Davao City has turned into sort of the Seattle of the Philippines. Seattle, Washington is where Starbucks got started and is sort of the Coffee Capital of the USA, and that is how Davao is here in the Philippines.
Surprisingly, there are a lot of coffee shops here in Davao. I have told Feyma, and others recently that I would estimate that there are at least 100 Coffee Shops here in Davao. And, I’m not talking about hole in the wall type places, I am talking about classy places where you can get a world class cup of coffee, some good food, and see a lot of nice people. And, you can get more than just the normal cup of coffee too!
Some places in Davao offer literally dozens of different varieties of coffee drinks on their menu. You can order coffee grown in the Philippines, in South America, or just about anyplace of your choice! Davao is really in the business of serving Coffee Connoisseurs these days! There are no Starbucks in Davao either, these are almost exclusively home-grown shops that you will find around the City.
What are some of my favorite Coffee Shops?
- Bluegre Cafe – You can’t talk Davao Coffee Shops without mentioning Blugre, it is the original Davao Coffee Shop, no doubt. Blugre has locations at Landco Building, Matina Town Square and at SM. Have I forgotten any?
- Bo’s Coffee Shop – Bo’s original location is at SM City, and they have a second location on F. Torres Street. My only problem with going to the F. Torres location is that the acoustics in the place are terrible. I can sit at a table with Feyma and not hear a word she says, yet I can hear the guy on the other side of the building like he is sitting on my lap! The coffee is great, but not a great place for socializing, in my opinion.
- Fagioli – This is a relatively new coffee shop, located on J.P. Laurel Ave, in Damosa. My favorite here is actually the tea instead of the coffee. Only complaint about the place is that it can get hot in there, they need additional Air Conditioning units.
- Basti’s Brew – Basti’s has great coffee! It can get quite crowded in the place, though, as it is in a mall, Victoria Plaza.
- Holiday Health Spa – I work out and swim here at Holiday Health Spa every weekday morning. The coffee shop inside the spa actually has excellent coffee! My favorite is the Vanilla Bean Latte.
If you want to experience true Davao, I recommend that you go to Blugre Cafe and try the Durian Coffee. It is superb, and really is a true Davao experience!
Want to have a cup of coffee with me? If so, I am usually at the Coffee Shop in Holiday Health Spa on F. Torres Street every weekday around 10am until 10:30 or so. Stop by and let’s enjoy a cup!
Durian coffee???? I pity the beans that have to mix with that putrid delicacy!!
No Bob anything but Durian!!!! I will have to resort back to tea.j
Durian??? hmmm does it taste good??
Yeah, it tastes very good! 😀
Ah yes, the durian coffee I heard and seen before in one travel Philippines TV show that featured Bluegre in Davao. You said Bob that Bluegre is in SM; hopefully it's somewhere in any SM mall in Metro Manila when I return to RP in May. I'd like to try that one. 😀
I think it's good that Starbucks has not invaded Davao there and most home-grown shops proliferate there. At the most one can taste and experience (I agree to you) the Davao taste. Something different from the usual and unexciting variety of coffee in Starbucks everywhere I go. 😉
I agree Bob, Bluegre is really a nice place-good products. Are there any places that sell Chai Tea? I am becoming addicted to it. Ron
like jio, i'm also glad there is no starbucks in davao (yet). i think this is a big reason why there are so many quality local cafes in town.
i live in a SD neighborhood with 6 excellent cafes in a 2 block radius. they all have different quirks and charm. the least popular one? starbucks. i actually do enjoy their product an admire their business model but their is a certain pride to having the locals find their own niche before trying the popular chain. same with davao.
bluegre, bo's, basti's and the rest. they all have unique characteristics (i.e. durian cofee, decor, free wifi) that might not have been developed if faced head on by a starbucks in their start up days.
Hi Bob – While back home, I'm totally partial to Cordillera Mountain Coffee. Purchase it by the bag and brew my own at home, as there are very few coffee shops around.
