Madge Cafe — Restaurant in Iloilo City

Another place that foodie usually visit in La Paz Market is the Madge Café. I missed this place on my previous visit in La Paz Market. Bu this time I made sure I take note of it. Just a few store away from Netong’s Batchoy you’ll find Madge Café. Madge Café gain popularity being one of the oldest café in the Iloilo. Named after the wife owner Magdalena. They started serving coffee since 1940 or 1951?. Wow! It started first selling Halo-halo but soon the owner realized that it’s a seasonal kind of item. So soon they ventured to serving coffee. Now the place is being managed by the 3rd generation of their clan. Wow!

This coffee shop is not your typical coffee shop with aricon/wifi/power outlet. This place is more of a carinderia looking but with colorful mugs displayed. This is the type of coffee shop that remind me when I was a kid. A place where people just hangout and have coffee and bread snack in the afternoon. In here they served freshly brewed coffee through the use of Colador a type of cloth coffee strainer similar to the one used in other hawker in asian country. The beans used here are mostly sourced out from Guimaras and other part of Iloilo. As they call their coffee Kape Bisaya. They coffee choices are also simple and straight to the point. Choice of Media Café, Regular or Tabang. Depending on the sweetness. Don’t expect some kind of latte art in it haha. I got the Hot Media Regular. Honestly the coffee was your typical coffee. Good but nothing super special. Maybe I was wrong in choosing the hot version because my friend really enjoyed their Iced Media Café.

Overall coffee are goood and for just 40PHP I will not complain about it. Lovely and homey place that I will lovely...

Nestled inside La Paz Public Market is the iconic Madge Café. This is where our city tour guide brought us for our coffee fix.

MC is an institution started by Vicente de la Cruz who named the Café after his wife, Magdalena or Madge, for short. You could see a hodge-podge of Iloilo as people from all walks of life and persuasion gather here for coffee.

It is said that they still make use of the pre-war coffee technique and recipe perfected and passed on by Vicente to his heirs. Part of its appeal is seeing the expert straining of coffee with the use of takure (coffee kettle) and colador (strainer, that resembles a stocking or long sock). Ownership and management is now on its 3rd generation with Peter de la Cruz calling the shots. Peter's nephew (4th generation) is already being trained for succession planning.

Their arabica beans are sourced from the northern part of Iloilo. This lends to consistency, freshness and quality. Plus, the fact that they are promoting produce unique to Iloilo.

We got their home brew, 2 medium roast and 1 light roast and paired these with simple buttered bread called, Pan de Closa. We were pleasantly surprised by the taste and aroma of their brew. No wonder customers keep coming back. This plus their great pricing, friendly and accommodating nature lure loyal and new customers in. Peter is a great conversationalist. In fact, we got a lot of tips and recos from him to try.

The familial nature and vibe of the store has made regulars have their own mugs on display and lined up on the cupboards. This innovation was started by Peter and I think even in their newer branch at the Atria, this practice continues.

Great coffee...

As a coffee lover, I've been eager to visit Madge Cafe ever since seeing it featured on "Byahe ni Drew" back in 2013. I had very high hopes of experiencing the legendary atmosphere and iconic coffee that the show portrayed. Sadly, my recent visit left me feeling quite disappointed.

The ambiance was far from welcoming. None of the staff greeted us with a smile or even just to acknowledged our presence. In fact, we were rather brusquely handed a menu, which felt like a dismissive gesture, as if they were rushing us to order and leave. This cold reception immediately dampened my enthusiasm.

While the coffee itself was decent, it wasn't anything extraordinary.  If I were to have a blind taste test, I wouldn't be able to distinguish it from coffee served at other lesser-known cafes.  I tried their "media regular," hoping for a unique flavor, but it simply didn't live up to the hype.

Madge Cafe holds an iconic status in Iloilo, and I truly wanted to love it. Its just that, the lackluster service overshadowed the experience. It was particularly noticeable how differently long-time customers "suki" were treated compared to newcomers like myself. This apparent favoritism left me feeling like an outsider and further diminished my enjoyment. Had the service been more welcoming, I would have gladly spent more time soaking in the cafe's history and...