Kandle Cafe — Restaurant in Quezon City

This place used to be cozy back when I was visiting in 2021. We visited it again this year last March 17 on a Sunday.

FOOD: I think they had a wider selections of food but was not able to try any just the drinks/coffee. The coffee price is the same with other shops and It was served in cute decent sized glasses.

SERVICE: I'm not sure if we have visited in a not so great time on Sunday but the customer service is not that great that we have to leave and find coffee shop. When we walked inside, I asked if we can take the table in the corner where a previous customer has recently left, the staff told me that he will just clean it first and that we can sit in the al fresco area in the meantime so we waited. However, after cleaning it, I was waiting for him to call us but he didn't. Other customers started approaching the table to sit so I have to personally go inside again to reserve the table and the staff did not seem to remember that there is a customer waiting for that space.

While seated, my sister went to the counter to order but they gave us a menu and said that they will take our order in the table and when we were ready to order, we had to follow up on the staff more than twice to State our order Request tissue because the table is wet and We even have to follow up thrice for the bill.

There are two female staff (which I appreciate), out of around 8 staff that are paying attention to the customers whenever they signaled something and the rest seemed all over the place.

ATMOSPHERE: The place bounces back the noise and it is really loud when it is packed that ther3 is no sense of cozyness especially in the AC area that's why we decided to leave. We did not even finished the coffee we ordered. If you are looking for some quiet or a place to study, I do not recommend going during Weekends.

PARKING: Has a parking outside the vicinity for about 4 cars and some motorcycle so you don't have to worry when bring...

Kandle Cafe is a well ventilated place where one can have a good outdoor dining experience without worrying about the hot humid afternoon climate in Manila.

Once I got to the place, we had to pay for the food first before settling down to our seats. Me and my group ordered: Mr. Eggoy and Ms. Eggy pasta, Kandle Burger and Salisbury Steak with a rice (since it's not automatically served with rice).

I don't have any complaints with the taste of the food. While I didn't get to try the salted egg pasta, flavors were rich in tone and all of the ingredients tasted fresh and cooked well. The wedges and kamote fries were crispy and soft and the presentation looked well thought out.

I did have a slight problem with the service as we had trouble with getting service water but I guess it's more that we were outside or something else.

I do acknowledge that the food is good as well as the ambiance but it was overall pricey for me. With the amount of serving from the salisbury steak, I could have gone to a resto in San Juan that is slightly more expensive but can give more mushroom flavor, more meat and make me full.

Overall, it's a nice place for friends to hangout. Just be prepared to shellout more cash than the usual.

Service - 1/2 Price...

I’ve always been a fan of Kandle and have even recommended it to my friends because, in all my past visits, their food, desserts, and coffee have been consistently good. This time, however, my experience was different.

I ordered their red velvet cake, but the frosting had a strange, gassy taste. I asked my friends to try it, and they agreed it tasted off. I asked the server to check with the chef if that flavor was intentional, and they came back saying it was “okay.” Still, I’m certain something wasn’t right. I even asked my friends to double check.

I hate wasting food, but I couldn’t even finish the slice because it was that bad. I’ve enjoyed many of their other cakes, especially the ube cake and cheesecakes, which are always delicious, but this one was a disappointment. The server didn’t seem apologetic, and it appeared there was no manager or supervisor available to speak to me about the issue so I decided not to escalate the matter.

I’ll still come back to Kandle because I’ve had many great experiences here, but I’ll definitely be skipping the red velvet...