the fat seed cafe + roastery

one of my favorite eats in qc! staff and place are very welcoming and friendly. their coffee is top notch amazing featuring different local and imported variety of beans. food is also very good! i recommend the mushroom fritters for appetizers, easy to munch on. i also always order the sonoma salad, right mix of everything plus it’s healthy. for pasta i love hotate soy cream w/ a bit of scallop, it has a strong unique flavor. i also got to try their roasted vegetable sandwich, i loved it so cheesy. their mains we love their signature porkchop dish (you can get it with rice instead of sweet potato) and wagyu pares so cool served in a tiffin. all in all it’s a happy experience every time i go there.

we went here on a saturday around 5pm and the place is full. mostly students with their laptops trying to study (i think). place is really cute. i ordered the wagyu pares, served in those stacked metal baunan i used to have when i was in grade school. iz yummy! also ordered hot latte which was really good - strong and creamy. ☕️😋

"that's what they all say," said the guy to my right, as i sat down and perused the menu and said i wished i'd had the space to have a full meal. the menu is good-looking, with brunch/sort-of-all-day items, like corned beef hash and salmon eggs benedicts, to avocado toast, to salads with arugula and alfalfa, and japanese-style pasta. they're getting word of mouth about their fried chicken and ube waffle combo.

sigh. i had to settle for a v60 pour-over single origin coffee from benguet and a cranberry scone.

since i admit i struggle with the no-milk, no-sugar rule, i had to have a conversation about tasting notes and ask them if they'd serve me milk and sugar with the coffee if i asked them to, just to (okay, sort of) sass them. in the end, i wasn't about to cheat myself of the experience. 

the conversation about where the coffee came from got interesting from there on, and i soon realised i was talking to brian, one of the store's owners, minding the store that day. 

just like an increasing number of single origin coffee purveyors, fat seed has relationships with the small filipino coffee producers who grow arabica up, up in the cordilleras; and like some selected shops, they roast their own beans. yields are limited, and moisture changes can be so distinct from one harvest to the next, so the taste of the coffee will vary accordingly.

my ampucao roast was great, and i started to read some material i'd brought with me. the scone was okay, slightly pale and lacking in doneness, maybe baked at a slightly lower temperature than should have been. brian was gone! i didn't finish that very interesting conversation!
their printed menu doesn't list the provenance of their beans, which are delivered to the shop almost every week. one has to look at their blackboard above the main counter to know where one's single origin brew comes from, whether locally or from abroad.

i've got my eye on the hotate pasta, and maybe i'll have some of that waffle. 

music is played in the background and there are communal tables for groups. i like the vibe of the place.

the food was just ok, nothing really different from the usual but the presentation is appetizing. the ambience is nice and cozy but i didnt find anything that would make me come back for more

not good for the price maybe because its takeout. looks like some people like it so i assume its just not the best for takeout. packaging was good though. portugese caserole has too much rice too little toppings needs more bechamel. breakfast steak rice was a bit hard. portion is good though. hotate was quite good. smothie was a flop. strawberry milkshake is a flop. coffee was a flop. overall a flop.

ang tagal namin mag-order kasi gusto namin lahat. 🥺❤️

place: it’s cozy, very modern and a bit comfortable. i enjoyed the artworks.

service: was okay. we were few there but the server took time to deliver our orders.

food: grilled cheese sandwich was ordinary...nothing special. the mango taste/flavor wasn’t evident.

pasta: this is what i liked. it tasted like charlie chan...sweetish and a bit spicy. wagyu cubes were tender and juicy.

salad: you can skip it.

soup: pumpkin soup was creamy...perfect with sandwich.

appetizer: salted egg flavor was too salty. however, the chicken skin was crispy despite the saucy texture.

value for money: i give this three spoons 🥄🥄🥄. it was a bit pricey for the taste.

overall, experience was fine. we’ll go back to try their shakes.

ordered this quinoa bowl with grilled chicken twice already. so yummm and filling! worth the price!

