Kapitolyo Adventures: Make It a 'Kape Toll Yo'

Meeting up in Legazpi Village, we started out with a latte in the Bad Cafe before making our way out to Kapitolyo. First coffee of the day on an empty stomach, pure caffeine energy driving me forward on our latest mission to discover more of Manila.

I should say at this point that this was my first trip to Kapitolyo so I was super excited to discover what was happening out there. I had heard from quite a few folks that there was a burgeoning creative scene gathering some pace out there. They were not wrong.

Watch our Kapitolyo tour video below to see the neighborhood in action:

First stop was 1C Coffee. We had a good chat with the head barista there, Gabs. Hanging out at 1C was pretty cool; the interior is deliberately designed for a rustic look which really suits the location and makes you feel like you are on the edge of a coffee bean farm with the coffee bean sacks on the wall. A quick sea salt honey latte (2nd caffeine injection of the day) and a chat with Gabs was enough to get us charged up and ready to bounce on up the West Capitol Drive to the Kapitolyo Art Space.

At the Kapitolyo Art Space, we were greeted by Gino, the friendly front of house and video editor of the gallery. He shepherded us upstairs where we had a quick chat with Mary Felicia, the gallery owner who went out of her way to make us feel very welcome.

Mary then passed us on to Pat, Mary's daughter who runs the Arts and Beans Coffee Shop on the 2nd floor in the same building and who appeared in our video this week explaining how the coffee shop also doubles up as a creative space with things like workshops and pop-ups being regularly featured.

Tezia, the gallery head, would later tell us that Mary initially started out by showcasing her own personal art collection at a smaller location before just recently moving into this much bigger space at the Kapitolyo Art Space. It's a pretty cool building which includes a nice balcony area on the 2nd floor where you can sit outside, sup on a coffee, absorb the chaos of Kapitolyo just below you whilst taking in the view of the Manila skyline in the distance.

Showcasing local Filipino art, the gallery is really at the heart of the creative spark in this area. Exhibitions are frequent and there is a new invitational exhibition starting this coming Saturday (13 December, 2025) and running until the end of the year. Our very own, co-founder Brian, has submitted a piece. Watch out for more on that.

We also spoke with Tezia about the gallery and the exhibition featuring Crisanto Aquino and his piece called 'Lost', which you can see in our latest video. It's pretty cool, it has a kind of surrealist vibe. Before leaving, I had a very refreshing Oolong Tea drink at the Arts & Beans Cafe and Brian had a Vietnamese Coffee, also reportedly pretty good.

Earlier, Gabs from 1C suggested we check out a Mexican place called Tittos, so we headed there for lunch. We had burritos and tacos which were pretty good. We also happened to bump into Gino again right outside Tittos so he tagged along with us for lunch.

Gino told us about the Philippine Creative Industries Development Act (RA 11904), passed in 2022, which he believes is responsible for the current explosion of creativity in Manila. This totally makes sense; in fact there was similar government support for the creative arts in the 90s in the UK, which many believed in part also contributed to the 90s creative scene there (I spoke about that in a previous article on Escolta). Let's see if it continues. Serendipitous chats like this are what makes our adventures worthwhile — real insights from real people is what Best In Manila is all about.

Onwards we went to the Beach House, where we sampled their delightful cookies and coffee. I had to pause my coffee intake at this point for fear of a coronary incident. The Beach House also sells cosmetic products and has an upstairs space for creatives and talks. You can catch us mentioning one of their Anchorman-inspired products in our video. We also had a nice chat with Cha the barista.

Further down the road, we arrived at St Patrick's Irish Pub, another recommendation by Gabs and possibly the last remaining Irish pub in Metro Manila. We walked in to discover a lone English guy named Dave nursing a San Miguel in the corner. We had a good chat with Dave who has been in Manila for decades working in the garments business.

