The Fat Seed Cafe Roastery

I don't often find myself at UP Town Mall, so I made it a point to try Fat Seed while I was there. While my friends opted for healthier options, I decided to go for the Wagyu Pares, which was served in a nostalgic metal lunchbox reminiscent of our childhood. Although I wasn't completely wowed by the dish, it did feature Japanese saikoro cubes and paired well with their chili garlic sauce. The Ube Waffle and Chicken is a popular choice among customers, and I have to say it was quite good. Despite it being a busy weekend lunchtime, the service was impressively fast.

To my surprise, the chicken was really good, especially compared to my previous experiences with it in New York, which hadn’t been great. My friend ordered a burger on a black brioche bun that I was eager to try as well, but I was already full after finishing my iced café mocha. The menu also featured a variety of other dishes like pasta, pork chops, mango rum chicken, and unique drinks, including one called Dark Matter made with gin, cold brew, Campari bitters, sweet vermouth, and orange peel. I only had that drink once, and now that I'm back in Jersey, I wish I had another chance to visit Fat Seed. On top of everything, it was very affordable—our total meal cost around 1,000 pesos, which is about $20 for both of us. This dining experience has completely changed how I enjoy waffles and pancakes; now, I pour syrup over crispy bacon slices on top!

We began our meal with a refreshing Sonoma salad, absolutely perfect for a Sunday lunch. The mix of sweet grapes and salty feta cheese was simply delightful. Next, we sampled the fried mushrooms topped with my all-time favorite, parmesan cheese, and infused with fragrant herbs. For my main course, I chose the quinoa bowl with grilled chicken, crowned with a perfectly cooked 4-minute egg. When I cut into the egg, the rich yolk flowed beautifully and blended flawlessly with the quinoa—truly divine! Meanwhile, my sister went for the pasta dish, which featured a creamy brown sauce garnished with fish eggs. To conclude our lovely lunch, we treated ourselves to a blueberry cheesecake for dessert, which was the perfect finishing touch. Overall, our experience at Fat Seed was nothing short of exceptional!

I truly admire the decor and overall ambiance of the restaurant. However, I found the sliding barn door to the restroom to be quite heavy and somewhat cumbersome to use. The space between the tables is a bit cramped, but it’s still manageable. I appreciate that the restaurant welcomes dogs, although this might be an issue for those with allergies (I personally don’t mind it). Moreover, its location directly across from the dog playground in UPTC is a fantastic advantage for dog owners.

I recently had a wonderful brunch and I cannot recommend enough the Buttermilk Fried Chicken paired with an Ube Waffle topped with Salted Egg Sauce. This dish was a fantastic blend of flavors and textures that truly impressed me!