Akiba Café: A Taste of Sweet Japanese Treats

Coffee shops and cafés have grown close to my heart. They don't only provide the drinks and sweet treats but also a cozy place to lounge at and Wi-Fi to keep anyone connected and entertained. For years, I have always relied on the trusty CBTL to keep me company. However, I have recently become more adventurous in trying out new coffee places, especially interesting concept cafés. And one of which I have come across is a small but enticing Japanese beverage shop called Akiba Café.

Akiba Café which was inspired from the word Akihabara (Tokyo's famed gizmo and gadget district), is a cosmopolitan Japanese-Filipino café conveniently located in one of the biggest and busiest malls in the Metro -- SM Megamall. It sits on Bldg. A's 2nd floor just beside Spam Jam, across Marks & Spencer, and offers hot and cold coffee, tea and cream-based drinks, as well as cakes and other sweet goodies.

It was a weekday afternoon when my date and I paid this seemingly humble but interesting café a visit. We know we wanted some cold drinks. But with the wide selection at Akiba Café, it was quite hard to decide which ones to get. In the end, both my date and I opted to have something from their cream-based selection. I got myself a large Matcha Yogurt (P120) while my date had large Japanese Choco (P120) which is another yogurt-infused drink.

I really liked my smooth and creamy Matcha Yogurt drink. It was sour but still quite sweet, and of course, it has the distinct green tea bitter flavor which I look for in any matcha-infused drink. My date also liked his Japanese Choco. Being a yogurt-based drink, it was sour. However, the acerbity is mellowed down by the sweet and rich chocolate flavor.

Seeing that Akiba Café has a glass display chiller of sweet treats, how can my date and I miss sampling some of their goodies. So of course, we shared two of their eye-catching desserts -- a slice of Green Tea Cheese Cake (P130) and an order of their Banoffee Pie (P80).

I'm not a big fan of cheesecakes since I don't dig too sour of a flavor on my beloved pastries. Akiba Café's Green Tea Cheese Cake though just had the right amount of sourness and was well balanced by a sweet and slightly bitter matcha flavor. I've never had a matcha-infused pastry before, and now that I've tried one, I can say that I'm totally digging it.

This is only my second time to eat a Banoffee Pie but I say that it's equally good, if not better, compared to the first one I've had. My date also liked it a lot and finished the whole pie in just a few minutes.

THE VERDICT

Our visit to Akiba Café was a short yet very satisfying one. I personally loved everything we've tried and find the service impeccable -- a really good feat to make up for its small location. And although Akiba Café sits by the mall's corridor, I love that the place has a stylish and hip look with good lighting. They also have a really wide selection of drinks to cater to different tastes. And as of this writing, I am drooling to try their bestselling Trifle Tea.

Taste - 4.5/5
Ambiance - 3.5/5
Service - 4/5
Price - 4/5
Overall Value - 4/5

Akiba Café, SM Megamall
2/F SM Megamall, Bldg. A
EDSA cor. Julia Vargas Ave.
Mandaluyong City, Metro Manila
Philippines
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