We were lucky enough to also meet with Patrick the manager of St Patrick's. He's one of three Patricks involved with running the pub. Apparently, the 3 Patricks ran Irish pubs in New York and took the concept back with them from there. Inside, it looks pretty authentic, well done to them — we'd love to see what it's like on St Patrick's Day. Apparently, the food there is really good. They did not have any Guinness when we visited. Apparently Manila is currently experiencing a shortage — good work Manila!

Our final stop of the day was the Couch Club and what a great stop this turned out to be. We got to meet one of the owners, Dids, over a delicious, slightly sweetened Hojicha Latte. A lower level caffeine drink was required at this point to safely wrap up the day.

Dids told us how the Couch Club was inspired by the Vietnamese coffee house aesthetic. Inside you can see the first floor mezzanine, which is typical of Vietnamese coffee house design. The high ceiling is encased by the warmth of the balcony on the upper floor, perhaps an acknowledgment that this is a place where ideas flow freely. The exterior also borrows from the Vietnamese Tube design. Dids says the idea was to make it feel like it's a house more than a coffee shop. Mission accomplished, so much so that on my 2nd visit I didn't want to leave!

On my 2nd visit to Kapitolyo, I met with Dids again and we spoke about the loneliness epidemic which has taken over the world, especially since the pandemic. We spoke about how crucial it is that community spaces like the Couch Club exist. A place where like-minded people can meet in person, share ideas and generate the creative spark which can transform the world. We discussed how there are movements to increase in-person events and even phone-free events to enhance the offline experience. Something the Couch Club would like to do more of.

Further evidence of the community feel came when Dids told me that she actually helped to fit out the lights at 1C coffee shop prior to their opening. Close connections with other local businesses were evident too when Dids referred me to the cool candle shop Saan, just as someone from that very store arrived in the Couch Club for a coffee. It feels like everyone knows everyone, in a positive, community-supporting way, in this creative enclave of Kapitolyo. I also came away with a candle from Saan Saan which had the scent of Old Manila, purchased in homage to our previous Old Manila adventures.

At this point, I think it is worth taking a moment to pay homage to all the people out there working to build community. We're only a few weeks into this Best In Manila adventure and we have already met so many amazing people. Every one of them, whether they are baristas, coffee shop owners, event organizers, or creatives making art, is contributing to building community in their respective neighborhoods. And, I think the best way to pay homage to that is to go and meet a friend for a coffee in your local coffee shop, spend an extra moment and have a chat with your local barista, go to an exhibition, or just go meet someone for a walk in your neighborhood. Finally, I really recommend taking a trip to Kapitolyo as the community there is one of the strongest that I have seen. Congrats to all making it happen out there!

Given that the Couch Club is such a focal point for the creative community in Kapitolyo, we thought it was only right that we should invite Dids, the co-owner, to be our first collaborator on our curated Spotify Playlist for this week. Dids has also shared some words on the playlist and why it represents Kapitolyo.

I chose funk because funk captures what Kapitolyo feels like right now. Funk is about attitude, endless grooves, improvisation, and that sense of raw, unfiltered expression. And Kapitolyo invites you to live in that rhythm. Spend enough time here and you'll feel the groove of the collective rising- people creating, testing ideas, and building their craft. Like musicians listening to one another, responding, building, adding layers until the groove hits so hard it forces a sonically triggered stank face. It's not polished yet and that's exactly what makes it viscerally alive.

In the playlist you'll hear soul-funk, disco-funk, alt-funk, even acid-funk. Drums snapping, punchy horn lines, guitars darting in at odd angles… different styles, different textures- just like the neighborhood's eclectic mix. The relaxed, lived-in vibe – homes, small streets, tricycles running around – but also a little edge, the restlessness you only find in neighborhoods still in the process of becoming something. Cafes, shops, studios, kitchens squeezed into nowhere spaces… But every great funk track has one thing at its core: the bassline. Always the bass. The creative undercurrent running through Kapitolyo? That's the bass in music form. The thing you can't quite name but you feel vibrating under the surface, urging people to try something, make something, screw it up and just dance to it anyway.

So this playlist is Kapitolyo: groovy, imperfect but with lots of attitude. And if you let it, it'll pull you right into the jam.