Dine, Shop, and Be Inspired At This New Arts & Crafts Cafe in Cubao!

With the holidays coming up, it’s easy to get so caught up in the stress of preparing for it. If you’re a crammer like me, then you probably haven’t started even planning for Christmas gifts. And yes, since we’ve gone this far then we’re probably going to be waiting until the first week of December to start shopping. This would also mean having to face a whole lot of stress when Christmas shopping along with thousands of others who (also) waited the last minute to do so.

Here’s a place where you can eat, relax, and get your Christmas gift shopping done all at the same time! Gift Avenue Cafe is a newly opened arts and crafts cafe in Cubao that allows you to shop while you dine!

Aside from being a very aesthetically pleasing cafe, it also serves as a hub for artists and art lovers alike. This new food spot aims to be a venue for artists to showcase their works to customers; a platform for local handcrafted works.

Soon, Gift Avenue Cafe will be having the “Art Drop” where artists can just leave their works to be exhibited or even sold to the public! This cafe also doubles as a retail shop for local brands that specialize in handmade crafts. From wooden coasters to hand-painted tote bags, to tassel earrings, you’re sure to find the perfect handcrafted gift for your friends and family.

Gift Avenue Cafe takes “shop and dine” to a whole new level.

^{Highway Jalapeno Burger // PHP 190}

Their food concepts have such unique tastes that are out of the ordinary. They offer all original and homemade Western-Filipino dishes; all of them came from the creative mind of their in-house chef, Chef John.

He shares that the real foundation of the food that they offer is that they aim to serve dishes that are both visually appealing and delicious. “My craft is my art,” he says. And so, aside from the presentation of the food, the art also comes from the recipes that emerged from more than a year of conceptualizing and trial-and-error.

Their rice meals are definitely out of this world. Every single one was a hit. This is not an exaggeration, but every bite we took from each of their original rice meals came with a sigh of satisfaction and approval.

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Their Salted Egg Shrimp took salted egg dishes on a whole other level for me. It wasn’t too salty, yet it was very tasty. It was a great balance of the flavorful salted egg and the “canvas” that is the shrimp.

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The Crispy Pork Belly with Spicy Orange Sauce was superb. Forget about all those crispy pork belly dishes you’ve tried before–this one’s legit. It got our tummies rumbling even while we were still taking photos. My friend could hear the crunch of the pork belly as I took a bite in front of her–that’s how crunchy it is. Plus, the original spicy orange sauce was just the right amount of flavor that the pork belly needed.

^{Crispy Chicken with Teriyaki Sauce // PHP 190}

The Crispy Chicken with Teriyaki Sauce is also a must-try. The sauce was amazing and it basically just changed everything I thought I knew about fried chicken. Even the chicken by itself was flavorful.

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If you’re just up for a bit of snack with your barkada while “shopping,” they also have the totally Instagrammable Barkada Wheel where you can choose 5 appetizers that are put on a miniature Ferris wheel.

^{Black Forest Frappe // PHP 155}

Their original blends are also the perfect way to complete your experience at this cafe. Make sure to try their Matcha Latte (one of the best ones I’ve tried, tbh), Black Forest Frappe, and Cappuccino that comes with super cute art!

^{Cappuccino // PHP 95}

Also make sure to try their desserts! Their Sansrival and Tiramisu are definite must-tries. It’s not too sweet but it’s definitely delicious.

^Sansrival

Gift Avenue Cafe is actually more than just a cafe and a gift shop. It’s really an interactive concept cafe where you can get your hands dirty, too. They share their space with different art communities so that they can hold various workshops, open mics, and exhibits! They also sell art materials so that you can instantly create something if you’re feeling inspired.

The vision of the owners is truly to promote arts and local handcrafted brands. Their long-term goal? To have branches all over the nation that will help promote each province’s artistic specialty.

Gift Avenue Cafe is not just the newest hangout place for your barkada, nor is it just another gift shop. It’s really an avenue for the Filipino arts to be promoted by all. If you’re an artist, this cafe may just be the platform you’re looking for to showcase your work. If you’re an art lover, this could be the place where you can find the next big local brand.

Gift Avenue Cafe is definitely the place to dine, shop, and be inspired by the artists around us–and our own creativity.

Gift Avenue Cafe