2024 Manila Walk: Binondo (Part 2)
Saturday, March 09, 2024
Here are our expenses and the places we went to:
1. Dong Bei Dumplings: Kuchay Dumplings (P200)
2. Beanstro Coffee: Cacao Coffee (P100)
3. Vege Select: Tofu and Sausage Vege Skewers (P40 each)
4. Salazar Bakery: Diced Hopia (P55 each)
5. Apologue: Binondo Latte (P210), Dark Chocolate Cookie (P150)
6. Tasty Dumplings: Pork Chop (P195)
Honestly, I keep coming back to this one. It continues to be one of my faves but I haven’t tried other kuchay dumplings in Binondo as well. Any recos to try? These are best eaten whilst still hot. Expect to wait 20-30 minutes for your order.
📍 642 Yuchengco Street, Binondo, Manila
Beanstro Coffee is the first street side coffee stall in Binondo. It blew up on social media and amassed a following. They also have a pretty inspiring story. The couple behind it had a passion for coffee and started Beanstro on the side. They eventually did this full time. To be honest, I am not a fan of the coffee. They use cold brew and I prefer espresso shots. The coffee was weak for my liking and it tasted more like chocolate. However, I think if you like But First Coffee and Pick-up Coffee, do consider trying Beanstro too.
📍 652 Yuchengco Street, Binondo, Manila
This is one of those street stalls that went viral recently. It was a 30-minute wait but my friend and I were patient. Even though we were under the noon sun, it gave us time to catch up. For non-meat sticks, these are pretty good. They have the same seasoning with different textures. I actually prefer the tofu skewer cos of the crunchy texture with the silky tofu.
📍 739 Ongpin Street, Binondo, Manila
As a non-hopia girlie, I actually like Salazar’s version!
📍 783 Ongpin Street, Binondo, Manila
Apologue’s interiors is a mix of old Binondo charm with a dash of modern chichi coffee shops. This was actually the most expensive stop during the food trip. I really liked the Dark Chocolate cookie. It had the right balance of sweetness without going overboard. The Binondo Latte is their version of the Ube Latte and is a house specialty. I’ll be frank, I did not like it. I’m currently in my ube szn and the weird thing was this did not taste like ube at all. My friend and took 5 good minutes to figure out the flavor profile of this cup. It also leaves your mouth with an odd texture after drinking. One good thing though is that I could taste the coffee and it seemed like a good batch. I would give Apologue another shot in the future and try something more traditional.
📍 934 Benavidez Street, Binondo, Manila
As mentioned, we were pretty tired and wanted to sit down. We went to a Binondo staple, Tasty Dumplings for some pork chop. It was bigger than my hand! This served as a proper lunch at 3:30 PM. lol
📍 Wellington Building, Norberto Ty Street, Binondo, Manila
After our 4th stop, we’ve been walking and standing under the sun for 3 hours and we needed to sit down. Thus 5 and 6 being sit down places sans the lines and had AC.
The Binondo food trip was definitely bitin. Would love to go back to some of the OGs mentioned above. I still have a bunch of places on my list we weren’t able to visit.
What’s your favorite when in Binondo?
This is part of the 2024 Manila Walk series. Read up on the other parts here:
Part 1: Pasig Ferry
Part 3: Escolta
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