An Australian fellow opened up a new coffee shop near one of the larger bus depots in Laoag City – a prime location by US and Aussie standards, but so-so business as coffee has yet to catch on. Perhaps I could stimulate the economy with a coffee shop investment – I'd locate near a university. 😉
Hi Bob: Where's Kopi Roti and the warm, sweet buns? I can relate to what you're saying about coffee shops. There was an outbreak here in Manila about five, six years ago – Starbucks, SBC, CBTL, Bo's, what-have-you. Now it's a contest of which coffee shops have free Wi-Fi, because even the school boys and girls are brandishing their own laptops! Whatever happened to good old notebooks?
I give it to you, though. There's nothing like Basti's Brew. Cheers and happy coffee drinking!
Hi Bob
Just recently got back to UK after many stops around the world. You mentioning Blugre took me back to our meeting there in January! Hope you and Feyma are well. It was great to finally meet up with you. By the way, I ordered tea there as I don`t like coffee!
All the best
Malcolm
Hi Bob,
Speaking of Coffee Craze… here in Dana Point were I live, we have 13 coffee shops and our community is not that big. We do have a beautiful harbor that attracts lots of tourists but I believe this business is now saturated.( at least here in US) Starbucks have 4 of them along PCH. It may actually be closing 2 of them according to the DP newspaper this weekend. Glad to hear that Davao is catching up.
For a hot tropical area, I'd say cold ice teas of different flavors and fruit juices would be an excellent business there.
Stay cool…and have a marvelous summer everyone!
Bob
I got to vent here for a second!
OK so Im here sitting down here with my Coffee reading the blogs,browsing the photo site as I do every single day of my boring ass life here in the U.S.. Only to find one of the most classy pictures has been removed. Change is NOT good.
Hi Brian – It's wonderful stuff! 😆
Hi John – One of these days, I will take you out for a good cup of Durian coffee, you'll be converted in an instant!
Hi Jio – As far as I know, Blugre only has locations here in Davao City. Hopefullyl I am wrong on that. 😆
Hi Ron – I don't know of any places selling chai tea here. Fagioli sells many different types of tea, but I have not seen chai there.
Hi macky – Yes, Blugre and Basti's were the first two coffee shops in Davao that I am aware of, and they certainly did get their chance to establish themselves while there was no foreign competition. It was good for them! Now, they and others are firmly entrenched, and the competitors would have a hard time dethroning them!
Hi Paul – I have to stick with Mindanao grown coffee! I like Monk's Blend a great deal, it is grown in Bukidnon.
Hi Migs – Kopi Roti is wonderful! I do love those sweet buns there, but the coffee is not at the top of my list, though. I admit, though, I go there for the buns. 😆
Hi Malcolm – We really enjoyed seeing you, Dave and your wives at Blugre! I'm already looking forward to our next encounter!
Hi MarcelinaWW – Wow, I love iced teas! That would be a wonderful idea too!
Hi Neal in RI – When you say that a picture was removed – I assume you mean in the Photo Gallery. I did remove one picture yesterday. It was a nude photo, and that is not appropriate on this site. This is a family site, and nudity is not part of that. There are plenty of places on the net where nudity can be viewed, and nude photos uploaded. I prefer to keep LiP different from that.
Bob,
Yup you are right there is alot of sick & dimented stuff on the net, some of it should be against some type of law even to post on the internet.
I didn't consider he picture you did have here lude or offensive at all. I was kind of suprised when I first saw it there and I was a bit interested in who had control of the pictures that are posted on your site? You do have a point there. The line has to be drawn somewhere.
Hi Neal in RI – Two people have control on the photos. One is me. I have control over every photo posted in the gallery. The other person who has control is the person who posted the photo. Each person has control only over the photos that they posted themselves.
Here is the way that I make the judgment. My youngest son had his 8th birthday party today. If something is posted that I would not want him to look at, then it is out of place. This is a family site. What does a photo of a nude woman's breasts have to do with living in the Philippines? Can a person make a decision about living here without seeing a picture of a nude woman? Really such a photo has absolutely no relevance to the site.
Bob, Hinay Hinay Pari,
I didn't mean to strike a nerve!
I agree with you totally about this being a family friendly site.
