Y Café is quietly tucked at an unassuming spot along HV dela Costa Avenue in Makati City. Despite this, I have heard a lot of good things about Y Café because it was just across our office and some of my colleagues were regular diners. Aside from good food, my officemates said that Y Café is also a
co-working space that offered good Wi-Fi connection and tables fitted with power outlets so patrons can conveniently work.
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| Sliders |
Y Café: A Cozy Restaurant And A Co-Working Space In One
Y Café’s seemingly hidden location makes it akin to a secret nook waiting to be discovered, at least by foodies who are not from the area. However, I trust that its discovery will be in no time because word of mouth spreads like wildfire.
The ambiance
Y Café was formerly known as Venture Capital Café or VC Cafe. The former name
may have sounded like a stock brokerage or trading firm but that was because
one of the main concepts behind VC Café was for it to become a hub for
incubating business ideas.
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| Y Cafe's conference room can also be used for small events |
It was a place where diners can meet and brainstorm about concepts, hold
seminars and events, and forums in any of the conference rooms inside the
restaurant.
However, the brains behind the cafe recently renamed it Y Café to appeal to
a younger market segment.
Everything is still the same – customers will still enjoy the same service,
the same 80s anime theme, and the same food that they have come to enjoy. The change in name from Venture Capital Café to Y Café was a welcome move as the latter sounded less stiff and more casual.
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| A food event |
The interiors of Y Cafe looked modern, comfortable, and welcoming. There are tables that can be used for both eating and holding a group meeting. But there are also individual tables and a conference room, depending on how big (or small) your group is. All tables are equipped with an internet terminal.
What I also liked in Y Cafe are the books that are neatly arranged on shelves.
These are real books that diners can borrow and read. Another prominent feature of Y Cafe is the presence of amine and robot figures. These all give a welcome break from hour-long meetings and tasks.
The food
Along with its refreshed brand, Y Café also revamped its menu. The choices now featured a combination of mostly modern Western and Italian fares. Here are
some of the new and notable items that were added to Y Cafe's Menu:
Tycoon Wings
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| Tycoon wings |
The tycoon wings are seasoned wings that are deep-fried and then coated in a
house-made garlic lager sauce. It was served with a bleu cheese dip.
Hainanese Chicken Steak
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| Hainanese Chicken Steak |
The Hainanese Chicken Steak is one full leg quarter of chicken that is
deboned, served on top of rice and mixed vegetables, and glazed with hoisin
ginger sauce.
Louisiana Chicken Crunch
The Louisiana Chicken Steak is crispy chicken tenders coated with Louisiana sauce and served with garlic bleu cheese dip. This is great either with rice or with beer.
Spicy Shrimp and Sausage
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| Spicy Shrimp and Sausage |
The Spicy Shrimp and Sausage is a combination of Hungarian sausage, plump
shrimps, potatoes, and corn on a cob that are sautéed are coated with a tomato
chipotle sauce.
This was topped with garlic bits and microgreens. Pork Chops ala Pobre Two
thick slices of marinated pork chops are served with garlic rice and then
drizzled with brown sauce and topped with onion hay and sprinkled with
generous amounts of garlic bits.
Chicken and Mushroom Pasta
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| Chicken and Mushroom Pasta |
This savory pasta dish is made of sautéed button and shiitake mushrooms,
deglazed with white wine and cream, topped with strips of chicken breast,
bacon, and parmesan cheese.
Spicy Aglio Olio Pasta This light yet flavorful pasta is made of olive oil,
garlic, chilies, and sprinklings of bacon bits and parmesan cheese.
The Y Cheeseburger
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| Y Cheeseburger |
This giant cheeseburger is made of 200g pure beef patty with toppings of sautéed mushrooms, melted mozzarella cheese, onion rings, bacon strips,
pickles, tomato, and fresh, crisp lettuce leaves. These are almost as big as your face!
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| Y Cafe's new food items |
I really liked the Aglio Olio Pasta and I found it excellent. Y Café’s Aglio
Olio Pasta was garlicky, mildly spicy, and well-seasoned. The combination of
flavors complemented the deep and rich flavor of the olive oil.
Aglio Olio is my favorite pasta dish and I always order it whenever it was on offer. However, despite Aglio Olio’s simplicity, some restaurants tend to miss out on something when preparing it, rendering it rather bland and unappealing.
Y Café’s Spicy Shrimp and Sausage was another outstanding dish. The chipotle sauce was really good and added many flavors to the shrimp and sausage. It had corn on a cob in it but I could also have this with rice.
Some more noteworthy dishes were the Chicken and Mushroom Pasta, made savory by the shiitake mushrooms, and the Pork Chops ala Pobre. The Chicken and
Mushroom Pasta was a bit heavy because of the cream and I would have loved to pair it with white wine.
Lastly, the Pork Chops ala Pobre was a good take on the humble pork chops. It
may not always be recommended because we can have pork chops anytime but at least Y Café did a good job in reinventing it.
I did not try the Louisiana Chicken Crunch, Tycoon Wings, and the Hainanese
Chicken Steak because I am not so much of a chicken fan. I have heard from
fellow bloggers though that the Louisiana Chicken Crunch was also delicious
and satisfyingly crunchy.
Epilogue
All in all, it was a great evening despite the heavy rains. I would like to
return to Y Café to sample the Filipino food choices in their menu and
perhaps try their unlimited wine offering during happy hour.
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