Triboa Cafe — Restaurant in Olongapo

Went here for brunch because of its high ratings. These are what we ordered:

Beef Pares with Kimchi Rice Bowl - The serving was generous. The beef was super tender. The Kimchi rice was good, although a bit overpowering when paired with the fatty beef. What's lacking though is, it didn't taste like Pares. It lacked that distinct star anise flavor you get from eating Pares. - 4/5

Crispy Squid - Serving was great. The squid breading/batter was crispy and great to eat, but it lacked flavor. The batter was underseasoned, and the squid was bland. The dip that came with it is where the flavor will come from. - 3/5

Chicken Poppers - These were more like a cross between chicken tenders and chicken poppers. They were also crispy, and the serving was good, but again, the batter had no flavor, the chicken was bland. If it weren't for the aoili dip, the dish wouldn't have any flavor at all. - 3/5

Bacsilog Bowl - It was a standard Bacsilog. Nothing special. Bacon wasn't crispy (but that's fine if it's not meant to be), the cheese sauce wasn't a lot, so didnt give a lot of flavor. It was okay. Nothing exceptional - 3/5

Sea Salt Latte - Coffee was good! So definitely get coffee here! 4/5

Thai Chicken Sandwich - We didn't get the flavors in this dish. The Chicken was okay with seasoning, but some reason, whatever they were trying to do, it didn't work. 3/5

Service: Service was good. We got our food fast. They were a little scatter brained cos they almost forgot to give us our bill. We were about to leave and had to ask for our bill 3 times before they gave it to us. 😅

Ambiance: place was good. They have enough seating inside and outside the cafe, well-ventilated, had enough parking space, the interiors and exteriors of the cafe had that minimalist, island feel vibe.

Overall: It was a mid experience. Not what we expected from all the raving reviews. It's an okay stop for good coffee and although unique and pretty, but average food...

Visited this café in Subic expecting a good experience, but unfortunately, we were let down by poor service and a lack of proper order management.

We ordered 1 Beef Pares Kimchi Rice Bowl, 2 Sea Salt Lattes, and 1 Fish Fillet Sandwich. The first barista who took our order didn’t write anything down—which already seemed unprofessional. Our drinks and sandwich came out, but the rice bowl didn’t.

We followed up twice with another barista named Adrian. Both times, no one mentioned that the rice bowl wasn’t on our bill. In fact, during the second follow-up, we were told it would be ready in 2–3 minutes. That gave us the impression that the order was being prepared.

After waiting again with no food arriving, we followed up for the third time, this time with the original barista. That’s when we were told we never ordered the rice bowl and that it wasn’t included in the bill. He also claimed he repeated the order back blaming the fault to us.

What made this more frustrating is that no one actually checked the system during the first two follow-ups. If they had, this could have been clarified much earlier. Instead, we were given false expectations and had to chase after our order repeatedly.

This entire situation could’ve easily been avoided if the staff followed standard procedures—like writing down orders properly. For a café, especially in a tourist-friendly area like Subic, that kind of basic service should be non-negotiable.

Disappointed with the overall experience and unfortunately won’t be coming back. Hoping the management addresses these issues and trains their staff better...

You know, everyone keeps saying there aren’t many great restaurants in Subic, but that’s all changed now with Triboa! The usual go-tos like Meat Plus and Texas Joe were starting to feel a bit stale, but Triboa brought back the excitement!

I was blown away by their mushroom cream pasta, which completely surpassed anything I've tasted in Manila. It's a revelation! So many restaurants in Manila struggle to get this dish right, but Triboa nailed it! Every bite is pure perfection. If you’re looking for something fresh and delicious, you’ve got to...