Manila's University Belt is teeming with surprises these days - restaurants and cafes that offer such delightful food and drinks including various coffee concoctions. Last Saturday, my foodie discovery amazed me with such creative drinks that were eye candies and possibly a gift to the taste buds. I'm talking about Beyond Coffee on P. Paredes St, Sampaloc, Manila, near the corner with Espana Blvd. It is near both UST and FEU and opened just three months ago. My eldest daughter actually discovered it on Facebook. I looked it up and seeing those colorful drinks served in curvaceous glasses got me
so interested and wanting to go! So there I was for lunch, together
with my eldest and youngest kids.
And we had:
 |
| Herbed Pork Chop a la King, P155. |
 |
| Fried Chicken Barbecue, P155. |
 |
| Pesto Carbonara, P155. |
 |
Cheesecake frappe, P135. 
Sola Iced Tea, P65
|
 |
| Java Chips (This wasn't our order; I snapped at it at the counter) |
 |
| Our lunch |
Counter
Interiors
 |
| Hahaha! |
The names of my kids' orders got me a little confused: Fried Chicken Barbecue and Pesto Carbonara. Obviously, Beyond Coffee wanted something new to offer, something far from the ordinary. And they succeeded, I must admit. I particularly liked the marriage of pesto and carbonara flavors in one pasta dish. It was meaty, too, with lots of cubed ham added with mushroom slices.
This was delicious!
I didn't really like the Fried Chicken Barbecue because I still want my chicken either fried or barbecued. My son, however, liked it so it's a plus point for this U-Belt cafe. My order was the Herbed Pork Chop which, I think, still had room for improvement. The taste was okay though a wee bit bland without the creamed sauce, but the slices to me were too thin and the meat itself, dry. I would be a lot happier with thicker, juicy and tender porkchops. Well, the cappuccino saved the day for me 'coz it was good, only it was a little stronger that most cups of it I've had elsewhere. There's a lot of really fancy drinks here that I wanted to order and take a shot of but alas, I couldn't have a sweet drink for fear of my blood sugar shooting up. My son didn't want any of it, too, and preferred the Sola iced tea so it was just my daughter who ordered one of those yummy looking coffee drinks topped with a chocolate cookie and chocolate chips, which she loved. She cajoled me to try it, but with a stern warning to just have one sip because yes, it was a diabetic's nightmare-kind-of sweet!
And have you noticed how beautifully they serve the food and drinks using nice and one-of-a-kind plates and glasses? They make every serving "Instagrammable"!
Plus points, too, for the nice service and cozy ambiance. It was obvious that Beyond Coffee is a hit among students 'coz it was jam-packed with those uniform-wearing, backpack-carrying youths. I think, though, that their prices are a little too high, don't you think so too, considering that a slice of cake is P145-P155? A customer would well be shelling out at least P400. if he orders an entree, a fancy drink and a slice of cake for a single meal. For a student, that would be steep! Well, I guess some people don't really mind 'coz as I said, the place was packed when we were there.
So grab some good company and enjoy the food and drinks at Beyond Coffee, guys.
Happy eating!
