Along the busy Forbestown road in Taguig is a new hip and happening place that’s just opened. It’s called Eesome, a wordplay of “awesome,” as you might have guessed, and it’s everything you’ve ever wanted in one place: it’s a casual restaurant, a cafe, and a bar on the first floor, and a luxury streetwear store and ice cream shop upstairs.
Call it a transformative space, if you may, because, really, it can be whatever you need it to be: your not-so-secret spot when you’re planning to get work done alone and have good-quality coffee while at it, or the place to chill and hang out on a Friday night with drinks and good music.
“We want Eesome to offer a full experience from around the globe,” says Asia Coronel, head of marketing and PR at Eesome. “We don’t limit our menu to just one cuisine. The dishes are inspired by the chef’s favorite dishes, be it from the Philippines, Italy, or America. It’s not super-fancy but also comforting. We like to call it ‘elevated comfort food,’” she adds.
Eesome’s founders are Korean, and alongside Korean baristas and staff are Filipino chefs that are highly experienced from New York and veteran mixologists who have been in the industry for a long time. “We have classic, re-engineered cocktails at the bar, and with our coffees, the flavors you get aren’t the usual. These are signature drinks of Eesome,” says Coronel.
Honorable mentions from Eesome’s menu are the grilled mahi-mahi, which has a distinct inasal taste; and the short rib agnolotti with charon, which gives you a sumptuous burst of multiple flavors that go well together. Must-tries from the coffee list are the pink salt latte, a bestseller; or simply their version of the Americano, a signature drink.
As with its food offerings, Eesome’s interiors are a mesh of all things inviting and visually pleasant. Stone-washed cement makes up the walls, arched entryways, and cave-like DJ booth on the first floor, round-edged and unimposing, giving off a relaxed, casual ambiance; while the marble tables, wooden chairs, and the well-thought-out curation of cutlery and dinnerware add a soft elegance to the vibe, balancing out the industrial elements of the place.
Its curved, fancy-lit staircase, which is fast becoming an Instagram-popular spot, leads to the second floor, where you’ll find the ice cream bar, the “secret” VIP room, and Eesome’s wide inventory of rare, collector’s items from luxury streetwear brands like Supreme, Kith, or K-pop king G-Dragon’s brand, Peaceminusone.
It’s a thrill to experience Eesome’s intention as a cultural space and the “connector” of the lot, a place that fuses and shares with the community what its founders are most passionate about: good food, quality coffee and cocktails, music, and a love for fashion and design. We think it’s Eesome, pun intended, and we’re here for it.