Caffe Bene.

Caffe Bene is a korean cafe that my sister keep on bugging me to visit (and to treat her too) so after a long day of processing documents she finally led me somewhere in Makati; I really didn't bother asking her the exact location or direction, luckily Caffe Bene Philippines has a website.

From caffebene.com.ph:

"From Korea to New York, Now in the Philippines!

The Korea's leading Caffe brand is now here in Manila! 

Taste the difference, experience the goodness and walk into the lavish Bene space of Freedom. From our Specialty Caffe, freshly-made Waffle, Italian Gelato and other more Must-Try! Caffé Bene truly has a variety that can soothe and pamper your taste buds."

Now I didn't do my assignment and didn't research much as to what to try and their best seller drink didn't entice my taste bud so I just randomly ordered stuff and the one below just caught my attention because it's huge!

From their Honey Bread, my sister and I tried the Caramel Cinnamon Bread (P145).  It's a type of bread that is thick and has a crispy on the outside, soft in the inside idea fancy-ed with caramel, cinnamon and whipped cream.  I ogled at the display where these Honey Breads we're displayed because they're huge (cubed for easy eating) and around 2 inches thick with a pretty  aesthetic.  It was delicious and filling, the bread together with the "toppings" is sweet enough to satisfy my sweet tooth but I wouldn't dare eating the whole serving (I might puke and swear that I would never eat it again if I did eat the whole thing) so don't be selfish and share it with someone.

Under the scorching sun, of course we need a cold drink (though I think a nice hot tea or black coffee would compliment the Caramel Cinnamon bread best).  I got a Chai Tea Latte on Iced (P135) and my sister got the Blueberry Yogurt Smoothie (PP175).

My drink is disappointing in the sense that it's more like a plain black tea with milk rather than chai, seriously it's like the instant bubble teas that you can buy in malls for less than P100.  Disappointed, I sip my sister's drink and my hot blood regularized hehehe I find the Blueberry Yogurt Smoothie refreshing, just the right sourness and sweetness.

And because it's a very hot day (and we walk under it for like half an hour), we needed something that is really cold like a gelato perhaps?  Besides my sister still haven't tried any gelato hehehe.  So we got the Double Bene Gelato (P155) and decided to go with Green Tea and Dulce de Leche.

I think Caffe Bene specializes more with coffee? (hello Arya, it's a caffe) because their gelatos are not quite that great in my opinion.  Okay, I just tasted a bunch of gelatos once so I'm definitely no expert but the texture of these gelatos from Caffe Bene are not fine, it's not smooth (there are small pieces of ice in it).  The green tea is too sweet that it's give me the impression that too much sweetener is added to camouflage the bitterness of the green tea.  It's like condensed milk with a hint of green tea to me or maybe I just expected the green tea to be like the green tea that I make (but I asked my sister and it's too sweet for her too).  So it's a relief that the Dulce de Leche (which I thought would be overly sweet) has the the perfect balance of sweetness and milkiness.

If you think Starbucks is too crowded for you, then try Caffe Bene.  The interior of the shop is relaxing (and if you are a kpop fan, then you might recognize the shop's endorsers (they have a big standee in the shop)) and the people don't talk loudly and the menu is interesting, I should have tried one of the Bingsu and the Misugaru Latte.  Well, maybe next time.

Thanks for reading. Till then. Bye!