Cups and Clicks: A "Caffera" Review

The last stop of our recent and short Maginhawa food crawl ended at a quaint coffee shop that has a concept a lot of hipsters will definitely love. Photography and Coffee? Why not?

I’ve already heard of Caffera a few times and as you may have guessed, its unique concept earned it a spot in my must-visit establishments in Maginhawa. However, in spite of its one of a kind theme, you may have to manage your expectations a little bit when you’re planning to visit the place.

The moment I entered I knew that this isn’t one of those coffee shops where I can spend hours working with my laptop. The space is too small that it can only accommodate 3 tables, and several people can’t go lining up at the counter at the same time because it would be too crowded. I haven’t been to the balcony but from where we sat, it would seem that there are also one or two tables outside for those who wish to have a cig with their drinks.

To be fair though, the place did deliver when it comes to the concept it was famous for. Photography paraphernalia are all over the place! Cameras and photography designs are all over the walls – even the lamps hanging over each table resemble camera lenses. Some drinks (I believe the hot ones) are even served in camera lens tumblers, which are also for sale if you want ‘em.

Even the coffee that they serve are amusingly named after photography terms – you can have your drinks at “Pixel”, which is the regular size, or “Megapixel”, which would be the bigger option. Their Frappes are called “Frappertures”, and their cold drinks are labelled as “ISO”, I dunno maybe because they’re iced? Get it? ISO and Ice? Oh forget it.

Given that we walked all the way from Wicked Kicthen to Caffera (that’s a reeeeaally long walk, mind you) as an effort to burn off all the calories we stored up so far, we were so exhausted by the time we got to the café  that you can’t blame us if we all ordered iced drinks. Sadly, the ISO are not served in camera tumblers, so we enviously looked at the other tables while we sipped on our glasses. Price-wise, they’re quite affordable compared to the bigger coffee shops.

ISO Latte – Pixel: Php 95.00, Megapixel: Php 105.00

ISO Apple Iced Tea – Megapixel: Php 90.00

ISO Grenadine Tea - Megapixel: Php 90.00

The drinks we ordered tasted decent enough and had nothing out of the ordinary. I guess I would have to make a second visit to check the Frappertures if they’re any different.

Or you can have a bite on these camera-cupcakes instead.

If you’re on a date and it starts becoming awkward because of the tight space, you can just start doodling using the small pieces of paper and colored pens provided at the counter, and show off your calligraphy skills (let’s hope that you have some). I won’t recommend choosing this place for a date though, unless he/she is a photography enthusiast at the least.

If you ask me, Caffera had an idea that would have had really great potential, but fell short in execution, primarily because of the limited space. They’ve done a great job with a small area, so I can just imagine the potential if they had a bigger one to play around with. Right now though, I’d stick to the more conventional coffee shops, and just be on the lookout when Caffera re-opens with a much more comfortable spacing.