It was quiet in the otherwise busy business district of Taguig. Understandably so—it was Sunday. Offices were closed and so were most restaurants. What was our business being in Bonifacio Global City on a non-business day? The Mind Museum. But before that, we had to have lunch (brains don't work on an empty stomach and we expect scientific info overload at The Mind Museum). We picked Kuppa Roastery & Cafe from the handful that were open for business.
CommerCenter Bldg.
31st St. corner 4th Ave.
Fort Bonifacio Global City, Taguig
(02) 623 5120
Operating hours
Sun-Thu 7AM-11PM
Fri-Sat 7AM-12MN
From the outside, Kuppa looks like a coffee shop. It is a coffee shop: Kuppa has coffee, tea, breakfast, cakes, and pastries. But it's a coffee shop that also offers salad, soup, pizza, entrée, sandwich, pasta, and gelato. If not for the writings on their glass walls announcing their menu, I would have dismissed it as just another café.
We ordered pasta (Arrabiata and Puttanesca), pizza (Prosciutto Cotto e Funghi), and cold drinks (Genmaicha Matcha Iri and Paradiso Melange fruit tisane). The pasta portions were good for one. The Arrabiata, according to their menu, is "the 'angry' pasta flavored with tomato, chili, garlic." Puttanesca has anchovies, capers, olives, tomato, and garlic. The twelve-inch pizza is topped with cooked ham and mushrooms. Genmaicha Matcha Iri is green tea. Paradiso Melange fruit tisane (herbal tea) is an infusion of apples, hibiscus, strawberry, and kiwi.
Arrabiata (left) and Puttanesca (right)
Prosciutto Cotto e Funghi
Genmaicha Matcha Iri (left) and Paradiso Melange fruit tisane (right)
How was the food?
He said: The Arrabiata tastes really plain and somehow tastes like sardines.
She said: No way! It's absolutely good. Nothing like I have tried before. And it's spicy. I like that it's spicy, though not as "angry" as the menu claims it to be.
He said: Puttanesca...mmm...anchovies! Capers! Olives! Tomato! And garlic! Mmm...mmm...mmm!
She said: I find their Puttanesca very salty.
He said: The pizza is all right. Nothing fancy.
She said: I like it. Maybe because of the mushrooms. I love mushrooms on pizza.
How were the drinks?
He said: My Genmaicha tastes like seaweeds. Tsk tsk.
She said (after taking a sip of Genmaicha): Tastes like green tea to me!
She said: My fruit tisane tastes weird. Let me pour a shot of sugared water on it... Now that's better. Good drink.
He said (after taking a sip of tisane): Juice.
What did we think of the prices?
This is one thing we agreed on: expensive!
How Kuppa cost us a whole lotta moolah:
Prosciutto Cotto e Funghi Php290
Puttanesca Php230
Arrabiata Php190
Genmaicha Matcha Iri Php100
Paradiso Melange fruit tisane Php130
+8% service charge