I am just suprised that you do not have TOTAL control over the stuff that is put on YOUR site. I figured that everything had to go thru you first for screening before it is posted. So in reality someone could have posted some very offensive stuff here on YOUR site before you caught them and deleted them from your site.
SigeNa
Hi Neal in RI – No offense. I was just answering the questions that you asked in your previous comment.
I can have TOTAL control if that is what I want to do. For that matter, I can just close down the photo gallery if it became too out of control and required too much of my time.
Frankly, if it came down to me screening every item before posting, I would just shut it down, because that would take a ton of time, and I don't have it.
It is my hope, and my experience so far, that users of this site have the maturity to keep the site clean and not cause problems. I count on that for continued success of parts of the site like the Photo Gallery.
Hey Bob
I tried to shoot you a email but the image verify keeps saying error and no image verified?
I tryng to pick your Brain about if you use a company to Buy and register you web domain, as I am tryng to buy one now for future use on a RP website.
Any Help?
Thanks Neal
Hi Neal in RI – sorry you had trouble with the contact form, I just made a change on it that should correct any problems.
I buy almost all of my domains through GoDaddy.com. My biggest recommendation, though is to buy it from one company and host it somewhere else. That way, the registrar cannot hold your name hostage if you are not satisfied with their hosting.
Good luck.
Thanks,
Yes I am ignorant on this, so if i am correct my first missionis is to secure the domain for future use. I will check out GoDaddy
Thanks again, Neal
You are correct, Neal. Your first step on the journey is to purchase the domain name.
How is that durian coffee made? is it made from the seeds of the fruit?
Thanks for your blog, our plans are still to arrive in november.
Hi Preben – Basically, it is regular coffee with durian fruit mixed in to it. There are very large pieces of durian in the bottom that you can eat after you finish up the coffee! Delicious!
Guess an article in The Manila Times entitled, "RP's best coffee found in Sulan Kudarat – traders," adds to local sentiment when it comes to which coffee product is the best in the Phils.
Would on-line coffee sales be a possiblity? 😉
Hi Paul – Thanks for sharing that article! Although I have been to Sultan Kudarat many times, I didn't know that they grew coffee there! You learn something new each day, if you are lucky and inquisitive!
Late to the discussion here. I've been able to try Bluegre, Basti's, Bo's, Holiday Health Spa & Figaro's while visting here this week. The best Mocha I had was this morning at Bo's. I liked the selection of goodies at Bluegre and Basti's, too.
I also liked the Durian Coffee Froccino at Bo's. Very tasty on a hot day, and what days aren't hot here?
I was not able to locate a shop that offered soy milk as a substitution though. Maybe Bob can locate a spot for me for my next trip.
Hi Randy – Wow! You have made the rounds! Those are all very good places. There are two locations of Bo's – one in SM, and the other on F. Torres Street. You must have been at F. Torres, because the SM location is not yet open this morning, and you've already been there! 😆 Sorry, to say, though, I don't know of anyplace that offers soy milk! I'll be keeping an eye out for you, though! 😉
Hi Bob, you may not know me but as I was browsing through google, I bumped over your fabulously informative and great site and glad to know you are a coffee-fanatic.
I'm Glenn Vapor from Cotabato, who worked with Ateneo (davao) then with the Australian AID, a coffee-addict and now, I have my coffee shop along Rizal St. – just a few walks away from Claudes towards Ponciano st.
I would love to see you sip some of our coffee concoctions served to you layered and what's great about Zabadani Layered Coffee is that our price ranges from Php 20.00 to Php50.00 (not a burden to the budgetary stash) – and be the judge of the taste Bob.
Our menu varies from espresso-based, cioccolato-based, liqueur-based, milk-base to tea-based drinks.
We are a new player (we opened just last Dec. 26 '08).
Glad to see you soon in our humble shop.
Glenn
Hi Bob,
This is out of the subject above: Last week I was trying to post some pictures on photo gallery. Unfortunately, I accidently delete it I was tried to retrieve but no luck. Is there other way so I cant re post it? thank you Sir…