To most people, it's Starbucks, right?
It's not home;
it's not workplace.
It's that special place in between where
we meet to awaken our senses,
to find inspiration, and
to make long lasting connections.
Now, if you don't follow, kindly refer to the third page of your wood/velvet/metal planner.
Third place: it's that place where you go to just, be.
Now if you don't have one, I suggest finding it.
Because mine is Xocolat in Katipunan, and I tell you, it's like free therapy where I can stop by anytime and feel the earth revolve slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future.
If not a perfect representation of the comforts of solitude and the pleasures of company at the same time, then I would say that Xocolat is no more than a calorie trap leading to a side place to get (chocolate) drunk, and forget the din of the world.
They have a very wide range of hot and cold chocolate suspensions and scrumptious desserts, you can never get enough for that endorphin firework explosion.
Here are my top 3 favorites:
Because mint + chocolate is always the best :) Just one sip, and you cringe as it burns at the back of your throat, knowing you just had the hottest carpe diem portion. After one cup, it shoots right up into your brain and you feel yourself rise up, suddenly with the ability to soar through the long lanes of flaming stars, up to the gates of eternity.
Just so to say, I am quite disappointed with the sausage on the side -- the one I had just recently. They used to be really good, now they're just :/
But all previous sins are forgiven, and new ones committed when you taste these chunks of bread soaked in Xocolat butter. They're like bite-sized brownies, but, uhm, how do I put it? Like, if heaven was edible, I'm pretty sure this is what it tastes like :)
A fruit cup, and coffee/hot Xocolat comes with this. (But trust me, go for the hot Xocolat, it is after all, liquid wisdom.)
Looks like hot Tiramisu in a tall cup, doesn't it? But here's the real deal.
The waitress gives you a glass of Xocolat espresso pellets, steamed milk, and cocoa powder. You mix them together. You take a first sip and it moistens your lips and throat. Take a second sip and it breaks your loneliness. And a few more sips raises a slight of perspiration -- all the wrongs of life pass out through your pores. Because I tell you, there is no trouble so great or grave that cannot be much diminished by this nice chocolate espresso.
This is my spot. My comfort zone. Always, my special respite from the ho-hum routine of stinking college days bordering on morbid.
Xocolat172 B. Gonzales st.,
Loyola Heights, Q.C.
Chocolate Cafe
Estimated Budget: ~200 per person
