Saging Repablik

Davao may be one of the largest cities in the world but it's a small town where everyone knows everyone. People in Davao usually have a go-to place to get their favorites but of course, when a new place is put up, people flock to it to try it out. Plus, with the advent of social media, word spreads faster than fire. Take Saging Repablik for instance. It's barely a week old (they opened June 27!) and yet, I've seen posts of it all over my social media feed. The place and design concept looked very different than the usual offered in Davao so it piqued my interest.

First of all, got to love that name. LOL. To me, it's kind of like a pina-Bisayang/spoofed Banana Republic. Second, I love their space cause it's wide and airy. It's not your usual coffee shop which is cramped. I love the industrial design--kind of like those New York lofts I often see in photos. (Kind of wish that the chairs were silver, black or wooden though, instead of yellow or green plastic ones cause it throws off the industrial feel). To the side, they also have a merchandise shop.

Say hello to my forever supportive friend, Ayessa, who had just arrived from Manila that morning! :) From shopping buddy to food buddy! We went last Wednesday after class. I deserved a much-needed hump day stress break!

I am in love with their lighting fixtures!

Their walls have this chalkboard finish, which I find cute! A lot of the things in the menu aren't offered yet though, since they are still on soft opening.

The menu, minus the drinks menu. They have coffee, shakes and even beer cause they're open til midnight.

Since it was close to dinner time when we arrived, Ayessa and I decided to have meals instead of just dessert. We wanted to get the pasta but they ran out so we got the Overload Garlic Chicken in Olive Oil (Php240), Lumpia ala Cubana Dynamite (Php145) and the famous Create Your Own Banana cue (Php55). The chicken was okay. They were very generous with the olive oil but I still wish it had a bit more garlic flavor. Ayessa got the lumpia and told me to try it cause "it wasn't spicy anymore", but it totally was! (That's just me cause I'm not a fan of spicy food) Good thing I still had the sweet banana cue I made to counter the taste! I wanted to get the Gigingka (Php80), which is like a cross between a banana cake and bibingka but they were still baking it at the time. I was able to get one though before we left! I took it home for my mom and dad. My dad loved it! :) I'm told it was one of their best-sellers.

I was a bit sad since I didn't get to try the Banana Walnut Torte (Php150), which is a cake that kind of looks like sans rival but with covered in white frosting. Next time I will! And I'll also try their drinks mixed with banana.

And now to the Create Your Own Bananacue! A lot of feedback I heard was that it's overpriced but then again, there are people that find it a novelty to line up and pick from an array of ingredients. That's part of what you're paying for--the experience. Haha. Besides, they're generous with the ingredients, especially the spread. You can pick 1 spread and 3 toppings. I picked Nutella with rice krispies, sprinkles and chocolate chips. :)