juOn Break: Pinoy Mountain Coffee

Robinsons Pioneer is a favorite hangout of mine because of free wifi. And wifi is best enjoyed with coffee and something to eat. There used to be a Coffee Beanery at the second floor but it closed down a few months ago. Wifi at Robinsons was never the same again after that. Well, until today when I chanced upon the newly opened coffee specialty store Pinoy Mountain Coffee.

It is located right smack at the main entrance of Robinsons Pioneer so it's not very hard to miss. If you frequent this mall, you'd know that this coffee shop has no competition, literally, since there's no other choice. No Starbucks. No Gloria Jeans. No Seattle's Best. Sayang ang wifi tuloy. But not anymore.

The little store looks pretty interesting. Its ambience reminds me of Baguio, with carved wood all over the place, from the facade of the counter to the bar stools and some of the seats. The down side is that the place is pretty small: 2 round tables for 4 in the outside lobby for smokers, a similar table inside the mall, and a sala-type setting with an old chest serving as table, two single chairs and a scrap-wood settee. The smokers area is separated from the rest of the mall's outside lobby with two karitela wheels and a capiz shell wall. The place looks pretty cozy. It gave me the feeling that I was having coffee in my lola's house. Except that I had wifi.

The whole point of course of this exercise was to taste the coffee. I ordered brewed coffee and caramel brownies. I love coffee, whatever kind it is. The brewed coffee that I ordered is a pleasant respite from my daily dose of Mister Donut brewed coffee. And the brownies was really good. It was moist and chewy and so good to eat. It was a perfect compliment to my warm strong coffee.

The best part was that the price was affordable. The medium-sized coffee and the brownies cost me 70 pesos only.

There is one point for improvement, though. They could make the serving time a little swifter.

Verdict:
If you love food, kwento, or (free) Internet with your coffee, check out Pinoy Mountain Coffee at Robinsons Pioneer.