Every day, you see people talk about the different places where they hang out with their friends, places like Starbucks, Serenitea, Coffee Bean, etc. These places serve really good food and drink, or simply function as a place where people can relax. Most of them are already visited by a lot of people. I mean, Starbucks and Coffee Bean are big names, especially in Manila. Considering that it’s the capital city, you’d expect to find everything, or the best of everything, here.

As a person that moved in from another city that’s really far from Manila, I used to believe the same thing, too. After months of being a student of the Ateneo and a new member of the Manila bee hive, I found it in myself to venture out and learn more about the city that I had not uncovered yet by  utilizing my brief breaks from school. From my adventures, I’ve found a lot of places that caught my interest, especially since I didn’t see them in Cebu or see them whenever I go to Ateneo.

But what if I told you that there are also places in Cebu that I haven’t found in Manila? And no, I don’t mean those small time businesses that just started. What I’m talking about is a different kind of café from Starbucks and Serenitea. Cebu is overrun by people from foreign countries; that much we can’t deny. That also means that they carry over the culture from their country to ours. The café they have is different from the regular cafés we see, and one of these cafés that I went to is Café Namoo.

                Now I know what you’re thinking: “What could be so different from these cafés?” Well, I’m about to answer that question as I share to you my experience of going to Café Namoo.

I went with a friend of mine (it was actually our first time meeting face-to-face) on my first visit to Café Namoo. The moment we stepped into the café, it felt as if we were transported from the heat of New Mandaue City and brought to a cool, beautiful East Asian café. The atmosphere in Café Namoo was totally different.

  One of the main differences between this café and regular cafés is their ambiance. Usually, cafés have chairs and tables, and you either bring the food to your table, or they bring the food to you. In a Café Namoo, you sit in booths with a small table and pillows. Seats? No thanks! You remove your shoes and sit on the cushions that are provided inside the booth. These booths can be either open or closed, and either way is comfortable. Café Namoo is designed in such a way that the closed booths are at the bottom, with the open booths above them. We wanted to try the open booth, but alas, we were too tall and had to sit in a closed one.

                Though the booths seem small, they were still comfortable and had enough space for us. What’s nice about Café Namoo is that people can leave their Post-It notes on the walls of the booths to show how much they love being there. Some people write nice things, some draw, and others just leave really random messages, which only add to the unique and comfortable experience.

The menu consisted mostly of shakes, pastries, and some pasta, like lasagna, carbonara… things like that. We ordered some milkshakes, and ate some Pocky and MIC Candy. Another thing I liked about the place was how the staff voluntarily took our picture. Not a lot of cafés do that. Most of the time, the customers take the picture, and then tag the establishment’s Facebook page. But in Café Namoo, the establishment takes your picture and posts it on their page. It was a great experience. The milkshakes were great, and we were able to leave our own notes in the café. All-in-all, we enjoyed our time there.

 The thing about these cafés is that they always give a different vibe from the usual places people hang out in. In the past year, more cafés have opened such as Tomo Café, Gentleman Café, Café Tiala, CosCafé, and very recently, Neko Café. A lot of these cafés have been opening up in Cebu, so I expected them to be in Manila as well. If they were here, I wish I knew where they were, because the experience really is something else.

All photos in this article were taken by the author.

Café Namoo is located in 2F Northgate Centre, Banilad, Mandaue, Cebu City.