Cofftea Zone

Fifteen years.

That's how long I've known A and V -- my good friends way back in high school. V, who is now based in Singapore, got home for the holidays and found time off his busy schedule to meet with us. I was supposed to meet them around 4pm for merienda but it was our company Christmas party that day so I arrived in Cavite 2 hours late. In my effort to stay away from fast food meals, I urged them to try this new cafe called Cofftea Zone instead. Lucky me, they both agreed.

We saw familiar faces when we got inside. This is what happens when a new restaurant or coffee shop opens in a town lacking options when you want to dine somewhere else besides your home or your grandparents' house.

When we got to the counter, I had a feeling that this is going to be a long night. The cash register is not working that they had to do everything manually, the waiters seem to have a hard time delivering the orders (they get confuse on the table numbers I presume) and customers come and go to the counter to follow up on their orders.

What's on our table

Frappuccino

Caramel

Dark Chocolate

The drinks came out pretty fast delivered personally by Cofftea's barista. Since everyone was already multi-tasking to serve the customers, he figured to serve his concoctions himself.

I was halfway on finishing my Dark Chocolate drink when I noticed that our other orders are already 40 minutes late! We were so engrossed with our chikahan that we almost forgot that we also ordered food to go with their overpriced drinks.

I could get a Chicken Sandwich with a better taste and presentation
for Php20.00 at our company canteen!

We kept asking the waiter for our orders and they kept saying "I-check ko po mam." This went on for another 20 minutes until someone finally placed a plate of what looked like my order. I say looked like since I was the only one who had sandwich for dinner but I cannot believe we paid more than a hundred pesos for this! Tell me, how hard is it to make a Chicken Sandwich that tastes and looks good?! The sandwich tasted like one of those sandwich spreads that you can buy in the grocery stores, a far cry from the photo on the menu. It still annoys me up to now thinking I waited for an hour for the worst sandwich I've ever had in my life!

French Fries

V's order of a plate of French Fries came out an hour and a half after. It seemed like the order was not conveyed to the kitchen and when we told the waiters (with an S because we kept following up to every waiter we saw), no one thought of checking it out if the order was really placed! My friend had to go back to the counter and tell the owner himself about it. Arrrrrgh! So frustrating!

Carbonara

The Carbonara that A ordered was nowhere near perfection as well. It arrived a couple of minutes after my so-called Chicken Sandwich.

I know that Cofftea Zone is still on its soft opening but I really hope they improve their service and the quality of food that they serve! We wouldn't mind paying my friend's hard-earned money if only the food were delicious and the staff are well-trained to serve their customers. It would probably take sometime before I can convince myself to give Cofftea Zone a second visit.

P.S. For the sake of your customers' eardrums, please do something about noise control. Whenever the barista uses the blender, all you can hear is that loud noise and it's kinda irritating when you are having a good conversation with your friends.

Sincerely,
One of Three Unhappy Customers

~o~o~o~

Cofftea Zone
851 Manila-Cavite Road

Dalahican, Cavite City, Philippines
Tel.: (6346) 402-0166