, we ordered the House Special and the Devil's Cake only. As we mentioned earlier, both of these are sweet, so it was odd that they didn't serve it with a glass of water. Only when we ordered the Ham and Egg Sandwich did we get water.
The Verdict
Being a relatively new coffee shop, it's understandable that Metro9 still has growing pains. Right now, they're still in the process of releasing new products, and we're excited about trying those once they come out. At the moment, we grant them a respectable grade of 8/10.
See, most cups of coffee make you take one sip at a time. Not Metro9's House Special, though: This one will make you want to keep sipping and sipping until the cup is drained. It's tinged with a sweet, fruity flavor that's sure to please people who aren't fond of bitter coffee (as odd as that sounds). Unlike other fruit-flavored coffees, the sweetness tastes like a natural part of the drink, rather than something tacked on for the sake of novelty. We highly recommend that you try this one before their other hot drinks.
Aside from coffee, Metro9 also serves cold drinks like frappes and milk teas. Due to certain constraints, however, we weren't able to try those out. If the House Special is anything to go by, however, we're confident that these other beverages will be just as good!
The Service
As expected of coffee shops, the baristas are friendly and helpful. They were more than happy to answer questions about, for example, what areas in Makati their delivery service covers. They also recommended alternative pieces when our intended orders weren't available. (Originally, we wanted to order the "Cake of the Week" instead of the "Devil's Cake.")
We just have one nitpick with the service, though. Initially, we ordered the House Special and the Devil's Cake only. As we mentioned earlier, both of these are sweet, so it was odd that they didn't serve it with a glass of water. Only when we ordered the Ham and Egg Sandwich did we get water.
The Verdict
Being a relatively new coffee shop, it's understandable that Metro9 still has growing pains. Right now, they're still in the process of releasing new products, and we're excited about trying those once they come out. At the moment, we grant them a respectable grade of 8/10.
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