528 Ilawod Cafe — Restaurant in Daraga

A delightful slice of heaven within a sleepy, suburban town. Was pleasantly surprised when the girlfriend brought me here. I'm the kind of person who enjoys a serene, solemn ambiance; and this cafe offers just that. Baristas/servers know their stuff and are astonishingly well bred, amiable, helpful, polite, and proactive. Menu is pricey but that is to be expected of a cafe (besides, the atmosphere and the people running the place makes it all worthwhile). Some of my gripes: taste wise, the food lacks a certain polish, considering the price. Also on our last visit, the management fumbled with our bill, a minor annoyance I can readily forget. Anyway, to sum it up, considering other cafes in the vicinity both local and named ones, my positive experience with 528 marks it as a good fallback coffee shop, and I will definitely be bringing my friends here.

edit: after further visits, it's clear they have a problem with something as simple as handling the bill (wrong totals, fumbling change etc on separate occasions).i also witnessed that their visiting suppliers seem to have to need to shout like they're compensating for having a small appendage. is this the culture in this town? truly ruins the...

The best of Sorsogon are indeed hidden. We were trying to explore what the locals can offer until we were led by an obscure cafe at SM Sorsogon until one thing led to another and we ended up visiting all their branches at SM Legazpi and ultimately at their main branch in Daraga, Albay. Customer service is outstanding at both Daraga and Sorsogon branches but food quality is all at its penultimate and can give Sbarro and Starbucks a run for their money. We met their ingenious and unassuming owners at their Daraga branch and they have to be credited for injecting love of country and local resources, local artistry and creativity into the way they conduct their business in Bicol. We tried practically almost ALL their pastas, 2 of their pizzas, buffalo wings, salad, tamarind iced tea, strawberry scramble drink, salad, cake and black coffee ALL reaching our 99 percent satisfaction all in two days. They offer Baligang fruit juice seasonally, a fruit endemic in Bicol and Southern Luzon and pili cheese cake. Definitely a...

The food is okay.. But the menu is very limited. The unique drinks are fun to taste though.

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UPDATE: 02 Sep 2024

We went back and recently visited the first branch of 528 Coffee shop in Ilawod, Daraga.

The place was bussin’ with student customers with their laptops and review notes.

We ordered iced spanish latte, iced salted caramel latte, classic cheesecake and a chicken sandwich. The foods were okay. But the drink is more on the milk side. Wasn’t able to taste the coffee in it. Which is disappointing as their coffee in the SM branch was good.

The place looks gloomier. The display glass (just below the counter. see pictures) is disorganized and untidy.

I hope they make the place livelier and neat. And improve the...