Banapple (aka Love at Second Bite)

It all started with this sentence, "Banapple tayo!"

And it was not hard for all of us to be convinced. After all, that day was pay day, and we all deserve a treat or two in Banapple.

It was my first time to get to Banapple Tomas Morato, which is only some walking distance from the office. But it was not my first time to taste a Banapple creation -- one of our office mates treated us with a Banapple cake (Santa's chipper chocolate cookie cheesecake, to be exact).

And when we got there, boy. Now I know why my office mates are raving for this little "kitchen."

Food-themed artworks! So good to eat!

The tiny place boasts with a kitchy home ambience, almost like a shabby-chic kind of thing. They have food-themed artworks (above), various cute figurines and an arched blackboard scribbled with their menu.

Teapots, plates and what-have-yous... See the apple-shaped bowl? You think the logo of this cafe is based on that bowl?

A detail of one of the displays.

What's for drinks? :)

The chairs and tables also caught my attention. The tables, as I found out, are actually mosaics made of marbles with colors forming shapes. And the chairs are the so-called "batibot chairs," for some unknown reason.

A butterfly on a table. Trivia: the table where I was eating on has a marble mosaic shaped like the Banapple logo. Too bad I wasn't able to take a shot of it.

A batibot chair

Batibot chairs and a bench with its back shaped like the chairs beside it. Should I call it "batibot bench"? :)

But more than the ambiance, it's the cakes on display that gets us all excited. Of course, there's their signature cakes: banofee pie and apple caramel crumble pie, as well as their cheesecakes.

Don't you wish you can take all of these home?

Banapple also offers sandwiches, rice meals and pastas, along with savory pies (i.e.: creamy chicken pie) and coffee-based drinks. But because I brought along my packed lunch that day, I settled for a slice of one of their cakes. Specifically, it's dark chocolate tiramisu cheesecake.

A slice of heaven, it is. :)

Food and ambiance wise, I give them a high five, but we noticed that the staff took a long time before the order is delivered. Perhaps we got used to fast food where orders are ready to be put in customers' trays. Or maybe we were all in a hurry because we only have one hour or so for lunch time (should have gotten early lunch). But nevertheless, I would like to go back here to taste their other offerings, as well as their other dessert creations.

PS: I wonder if they do cakes for special occasions (but not the icing-sugar flower-topper kind). Hehehe.


Banapple is at the 2nd level of Il Terrazo, Tomas Morato, Quezon City. They have two branches in Katipunan, and one each in Greenhills and Ayala Triangle Gardens in Makati. Visit www.banapplekitchen.com for more deets.