One of the many reasons why
University of the Philippines Diliman is probably one if not the best campus in
the metro is that have everything under one roof: a church, infirmary, library,
shopping center, isawan, fishball and a whole lot of food stalls, soccer field,
a place to jog and bike, lots of tambayans to chill and pass away the time and
of course lots of places to eat and drink (although drinking is via C.P. Garcia
and Katipunan avenue).
I remember one of the more “sosyal” or should
I say “conyotic” places to go to is the Chocolate Kiss café which is located at
the second floor of the Bahay ng Alumni. If one is on a tight budget but wants
to impress a girl this is the best bet. The ambience is romantic, semi dim
lighting, a piano set up, staff were well dressed, aircon and ventilation were
tip top and the food, for a college student was actually pretty decent. My last
recollection of this was probably in early 2007.
Last Sunday I decided to check
out the place again since I was looking for a place to have lunch since we
missed the turn in U.P. Town Center and if I go back the traffic was massive.
I went to the usual parking at
the back and entered the back entrance and proceeded to the second floor. As me
and my family approached the place where Chocolate Kiss was, the hallway was
dark so I looked around and saw a person wearing a kitchen uniform and asked
him where Chocolate Kiss was and he pointed at a unit across the art shop was.
So it relocated from second floor to ground floor and that is where we headed.
As I approached the café, I felt something very different. The vibe is instead
of a classy restaurant, it’s like I was in it’s counterpart, Casaa
(condolence).
But I still went in since it was airconditioned and we were really starving. To my surprise, ventilation was below expectation, the staff just wore tshirt with print and I drew the conclusion that this might not be the same Chocolate Kiss.
We ordered Brewed Iced tea with honey although the honey was watered down, we ordered an oatmeal cake and a chocolate cake for starters while waiting for our main course which was a chicken pesto, salad, chicken kiev and a piece of cake and if I am not mistaken plus 3 glasses of water. The cake we got was not really that good but it didn’t matter much. The pesto I ate was a bit dry, the salad, and the kiev was a bit oily. To top it off, we didn’t get the water we asked.
But I still went in since it was airconditioned and we were really starving. To my surprise, ventilation was below expectation, the staff just wore tshirt with print and I drew the conclusion that this might not be the same Chocolate Kiss.
We ordered Brewed Iced tea with honey although the honey was watered down, we ordered an oatmeal cake and a chocolate cake for starters while waiting for our main course which was a chicken pesto, salad, chicken kiev and a piece of cake and if I am not mistaken plus 3 glasses of water. The cake we got was not really that good but it didn’t matter much. The pesto I ate was a bit dry, the salad, and the kiev was a bit oily. To top it off, we didn’t get the water we asked.
Lots of changes happened here in this campus, car stickers, i.d, Casaa is no more and there has been rumors of a Starbucks uprising, new building infront of the building where the NatSci subjects are done, etc.. Some people find it hard to accept change. For my part, I will always miss the “old” Chocolate Kiss since this new one changed for the worse. I hope the next time I go back it will change again but on the positive side.
But over all, that’s the
University of the Philippines, U.P. naming mahal!
