I have been visiting new Iloilo City coffee and food places in the nearby area from my boarding house in which I plan to promote their dish and business in my blog and vlog. This is my way to help these small and medium business enterprises in marketing amidst the current pandemic that affects people’s engagement in the city.

In effect, it has limited the capacity of restaurants and other food places. Anyhow, my main objective of checking these places is, of course, to try their best offer, whether it is a local dish or a specially brewed coffee.

For today’s bike short ride feature, we have two distinct and new coffee places. The first one is in Lapaz and is easily accessible when you are on the Jereos Street road going to Ledesco Village. The place is called Sergio, and I think before was an Al Fresco bar and hangout area. It is still a hangout place now, but with their coffee brew specialty. Here below is my bike shorts vlog.

The second one is a recommendation of my former San Agustin student where she’s currently doing a side job as a coffee bartender. The shop is named Kopi-lo-ilo and it is located in Solis Street city proper. The nearest landmarks are BSP and SM Delgado and their spot is on the former Grillers resto.

Their special dish when I visited was the Ramon Ramen, priced at only P150 for a bowl. I partnered it with their black coffee brew which is quite unusual but I personally preferred it. See the video blow on the details of my visit.

These are just two of the many new coffee places that have sprouted in the city and its various districts. They are ready to accept customers and are practicing proper health protocols for a safe hangout experience. Let us support these local businesses in any way that we can.

I finally was able to drop last Saturday by my friend’s new location at her coffee shop. The shop, Libericup Coffee and Tea, just turned one year and is celebrating the first anniversary with a raffle promo on the coffee and milktea for each purchase. I was longing to check the new menu and if the coffee brews are still available. Unfortunately, the two brews on Liberica and Arabica were cordially combined and became the hot or cold version of the Americano in the menu.

I arrived at around 12:30 in the afternoon and saw Shelly or Asai as the lone staff of her place. She told me that her two assistants got some errands that day and she was the only one left to manage the shop. I then greeted her and asked if I can set up my laptop at the side table so I could start working on our group assignment for the Masteral at URP. I then checked on the menu and ordered a cup of hot Americano. That cup costs only P50 (barely a dollar) and is cheaper than those sold in the city. The cup serving is up to the rim and the aroma just smells satisfying. I immediately took a sip to rejuvenate after a long journey.

Asai asked me if I would want to try some of her vegan dishes and I gladly said yes. She initially cooked a Bistek Tagalog kind of dish but with no actual meat. You can check the pic in the gallery below. The feel and taste compared to that of the real beef menu. It was very delicious. I also got to try the vegan burger later that afternoon. Check out below the pics I took while being there for the rest of the day.

Libericup Coffee and Tea is located in Gonzaga St. Poblacion Purok 4, Pavia, Iloilo. They usually opens at 9am up until 8pm.