Angkan Coffee BGC
G/F W City Center, 30th Street corner 7th Avenue, Bonifacio Global City
Instagram: www.instagram.com/angkancoffee/
Open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday to Sunday
(SPOT.ph) A café tucked into a quiet side of a buzzy business district. It is 8 a.m. on a sweltering Monday morning and you’re walking down 30th Street, BGC, on the way to another day of slaving away for your next paycheck when you spot it. No thoughts, head empty—unconsciously making a choice—you walk into the city’s best example of rare respite in the form of an air-conditioned little nook with excellent cups of joe: a café, specifically, Angkan Coffee.
This minimalist coffee shop shines the spotlight on local java:
This specific Angkan branch—there is another one in the Podium Mall—may look quite cozy from the outside but a step past the glass facade brings you into a clean, wide space. Sparsely decorated and with an emphasis on lines and curves, the shop feels thoroughly modern, a feeling that is given depth via warm splashes of deep bright red and wooden accents. There is a loft that wraps around the sizable room, opening down into the main space while affording occupants privacy to do typical coffee-shop stuff—e.g. zone out, or heck, maybe even work.
Also read: A Local Coffee Venture From the Folks Who Brought Us % Arabica
The brand isn’t exactly “new” in the typical sense. The space their W City Center branch occupies in Bonifacio Global City is where Japanese coffee chain % Arabica first opened in 2018. Now though, there’s a different character to the cafe—still with the same team behind it.
“‘Yong pressure na parang mas malaking brand dala natin ngayon kasi tayo lang,” says operations head Nicole Javier about what the transition from the chain to their own has been like. The Angkan team numbers around 40 in total. Javier explains that at the start of 2022 there was a general assembly wherein team members were told the news. “Magkakaroon tayo ng sariling brand. The contract already expired,” he shares—a change the team was apparently ready to rally behind. “Wala kaming tinanggal, walang umalis.” And as for the name? There were a lot of options but Angkan is the one that really stuck. “Parang ‘yong hit na name ‘yong Angkan; It's more on the local kasi.”
Angkan Coffee, a Local Minimalist Coffee Shop
Front and center of any café will of course always be the java. Angkan now has beans sourced locally. “We use Mount Apo, Bukidnon, Sultan Kudarat, while our single origin line is composed of international beans,” says Javier. They’re looking to be able to source directly from local farmers, too. You can get your caffeine fix either through their local blend or single origin hits—and note that you can switch your dairy to soy or oat milk.
To really get a taste of that local edge, take a sip of Angkan’s Café Mocha (starts at P190), which gets that good cocoa hit from tablea sourced from Davao del Sur. The iced version is thicker than expected, with that unique tablea-chocolate texture and unmistakable pure flavor stealing the spotlight over a smooth coffee undertone.
If you’re looking for something to remind you of the past—not an attack—try their take on the Spanish Latté (starts at P170), a brew spiced sweet with condensed milk. The hot version takes on the full-bodied quality only condensada can have, blending sweetly with the mild coffee. Neither cups of joe are the type you’ll reach for if what you want is a jolt that’ll hopefully give you a will to live. Instead, these sweet cuppas are for when you just need a gentle reminder that yup, life is good; The type you’ll spend time lazily sipping, oblivious to the world speeding by outside the cafe’s walls.
And for something entirely different, Angkan has brought in the Orange Juice Espresso (P150). What’s that? You didn’t quite absorb that statement? We get it. The drink is in the name really—which funnily enough makes it harder to believe. Several healthy glugs of tangy, pulpy orange juice over ice, then hit with espresso. You’ll have to try it for yourself! But to prep you, it’s exactly how you’d expect it, really. Bright and piquant meet dark and strong—to take it further, orange rinds and coffee beans—to make for a pretty powerful punch that goes down unexpectedly smoothly, especially when you factor in how zesty the drink is overall.
On the opposite side of the spectrum is the Orange Pomegranate Ade (P150) which has zero caffeine but barely needs the hit thanks to the sweet trip it takes you on. Think of it as the younger, more current cousin of the classic Four Seasons juice drink—yup, the stuff you grew up in from a can. It’s got the tang, a very healthy dose of the sweet, and a whole lot of the tropics all in one icy cup; if Nerds grew up into a drink, this would be it. Prepare for a bit of a shock at the first sip!
For the munching bit, Angkan serves up goodies from Panaderya Toyo. Not to be missed are their chunky versions of bicho; there’s the Toyo Saba Bicho (P125) which tastes a lot like the misplaced twin of an apple strudel. The saba is folded into the soft, layered bread, then practically smothered in sugar and what seems to be cinnamon. All the elements play well together; you end up tasting the tartness of the filling first which then melds with the sweet sugar, all enveloped by soft bread.
If you think the saba one hit the spot, make space for the Queso (P125). It’s got the same fluffy bread only this time wrapped around a nutty cheese filling, already standing incredibly well on its own, but then someone somewhere decided to cover the entire thing with grated cheese and in a stroke of genius, must have torched it. Well, whether or not they did torch it, there is a crisp, smoky flavor to it that gives the entire thing an incredible play of texture.
To end everything mellow and on a subtly sweet note, try out Lola Cafe’s Kesong Puti Cheesecake (P150), a lighter take on the classic. There is a very welcome change in that the base is fluffier than usual with a mild hit of kesong puti, complemented well by a nutty base.
It can't be ignored that Angkan’s opening—and %Arabica's closure in the PH—is generating buzz online. There is the ghost of the past (if we can call something that still exists a "ghost"). The question now, though, is whether Angkan will be able to stand on its own or not. And while only time can reveal truth, there is something in the team of Angkan themselves that may hint at the future. As Javier notes, “Dapat 100% okay tayo kasi local brand. May hawak-hawak talaga kami, dala-dala, na ito, sa amin talaga ito.”
Photos by Hans Fausto