Akiba Cafe Opens in Ash Creek Center, San Juan

Note: This restaurant is already closed. 

The popular quaint Japanese cafe, Akiba Cafe, at SM Megamall has now opened a second branch at the Ash Creek Center, Greenhills, San Juan. KC and I were invited to visit their newest branch to try their bestsellers and new dishes.

inside Akiba Cafe

This branch is more spacious, which makes it comfortable for friends to hang-out and students to review (since it's near the schools).

As soon as we arrived, we were offered to try their Donburi Meals or rice meals. The Donburi meals are only available at the Ash Creek branch. Available Donburi meals are the All-Day Donburi or breakfast meals and the Katsu Donburi.

Oh, each meal comes with special tamago (egg), which was as fluffy as bread.

We had the Longganisa Special (Php 215) from the All Day Donburi.

Longganisa Special

The longganisa is on the leaner side hence it was a bit dry for me, maybe because I'm into sweet and fatty longganisa that we usually buy in Pampanga. Other All-Day Donburi meals are Pork Strip Tocino, Japanese Beef Tapa, and Char-siu pork.

What got me really interested was the Katsu Donburi meals. Akiba Cafe concocted six different sauces to go with the katsu meals. We got to try all the Katsu meals: Tori or Chicken (Php 325), Rosu or Pork (Php 335), and Sakana or Fish (Php 310).

Tori or Chicken Katsu

Rosu or Pork Katsu

Sakana or Fish Katsu

Special Tamago

The six sauces are Classic, Teriyaki, Sweet Sake, Japanese Curry, Garlic Wasabi, and Seaweed Parmesan. Each meal comes with a sauce of your choice. Additional sauce is Php 55.

Katsu sauces

I highly recommend the Japanese Curry for the Tori or Chicken, Seaweed Parmesan for the Rosu or Pork and Garlic Wasabi for the Sakana or Fish.

We also got to try Akiba Cafe's bestselling drinks. As you may know, I'm a coffee addict. I like my coffee hot, but the weather's getting nasty that I'm breaking away from my usual and get an iced coffee instead. Aside from hot and iced coffee, Akiba Cafe also serves Caffeine-Free Chiru, Yogurt Chiru, Tea-Spresso, Trifle Drinks, and more.

For Kohi drinks, we had the Nutty Macadamia Kohi (Php 130 for regular, Php 140 for large).

Nutty Macadamia Kohi

Nutty Macadamia Kohi is one of the Flavored Hot Kohi drinks. They also have Hot Chocolate and Hot Tea-spresso.

We also had Caffeine-Free Chiru drinks: Peanut Butter Choco (Php 140 for regular, Php 150 for large) and Black Sesame Chiru (Php 140 for regular, Php 150 for large).

Peanut Butter Choco Chiru & Black Sesame Chiru

I really liked the Peanut Butter Choco Chiru as it tastes a lot like Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. The Black Sesame Chiru also has this interesting flavor, it reminds me of Diamond Hotel's Black Sesame Ice Cream.

For something healthy, we had the Original Yogurt Chiru (Php 140 for regular, Php 150 for large).

Original Yogurt Chiru

I'm a recovering froyo addict and I really loved this Yogurt Chiru. I even think it's healthier than froyo. It's something I'd grab when I want something refreshing to drink.

We also had the Trifle Drinks: the Matcha Trifle Tea (Php 110 for regular, Php 120 for large) and Signature Trifle Kohi (Php 100  for regular, Php 110 for large).

Signature Trifle Kohi & Matcha Trifle Tea

The trifle is just so smooth and creamy, I loved it! I will try how it will taste if I mix the trifle with the coffee next time. :)

Another reason to visit Akiba Cafe is the desserts, lots of it! All of their cakes and pastries are exclusively made for Akiba Cafe.

I love cheesecakes so I wouldn't miss trying every cheesecake they have. We had the Green Tea Cheesecake (Php 130 per slice), Mango Cheesecake, and Oreo Cheesecake (Php 130 per slice).

Green Tea Cheesecake

 Mango Cheesecake & Oreo Cheesecake

Matcha fanatics will surely love the Green Tea Cheesecake, but being a dessert fan with a kiddo tastebuds, I loved the Mango Cheesecake and Oreo Cheesecake. :)

For something not too sweet, we had the Sweet Potato Cake (Php 130 per slice) and Akiba Tiramisu (Php 120 per slice).

Sweet Potato Cake

Akiba Tiramisu

Akiba Cafe also has cookies! We had the Belgian Chocolate (Php 55) and the White Choco Macadamia (Php 55). Both were really delicious, I can't play favorites this time.

White Choco Macadamia & Belgian Chocolate Cookies

I find it brilliant that Akiba Cafe is an original concept, with topnotch dishes, desserts, and drinks to match. What was more impressive is the affordability of their offerings. I'd love to visit them again and try more of their desserts and drinks. I do hope they'll open more branches soon.

Thanks to Akiba Cafe for having us.

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Akiba Cafe
Ash Creek Center,
Ortigas Avenue corner. Madison St.,
Greenhills, San Juan
http://www.theakibacafe.com
Facebook Page: akibacafe
Twitter: @akibacafeph

Other location is at SM Megamall.