What's New
You Can Go From Breakfast to Cocktail Hour at Gaea in San Juan
San Juan's new all-day hangout serves reimagined comforts + creative libations.
by Philbert Dy
Published on Jul 19, 2025
Gaea
191 A. Mabini Street, San Juan
Contact: 0917-107-7222
Instagram: www.instagram.com/gaea.philippines
Open from 7 a.m. to 1 a.m., Sunday to Thursday; 7 a.m. to 2 a.m., Friday and Saturday
(SPOT.ph) “We want it to feel like we’ve always been here,” says David Ong, one of the partners over at Gaea. The new restaurant-slash-bar is found on A. Mabini in San Juan. The dining scene in the city has evolved plenty over the last few years, but there’s still a tendency to think of San Juan as a place you go to for old stand-bys; you go there for Gloria Maris or Alex III or maybe the Little Store. You go to San Juan for a place that’s been around longer than you can remember, serving you things that you already know and love. Places that give you comfort.
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Gaea, located on San Juan's A.Mabini street. Photo by Hans Fausto.
And so, that is what Gaea is offering. It is a new place, of course, located inside a building that was constructed in just the last few years. And its modern, artful interiors don’t quite look like anything that’s been around in San Juan. But the food strives for comfort, and the drinks seem to be designed to evoke certain memories about growing up in this area.
All-day dining at Gaea in San Juan
“The idea was to make a hotel lobby lounge,” Ong says. He mentions, specifically, the Manila Hotel and the Peninsula as inspirations. The kind of place, he explains, where all kinds of people are welcome, and that's ready to serve anybody coming through at any time of day. And Gaea is very much an all-day place, with service starting at 7 a.m. and closing at 1 or 2 a.m., depending on the day. There are two menus for food—a daytime menu from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., and an evening menu for 5 p.m. onwards; coffee is available until 9 p.m. A selection of bar chow is available 9 p.m. onwards, and you can get a cocktail during any of their hours.
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A peek at the new restaurant's sleek yet relaxed interiors, intended to look and feel like a hotel lobby lounge. Photo by Hans Fausto.
The interiors, designed by the restaurant’s namesake, Gaea Gatchalian, split up the space into distinct sections. Near the windows is an elevated area with two large round tables with four seats each, which feel like the kind of tables businessmen might be making deals at. The main section is dominated by two communal tables that curve around a concrete column that bears cushioned seating at its base. A long bar takes up one whole side of the space, with an impressive liquor shelf showcasing bottles from Ong’s closet. “I’ve always joked that I could start two bars with just the stuff I have at home,” he says. And so he has.
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Drinks are mixed up at the bar. Photo by Hans Fausto.
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The VIP section. Photo by Hans Fausto.
From the ceiling of this main space hangs art by Luis Santos: what look like wavy, shiny sheets of stainless steel hung at various angles. There is also a VIP section, with four booths that seat six to eight, each one with a curtain for more privacy. The ceiling in this section is an electronic starscape, with little pin pricks of light standing in for distant celestial bodies, with the occasional streak of light cutting through the black. In Gaea, if you’re looking up, there’s stuff to marvel at.
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Steak & Eggs. Photo by Hans Fausto.
The food is pretty straightforward: it’s hearty, satisfying stuff. There’s Steak & Eggs (P1,000), for example. “I really wanted to have steak for a thousand pesos,” says Josh Gatchalian, another one of the partners, and husband to Gaea. This is the result: cuts of Angus Delmonico served with two eggs and home fries. There’s the Chorizo Burrata Pomodoro (P745), which has the cheese surrounded by a chorizo sauce you can mop up with the bread on the side. There are Stracciatella Eggs (P425), also served with bread. It all feels very indulgent, maybe the kind of thing that you decide is going to be a treat after having accomplished something.
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Chorizo Burrata Pomodoro. Photo by Hans Fausto.
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Straciatella Eggs. Photo by Hans Fausto.
There’s Steak Fried Rice (P645) and Salmon Fried Rice (P495), both done in a way that recalls Japanese chahan more than the Chinese version of the dish. Both are simple but big on flavor, and they feel like they’re going to be the easiest choice for people looking to pop in for a quick meal. Also on the Asian front: Clams Laksa (P445), featuring Manila clams in a spicy coconut broth. There, too, is the Roasted Chicken (P650), which is a sliced up boneless thigh cooked until crisp and served atop that same laksa broth amped up with a little more sambal.
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Steak Fried Rice. Photo by Hans Fausto.
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Salmon Fried Rice. Photo by Hans Fausto.
On the vegetarian front, one may just have a simple Mushroom Tartine (P395), with three kinds of mushrooms served atop a hefty slice of sourdough with some ricotta and balsamic vinegar. Or the Risotto al Funghi Verde (P495), a version of the classic Italian rice dish made with aged Acquerello rice instead of the standard Arborio, made lively with pesto and given the earthiness of wild mushrooms.
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Mushroom Tartine. Photo by Hans Fausto.
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Funghi Verde. Photo by Hans Fausto.
Nothing in the food menu is really surprising or unfamiliar. As Ong said, they’re pretending like they’ve always been there, and they’re providing food that feels like a comfort. No frills, just straight up delicious. The beverage program is where they get a little more adventurous. Ong is of course best known for the bars The Curator and Oto, as well as EDSA BDG, and maybe he can’t help but get a little complicated with the drinks.
But even here, he strives for something familiar, at least conceptually. Ong draws from his memories of San Juan and uses them as inspiration for these cocktails. And so, there is a drink called Xmas at MTQ (P500), drawn from his memories of attending Simbang Gabi at Mary the Queen, the Church between Xavier and ICA. It is, for all intents and purposes, a puto bumbong cocktail, with bourbon and chocolate bitters joining puffed rice, coconut oil, muscovado syrup, an ube foam, and cheese. There’s a tribute to a San Juan classic in the RIP King Crab House (P500), a cognac-based cocktail with a banana-lychee cordial, banana peel tea, arnibal, and soy milk, taking after the flavors of the gelatin dessert from the now-departed seafood restaurant. Ong talks about trips to Unimart with his grandfather as he introduces Orange Julius at Unimart (P500), a creamy gin cocktail with bursts of orange (from an orange-vanilla marmalade and orange flower water) that feel like a childhood memory. He also offers a drink represented on the menu with just four emojis: 🌽🥥🥛❄️ or Corn, Coconut, Milk, and Ice (P500). These are the ingredients for a maja blanca, and that is exactly what the cocktail is: a rum maja blanca smoothie.
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Cocktails at Gaea: Xmas at MTQ, RIP King Crab House, Orange Julius at Unimart, 🌽🥥🥛❄️. Photos by Hans Fausto
And of course, there is coffee. Ong is offering up the full range of his EDSA Beverage Design Group beans, with both espresso and filter coffee available for anyone looking for a pick-me-up. As of this writing, they are also working on acquiring natural wines, and developing a range of non-alcoholic options.
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They take their coffee game just as seriously here. Photo by Hans Fausto.
Gaea is a lot, but this is by design. The classic places tend to be a lot: they’re these places with sprawling menus that speak of a history of operation that has earned them a spot in the hearts of a large number of customers. Gaea is new, but it already feels like a classic. There’s not much here that people have to get used to. It’s specifically serving things that people already know to be good, with little of the fussiness that might get in the way of that familiar experience. It’s almost as though they’ve been here all along.
Photos by Hans Fausto
Philbert Dy has been writing professionally for over two decades. He is often found walking in Quezon City, looking for something to write about.
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