Café Nicasio — Restaurant in Zamboanga del Norte

What initially struck me as I first entered this charming coffee house opposite the imposing yet splendid and strikingly beautiful Zamboanga del Norte Regional Capitol Building (which, by the way puts the US White House to shame), is that it is indeed a coffee house in a part of the world not at all known for coffee houses. Cafe Nicasio would be much more at home in Paris, Vienna, New York, or London, all of which I have lived in, and the coffee houses of which I am boringly familar with, rather than in a provincial capital in Asia.

The atmosphere is decidedly European, the decor tasteful, and the background music soft and romantic. On the other hand, the menu is creative and in many cases unique, whereas Nicasio's European counterparts offer in stark contrast rather dull fare mostly because Europeans put an emphasis on conforming to a set norm rather than "thinking outside the box". The problem is that European coffee houses have become institutions rather like European governments, and therefore have become set in their ways, rather like elderly members of Parliament: pale, stale, and male.

Nicasio, on the other hand, offers unusual, yet certainly delicious food, almost none of which one could find in Europe. Additionally, one can encounter Japanese, French, American, and Philippine examples of mouth watering dishes. In addition to this cosmopolitan menu, the beverages are refreshing, generous in size, and, in at least one case, for me, almost addictive. Just as the food is home cooked, the drinks are hand crafted, down to the unique stainless steel straw in my favorite Caramel Frappe which I never tire of, and often in fact order three at every visit.

I therefore highly recommend this oasis at any time of day: breakfast lunch and dinner are always on the menu. Additionally, of course, it is the perfect locale to enjoy a refreshing afternoon...

This place was recommended from a good friend. This was my 3rd stop around Dipolog City to tryout new things. They do have good breakfast and it’s super sweet if you have a sweet tooth. Customer service needs improvement. Specially smart remarks to the paying customers like (are you guys going to be long sir?) . When I look around and heard that remark, I was going to take my business somewhere else. The cafe was not busy at all, they do have 3 big table with the reserved sign up. I came in closer to the waitress with 4 people, the young lady that said those smart remarks already remove the sign off the table and seated my father that just came from a flight from UK. Then another waitress was helping us. Overall very disappointed in there customer services that’s why I give this...

I stopped in for a cappuccino wanting to check out their coffee. I got it iced and to go.

To my delight, it tasted like a proper well made cappuccino which can be hard to come by in the area. There was no added sugar which was welcome and also not common around there as far as I can tell. It was delicious, even iced.

The cafe is nicely designed and cozy. It's also cool inside. The staff were very helpful.

I've never seen a better packaged coffee to go, it survived riding in the U box of my motor bike. Note, they put a plastic barrier over the cup in addition to taping the lid. I found out the hard way when trying to jam a straw into the cup.

I think they are right, it's the best...