FRNK
Bonifacio High Street, Bonifacio Global City
Open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. (Sunday to Thursday) and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. (Friday to Saturday)
(SPOT.ph) Japanese milk bar FRNK’s first branch at Glorietta 3 is hard to miss—if the Instagram-worthy interiors don’t have you stopping for a look, then the long lines of people probably will. The good news is, they’ve opened another branch, right in the center of Bonifacio High Street.
With a second branch comes new exciting things on the menu, too. These additions will only be available seasonally, so unless you want to wait until next year to sample these beverages, swing by High Street as soon as you can.
First up, we have the Roasted Sesame Kokoa (P120/small, P150/tall), which feels like a grown-up version of your favorite chocolate drink as a kid. The toasty black sesame flavor swimming in whole milk blends excellently with the familiar semi-sweet chocolate sauce. But what will really make you swoon is the ultra-soft blue tea mochi—wait a while before drinking to let the chocolate flavors seep into the chewy sinker.
The Roasted Sesame Maccha Azuki Chizu (P135/small, P165/tall), a relative of their best-selling Dirty Maccha, swaps the dark chocolate for the delicate, nutty flavors of roasted sesame. The rich earthiness of the matcha is balanced out by a cream-cheese layer mixed with some chewy azuki (or red bean), all without becoming overwhelmingly sweet. The extra azuki sinkers also give the drink extra bite, perfect for anyone who enjoys the play of textures in their milk tea.
Did you ever think sweet potato could be turned into a delicious milk drink? And no, we’re not talking about the purple taro you might see from other beverage shops, either. We mean kamote, as it’s more popularly called.
That’s exactly what the Fresh Sweet Potato Miruku (P115/small, P145/tall) brings to the table, highlighting the fresh sweetness of a sweet-potato jam. The drink is surprisingly more refreshing than it sounds, and some of the credit must go to the rich coconut-milk base that adds to its thirst-quenching quality. FRNK’s signature pillow-soft blue-tea mochi sinkers also lend chewiness to the drink.
While we’re talking about the wonders of a sweet-potato milk drink, you can also opt for a slightly more indulgent variation: the Fresh Sweet Potato Azuki Chizu (P120/small, P150/tall), an infusion of fresh milk, sweet-potato jam, and brown sugar capped off by the frothy cream cheese azuki mixture. You will never look at sweet potato the same way again.
Drinks aren’t the only new additions from FRNK—they’ve also introduced a couple of new desserts that you’ll want to try, stat. At the top of any rightful matcha lover's list should be the Nama Cheesecake (P125), which is new to their Chizu series. Just the sight alone will have you itching to dig in, but it’s that first bite—an explosion of semi-sweet matcha and cream cheese flavor—that’ll keep you coming back for more forkfuls.
On the other hand, you'll fall in love with FRNK’s Nut Butter Brownie (P125), a combination of fudgy chocolate and nut butter that just hits all the right spots. You probably won’t believe when we tell you that it’s completely vegan (yup, no eggs, and dairy here!), so enjoy this treat.
While you’re probably still curious enough to line up at FRNK’s Glorietta branch to get your hands on their original lineup, this new exclusive menu would tempt anyone to camp out at their new High Street outpost. And until they open even more branches around the Metro, we’re likely to keep seeing long lines for their handcrafted milky creations.
Photos by Majoy Siason