the sonoma salad though had only small or few lola rosa. no arugula too & spinach too. 🙁

ambience and service are warm and welcoming, making it one of my favorite nooks in up town center. the cozy industrial feel is infused with warm lighting, making it a relaxing respite after a day of shopping.

the chili garlic bacon pasta was mildly spicy. flavourful, but the pasta was slightly undercooked. served with egg, which i loved as it's a counterpoint to the spicy oil base.

sipping iced tea with this made it an 'ahhhh' moment as it added to my joyous reverie of comfort food + sweet cold drink. i love such moments.

the menu doesnt boast much desserts, but there is french toast as an all day breakfast option. dare i say orgasmic? surprisingly not too sweet but a perfect pick-me-up for a dreary mood. perfect balance of nutella, rum syrup, cinnamon and cream. hallelujah. i'll be back for more.

let me start by stating what’s perfectly obvious for me and my gf (and i know a lot of people will agree): the fat seed is the best restaurant in up town center.

food: though we first discovered tfs because we wanted to try their coffee, it’s their food that really made us return time and time again. i highly recommend their hotate soy cream pasta and cacio e pepe, two of the best from their food menu. i would also recommend their classic grilled cheese (one of the best i’ve had, with the parmesan crusted bread) and their burgers (try the one with ricotta and orange marmalade; unique and refreshing!)

drink: my gf and i have this constantly changing ranking of the top 5 coffees in metro manila, and tfs is the only constant at 1 or 2. i always have their iced mocha, but the coffee cubes and their lattes are very good. for those who don’t drink coffee, i recommend their iced tea, mojito tea.

place / service: the resto has a very hipster, cool look fit for the younger crowd (esp the nearbh atenistas and maryknollers haha!). service is always top-notch, even amidst this pandemic and the place is always clean even their restroom.

i know uptc is a mall not frequented by a lot, but if you do get to visit and it’s your first time, go to the fat seed to have the most amazing time!

this weekend, we decided to dine in the fat seed café + roastery.

we started our meal with a healthy serving of the sonoma salad (php 280). the salad is adequately served with vinaigrette. it has your main lettuce vegetable and cuts of arugula. finally, this is mixed with cut grapes and onions.

another starter we had was something that would always complete our breakfast meal: coffee. we ordered one usual drink that every café would serve, the café mocha (php 200), and something new, the coffee cubes (php 150). the café mocha was served like a sundae. it has your drink at the bottom topped off with whipped cream and chocolate syrup. the coffee cubes, however, was something different. it was served with iced coffee cubes in a glass sided by your warm cream and sweetener. the taste is just your basic brewed coffee with cream and sugar. the main appreciation here, however, is how it is served.

check out my blog to read the full review:

https://liezelonthego.wordpress.com/2020/09/21/the-fat-seed-cafe-roastery/

i really love the food plus their iced coffees!
heaven on earth!
staffs were very friendly.
good service also ❤️

in the past years, we have been witnessed to the rise of the hipster culture brought about by millennials. hipster is defined as a subculture of men and women typically in their 20s and 30s that value independent thinking, counter-culture, progressive politics, an appreciation of art and indie-rock, creativity, intelligence, and witty banter. and being a millennial myself, i totally enjoy everything about the said culture, most specially the style, the fashion, and aesthetics. 

one of up town center's hidden gems that are known to many foodies. which is totally fine because when it comes to the turn around of tables to one customer to another, its fast depending on the orders and not to mention, they got a big space to cater those who eat as a family or who goes there to have a good drink (like me).

i was "quota" with my coffee intake for the day so i have decided to go for their hot chocolate instead. what i love about specialty cafes are how different they serve this drink that some people would think common. for fat seed, it got a latte art but its more than the technique and calibration -- it was about it bringing a straight-forward yet confusing flavor, in a good way.

i love how they steamed milk for the latte tamed the dark chocolate flavor they used for the drink. i would surely go back for the good stuff they are offering such as ube waffle.

haven't been in this site for quite some time but just wanted to drop in and praise this restaurant for having awesome food, reasonable prices, beautiful ambience, friendly staff and quick serving time. definitely one of my new favorites in uptc. 💕