Food
It’s easy to miss Nine Three Cafe. Tucked in the residential area at 75 B Rosa Alvero, past Chubby Chicken and Starr’s, the place is a hole-in-the-wall that surprises those who discover it. Away from the hustle and bustle of the main road, it’s not only a perfect escape for those seeking silence and solitude but also a fresh, new spot for those looking to unwind with friends and family.
The coffee shop was officially established in 2016 under the name Brown Paper Project. After some management restructuring in 2017, the five founding members—Jose “Taks” Arguelles, Keith Shy, Jay “Bola” Go, Franz Lim, and Ryan Ng—thought of renaming it to Nine Three Cafe.
“The official story is that the café opened on September 3, but the real reason behind it stems from a card game called Magic the Gathering,” Arguelles says. “Yargle [from their company name Yargle & Gaston Inc.] is a card game character with a power and toughness score of 9/3—fitting, considering the coffee shop’s gaming origins.” Once envisioned as a hobbyist café that would host game tournaments at night, Nine Three has since rebranded to become a cozy, peaceful spot that caters to people with different interests. “Our goal is for people to enjoy what they want to do,” Arguelles remarks. “If they want to play board games, they can, but we aren’t limiting them to that.”
A different taste of coffee
What is there to enjoy when it comes to Nine Three? The answer may lie in one of Nine Three’s coffee creations that raises eyebrows for those who are encountering it the first time around. Their egg coffee, originally from Vietnam, will make you wonder how on Earth these breakfast staples would taste together in one mug. What you get is a creamy blend that carries the heavy but sharp bitter taste of coffee accented by a gentle sweetness. If you want to keep it classic, they have black, white, espresso, and mocha, and brewed coffee from an array of specialty beans to accommodate different tastes.
“Specialty coffee can be as affordable as a Starbucks coffee,” Arguelles comments. With the egg coffee popping at Php 140, it can be one of the things to tie you to the place.
The hungry are also welcomed at Nine Three. Nine Three’s menu is cheaper compared to franchise coffee shops, but not at the expense of quality. The café offers dishes such as their best-seller Pasta al Limon, a rich cream-based pasta with the mild sour flavor of lemon to counter the thickness of the cream. If the heaviness of the texture does not suit your taste, opt for the Arrabiata, their tomato-based pasta with bits of sausage which is guaranteed to satisfy.
A place for all
More than just food and coffee, though, the café is also a community. Arguelles notes that part of the hole-in-the-wall’s charm is that “it’s a place you’d want to keep to yourself once you discover it.” Paradoxically, it’s not good for business. Despite the location’s hole-in-the-wall appeal, Arguelles notes that the downside to this is it doesn’t get enough customers. The solutions for this lie in the hands of social media manager Tracy Monsod, who handles marketing and brand exposure. One of her recent projects was a pop-up in Areté, going beyond the confines of 7B to increase the cafe’s visibility among Ateneo students and staff.
Nine Three, although physically small, expands its horizons to all sorts of café-goers. Its calm and welcoming atmosphere makes the small space comfortable, and everyone, from the staff to the patrons, always seems to be enjoying themselves. “We just want this to be a place where people can be themselves and enjoy what they want,” Arguelles shares about the café’s vision and branding. Conversations in Nine Three have the range: From Avatar: The Last Airbender to Doctor Who, you can talk about anything at the café—and with anyone. The owners and staff of the café remember the faces of their regulars, making the café a place they can always go back to. For students, the coffee shops along Katipunan are usually exam season tambayan spots, but Nine Three Cafe offers a wholly different experience. Its specialty coffee beans, unique drink offerings, and delicious comfort food draw in even those with the pickiest palates, but its warm, friendly, and open vibe is what gets people to stay. Spend enough time there, and you’ll agree that Nine Three Cafe is easy to miss—not because it’s hard to find but because at the end of the day, it’s hard to leave.
Photos by Paulina Singh
