Hometown Hangout: A "Bukidnon Brew Cafe" Review

I’ve been in my hometown in Malaybalay City since last December to celebrate the holidays with the fam. Not a lot of things have changed I must say, and except maybe for a few fastfood establishments that have sprung up around the City, everything is pretty much the same.

In spite of the slower lifestyle (which is also a good thing, actually), I’m loving every day of my quick vacation. So much that I decided to extend my stay and took a leave when everybody else is back in their cubicles to work.  Thing is, my job needs me to be online most of the time, and with the poor signal in where I’m staying this has been a bit of a challenge. Now if I was back in Manila this would have not been a problem at all, not when there’s Starbucks in every mall and you can go online in a jiffy.

With much effort, I’ve been searching online for good coffee shops in Malaybalay City where I can hang and work. Google failed me with this one though as there hasn’t been much write-ups online about the establishments here. Realizing that word-of-mouth may probably be one of the best sources of information in a small and close-knit city like ours, I asked around and Bukidnon Brew Café – aka BBC, seemed to be the best choice.

Located at Bonifacio Drive, near DBP and Caul Street, Bukidnon Brew Café doesn’t look much from the outside with just a simple façade and a store sign which looked like it had seen better years. Once you get inside though, you’ll be welcomed by a homey interior and a laid-back ambiance. The moment I saw the place I knew this was just what I needed.

They have strong wifi so that’s a good thing, plus it’s free so that a big deal. In case you need to plug-in your devices to charge them up, you can just request for extension cords from the gentleman or lady behind the counter, as not all electric sockets are working. You have the option to stay inside so you can easily take orders, or breathe some fresh air on the roofed outdoor where there are longer tables and benches – perfect if you’re a bigger group. Oh and they also got a lot of books - and good ones too!

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This is my favorite spot...dammit I shouldn't have told you that.

When it comes to the food, the menu’s pretty much okay. You should try the Bukidnon Brew Coffee (hot, Php 55.00) as it’s their specialty. I’ve also tried their Iced Mocha (Php 75.00) which has surprising layers of hot and cold in one drink. Another must-try is their Flavoured Coffee (Php 85.00, try the Hazlenut and Butterscotch flavours).

Bukidnon Brew Coffee (Php 55.00)

Iced Mocha (Php75.00)

Flavored Coffee (Php 85.00)

Iced Americano (Php 55.00)

As for the pastries, their specialties are the cheesecakes (Php 85.00). What’s good about these is that they are the ones who bake these goodies. Aside from the pastries, they offer rice meals too.

Cheesecake. There's a Blueberry variety too (Php 85.00)

PorkChop (Php 100.00), if you're like me who had to stay the whole day.

The only downside to this place is that it shares the space with a gym. Because of this you can hear all the moaning and groaning of the gym-goers and clanging of metal weights. Hey I can’t blame them, I also tend to do a lot of unearthly sounds when I’m working out. This gets worse at night though as the gym-buddies become too comfortable and the place gets too noisy. So if you’re after some chill and quiet “me” time you better stay on the outdoor part of the café. Or if you really wanted to stay inside, earphones and some good music would do the trick.

You can see the gym entrance right over there on the right side. See what I'm talking about?

If the owners get to read this, I’d like to say that separating the gym from the café would be a really great idea. I’d also recommend having a “Pull” sign on the café entrance, just so people don’t get startled everytime somebody tries to push open the door.