Think of this list as a representation of creative Manila at the moment.
“Cool” has had to undergo many transformations over the past few years, like your groovy Tito who’s had to do a lot of advanced-stage growing up for the changing times—otherwise, “Canceldt!” These days, cool can no longer denote a kind of snobbery, be accessible only to a few, or include brilliant personalities who have unfortunately problematic values. Cool has grown up and, dare we say it, become a little more friendly, approachable, a tad more worthy of admiration. Less artifice, more authenticity.
Which is something you can also say of the people, places and stuff on this list. They still possess that OG quality of what cool is—“fashionably attractive or impressive,” (thanks Oxford!)— creations and creators as they are of this moment in the culture. But quite simply, the selections below are cool because they spark our sense of wonder and delight. It helps, too, that a great number of them represent just how excitingly creative, or creatively exciting Manila is at the moment.
Which is something you can also say of the people, places and stuff on this list. They still possess that OG quality of what cool is—“fashionably attractive or impressive,” (thanks Oxford!)— creations and creators as they are of this moment in the culture. But quite simply, the selections below are cool because they spark our sense of wonder and delight. It helps, too, that a great number of them represent just how excitingly creative, or creatively exciting Manila is at the moment.
Cool new café
ESCOLTA COFFEE COMPANY
ESCOLTA COFFEE COMPANY
For a while, visitors to First United Building knew it as the coffee retail shop beside The Den, and pass by it on their way to the ground floor comfort rooms. It sold whole beans, drip bags, single-serve sachets, Cascara tea, and merch—all proudly Philippine-made. But now Escolta Coffee Company has crossed the street and found a rightful home of its own, on the ground floor of the Burke Building, right at the corner of Escolta and Burke Streets.
It now has a café too, albeit open only Thursdays to Sundays. “Mondays through Wednesdays, we're a working roastery,” says Gab Villegas, co-founder and Head Roaster. “You can still drop by for takeout drinks and retail beans, but the energy is different. Thursdays through Sundays we open up the space for people to come in, sit down, and spend time with the coffee. It's a different atmosphere entirely.”
It now has a café too, albeit open only Thursdays to Sundays. “Mondays through Wednesdays, we're a working roastery,” says Gab Villegas, co-founder and Head Roaster. “You can still drop by for takeout drinks and retail beans, but the energy is different. Thursdays through Sundays we open up the space for people to come in, sit down, and spend time with the coffee. It's a different atmosphere entirely.”
Escolta Coffee Company. Photo: Jack Kempis.
They serve espresso drinks and hand-brewed coffee, all roasted in-house. “We source single-origin lots from across the country,” says Gab, “from highland farms in Benguet, Mountain Province, and Nueva Vizcaya in the north, all the way south to Zamboanga del Sur, Bukidnon, Davao del Sur, Negros Occidental, South Cotabato, and Sultan Kudarat. The origins shift depending on the harvest, if they produce coffee that we like as a team.”
Of the specialty drinks in the menu, Gab recommends trying their Magandang Araw, a taho-coffee mashup, or the Escolta Fizz, made with cascara, citrus, palm sugar, and soda water. Both are nods to Escolta’s history: as Manila’s ‘Queen of the Streets,’ shopping mecca, and home to great architecture.
“This street was once the commercial heart of Manila,” says Gab. “That era passed, and for a long time the buildings sat quiet. But something has been stirring here for the past decade. Yung mga artists, small creative businesses, cultural workers, all finding their way into these old structures and giving them new purpose. Parang Escolta Coffee Company came from the same impulse. We wanted to root something in this place that honors what it was and contributes to what it's becoming.” Escolta Coffee Company is in the corner of Burke and Escolta Streets, Binondo, Manila.
Of the specialty drinks in the menu, Gab recommends trying their Magandang Araw, a taho-coffee mashup, or the Escolta Fizz, made with cascara, citrus, palm sugar, and soda water. Both are nods to Escolta’s history: as Manila’s ‘Queen of the Streets,’ shopping mecca, and home to great architecture.
“This street was once the commercial heart of Manila,” says Gab. “That era passed, and for a long time the buildings sat quiet. But something has been stirring here for the past decade. Yung mga artists, small creative businesses, cultural workers, all finding their way into these old structures and giving them new purpose. Parang Escolta Coffee Company came from the same impulse. We wanted to root something in this place that honors what it was and contributes to what it's becoming.” Escolta Coffee Company is in the corner of Burke and Escolta Streets, Binondo, Manila.
ESMERALDA KITCHEN
Esmeralda Kitchen and Deli. Photo: Michelin Guide/Esmeralda Kitchen on Instagram.
It has landed a spot on the Michelin Guide in 2025, cited for its menu that “revisits Filipino classics in refined, eye-catching ways,” with dishes that are “rich and hearty.” But Esmeralda Kitchen, that nostalgia-inducing house-turned-restaurant in Mayon Street, Sta Mesa Heights, QC, is in this list because our friend, the stylist and all-around creative Jodinand Aguillon of pre-loved fashion store Glorious Dias, recommended it. And when he said it reminded him of the iconic Rural Kitchen of Liliw Laguna in Poblacion’s Palma Street, across which the OG Glorious Dias used to be, we totally understood why. What to order at Esmeralda, as per Jodee: the dinuguan with fried puto, the grilled suahe sinigang, and the lechon belly. “The adobo also looked good but I only order stuff I don’t know how to make at home!” Esmeralda Kitchen and Deli is located at 43 Mayon Street, Santa Mesa Heights, Quezon City. Call 0917-831-7533 for reservations.