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5 outdoorsy cafes you can go to for a change in scenery
Metro Manila has been on lockdown since March and people have been daring to know: Is it safe to dine out yet?
While restrictions have been eased, and restaurants allowed to open, people have remained ambivalent about heading out.
So perhaps a middle ground can be found in restaurants that have alfresco dining or open air space.
East of Metro Manila are five cafes, where you take a quick escape for a change in scenery, especially if you’ve been struggling with the WFH blues and trying to beat a case of cabin fever.
As always, we recommend proceed with caution and keeping to safe protocols because this pandemic is far from over.
1. Typica Coffee
Newly-opened Typica Coffee in Taytay, Rizal is a grab-and-go café that used to be a sari-sari store. Owner and founder Drew Magana bought second-hand wood-like discarded utility poles and metals, and closely supervised the renovation into a minimalist café inspired by his travels to quaint coffee shops in Japan and La Union.
“Yung peg ko was those cafés na super chill vibes,” Drew shares. The result is a very fresh, Zen-looking drive-through café, where people can hang out by the benches, as in a sari-sari store. Upstairs, Drew is constructing his office and a workshop space for small-group coffee sessions.
It’s pandemic-friendly in the sense that people are not encouraged to “tambay”, but will definitely enjoy a few minutes of freedom in the open air, while sipping Typica Coffee’s wide range of brews, and nibbling on pastries like Hokkaido cheese tart, Basque burnt cheesecake, and vegan cupcakes.
Hungry? Typica Coffee will soon roll out their savory goodies, like pomodoro kani pasta, sushi rolls, and Furikake fries.
72 E. Rodriguez Avenue, Barangay San Isidro, Taytay (pin to JB Badminton Court, Typica Coffee is right across. Typica Coffee has no allotted parking space)
Open: Daily, 10am-10pm
2. Red Keep Cafe
Thirteen kilometers from the bustle of Typica Coffee along the garment capital city of Taytay, is a hidden café tucked inside a private subdivision in Cainta, where its residents are probably among the few privy to its existence.
Red Keep is a container van café with an industrial interior design, decked with vintage bicycles, paintings, and old keepsakes. Inside is spacious enough for a socially-distanced group of ten, while outside is equipped with alfresco furniture to seat at least four groups.
Enjoy your coffee paired with waffles and sweet crepes, while savoring the sight of plants and trees amidst a spacious stretch of land, where Red Keep Café sits beside King’s Landing Events Place, a three-year old business.
According to the barista, the owner decided to build Red Keep Café late 2019 so people can have a place to chill, while waiting out events. Lately, though, with the event business down, people have been coming in their bikes and motorcycles, just for a quick respite and a cup of joe.
Moses Street, Filinvest East Homes, Cainta, Rizal (with lots of parking space! Open: Daily, 7am-9pm
3. Café Agusta
Exiting Filinvest East Homes gate, drive along Marcos Highway and head towards Antipolo, Rizal. Overlooking the view of the Metro Manila skyline is Café Agusta, a cafe inspired by Santorini, Greece.
There are indoor seating, but most people come here for the alfresco experience, the open view, and the stunning sunset.
“These days, 5pm is the ideal time to be at the cafe if you want to catch the sunset. On a clear day, you can also see Mt. Samat, and from our second floor viewing area, you’ll have a glimpse of the Sierra Madre mountain ranges,” says JB Simeon, whose family owns and manages Café Agusta, including The Bar, and The Peak 360 Spa, all in the same building.
The menu is pretty straightforward for a café, yet made Pinoy-family-friendly with its pastas and rice meals. Metro Manila urbanites wanting to unwind could come here to enjoy the view, while sipping an iced latte or drinking a glass of wine.
Grand Heights Road, Antipolo, Rizal (with parking) Open: Monday-Thursday: 11am- 9pm, and Friday - Sunday: 11am- 11pm
4. Vieux Chalet
Near Pinto Museum is a homey restaurant where people go for the view and the hotel-quality food.
The restaurant is a Swiss-style cottage overlooking the hills and the metropolis. It does not have an alfresco space, but the windows are wide open at all corners for better ventilation.
Owned by a Swiss-Filipino family, the Hassigs, Vieux Chalet is frequented for their Swiss comfort food, like bestselling raclette festival, beef fondue, sole fillet in white wine, lamb shoulder, potato rosti, osso buco, and their hearty Swiss brunch. Here, everything is made from scratch—from the homemade sausages to the bread and pastries.
It’s a great place for families to have lunch, buy plants, and other homemade goodies in their little corner market, and for couples to have romantic dinners.
456 Taktak Rd, Antipolo, Rizal (with ample parking outside its gate) Open: Friday-Tuesday, 9am to 10pm
5. Rusting Mornings by Isabelo
As far as alfresco dining goes, a spacious garden restaurant like Rustic Mornings had been top of mind since the easing of restrictions in Metro Manila.
The restaurant located in Marikina was flooded by the Ulysses onslaught but its owner, Portia Baluyut-Magsino, wasted no time in restoring Rustic Mornings. In less than a month, they’ve finished rebuilding for its reopening on December 1.
The no-longer secret garden restaurant tucked in San Roque, Rustic Mornings is loved for its homey breakfast and brunch specialties, like buttermilk pancakes and waffles, smoothie bowls, and Filipino favorites like beef tapa and Ilocos bagnet.
The restaurant can seat as much as 60 people in a socially-distanced setting in both the garden area, and in the indoor room, where windows are opened for better ventilation. Walks-ins are accepted during weekdays, while reservations are a must for weekends, when bookings get full. To control the crowd, Rustic Mornings is implementing three time slots: 8-10am, 10am-12pm, and 2-4pm.
11 Isabelo Mendoza St., San Roque, Marikina City (with ample parking inside the compound, but it gets full during weekends) Open: Daily from 8am to 4pm.
— LA, GMA News
