Bench Café at Bonifacio Global City

It took me months to realize that there is actually a Bench CafĂ© inside the Bench flagship store at Bonifacio High Street. I’ve been passing by the Bench store in BGC without the slightest idea that it is actually a foodie haven. I finally tried it a couple of months ago after my office mate, Jen, dragged me to Bench CafĂ© one Friday afternoon to satisfy her halo halo cravings.

Bench CafĂ© serves Filipino food. I grew up with a mom, grandmother and aunts who knew their ways in the kitchen so I’m really hard to please when it comes to Filipino dishes. I wasn’t expecting much from Bench CafĂ©. I was actually convinced that I would leave the restaurant unimpressed. But much to my surprise, I came back to Bench CafĂ© with Boyet and Zayne the following week!

Bench Café is at the second level of the store. Jen and I were already third in line when we arrived at the store around 11:30 AM, but we were pleasantly surprised that their service was really fast. I experienced the same level of service when I came back for dinner with Boyet and Zayne.

A trip to the restaurant with Zayne is never complete without pansit (or anything that looks like pansit haha) so getting the Pansit Guisado was a no-brainer. It has large pieces of perfectly-cooked shrimps. They went above and beyond by combining deep-friend pork and crunchy chicharon! Fret not because they balanced it out with carrots, green beans and spring onions. Hahaha!!!

Bench Cafe BGC Pancit Guisado
Pancit Guisado PHP219

It is very delicious! But I have to say that Zayne is the better judge when it comes to pansit. She definitely gave her seal of approval with this one! Mali lang ang anggulo ng picture ko, pero sulit ang serving neto for PHP219!

Jen and I agreed to share the bagnet kare-kare. I liked it so much that I didn’t object when Boyet picked it from the menu during our visit. Bagnet and kare-kare are both mouth-watering as separate dishes. Combine both, and you’re definitely in for a gastronomic treat!

The bagnet is very crispy. The vegetables retained their crunch probably because they were cooked separately from the sauce. The kare-kare sauce is on the sweet side. I confess that I am not really a big fan of sweet kare-kare, but I have to make this an exception. The sauce is so tasty that you can eat the kare-kare even without the bagoong. But then again, you should eat it with bagoong. Nag-bagnet ka na rin lang, mag-bagoong ka na rin! Hahaha!!!

Bench Cafe BGC Bagnet Kare-Kare
Bagnet Kare-Kare PHP339

I know that my picture cannot give justice to my claim, but this bagnet kare-kare is soooo good! For PHP339, it comes with rice and side dishes. The Ifugao rice is perfect! Even the side dishes stood out. Sobrang sulit!

We wanted to take off some of the guilt from eating bagnet so we decided to get another vegetable dish. I really wanted to try the gising gising, but I knew it wouldn’t go well with the kare-kare. We opted to have tortang talong instead.

I’ve always wanted to make tortang talong at home, but I have two reasons why I always end up skipping it. First, I feel like it takes a lot of work. I really love to cook, but I cook our meals for the week on Saturday mornings. I don’t have the bandwidth to grill the eggplants and wait for them to cool before peeling. Second, and the more important reason is that we throw away the tortang talong on most occasions when I decide to painstakingly cook it! I don’t know why we always get itchy throat when we eat eggplants. Ok lang matapat sa pinakbet because you can always discard the eggplant. Pero kapag tortang talong kasi, ang hirap na ihiwa-hiwalay! Sayang ang giniling! Hahaha!

Bench Cafe BGC Tortang Talong
Tortang Talong PHP180

The tortang talong looks very simple with ketchup on the side, but it really tastes like a home-cooked meal. I’m glad that the tortang talong at Bench CafĂ© was not only delicious, it also didn’t give us itchy throat. (Serious question – Paano mo malalaman kapag makati ang talong? Okay, that didn’t sound nice. Haha!)

On my first visit, Jen and I shared the bagnet kare-kare so our tummies would have some room for the halo halo! If I remember it correctly, their ube halo-halo costs around PHP150. Basta less than 200 petot.

Bench Cafe BGC Halo-Halo

With software development as our day job, Jen and I could not stop analyzing our halo halo. It has the usual halo halo ingredients, but we couldn’t help but notice that the ice they used is already purple. We assumed that the ice is already ube-flavored! (Or ube-colored at the very least, haha!) What I really loved about this ube halo halo is that it’s not too sweet. At ang galante sa mga sahog! Aminin mo, ‘yung ibang halo halo sa resto ay 98% yelo. Haha!

Allow me to just nitpick. My mommy heart was so nervous because the restaurant is at the second floor of the store. I literally had to “jail” my toddler because I was so scared that she would start running to the stairs. E ang haba ng stairs nila – perfect setting ng usual 80s movie na may kailangang malaglag sa hagdan. But other than this, we had an awesome time at Bench CafĂ©. It serves great Filipino dishes, and believe the frugal mom in me when I say that you’ll definitely get your money’s worth. The ambiance is great, and service is impeccable.


Bench Café
Second Floor, Bench Flagship Store,
Bonifacio High Street, 9th Avenue corner Lane O,
Bonifacio Global City,
Taguig City

* All photos were taken with a Huawei Mate 10


Bench Café Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

2 comments :

  1. The way you described it, parang Max's pero mas madaming choices at "hindi madaya" sa lasa :p Yung iba kasi, either presentation or ambiance lang binayadan mo, hindi pala kasama yung lasa ng food :p Bonus for me is yung impeccable service. Like what I always say, I can forgive bad food but not bad service. Pero as it appears, everything in one roof and Bench Cafe. I'll include it in my list and I think time na para magbalik loob ako sa Filipino restaurants.... na-overload na ako ng samgyeopsal this year hahahaha

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    1. Masarap sa Max's pero may times na mej mabagal at ang tagal humingi ng water. Wahaha! :p

      Hanggang sa bahay nag-DIY samgyeopsal kami! =))

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