Gigi Gaerlan’s The Custaroonery is already well known for excellent custaroons, matcha cookies and green tea. Building on that success, she started a new confectionery business, a patisserie named after herself, GIGI Coffee & Cupcakes, with partners Patrick Gaerlan, her husband; Joey Luna, Dondi Gaite; and Cynthia and Ivy Almario in July 2012.
GIGI Coffee & Cupcakes takes pride in the moistness and taste of their specialty cupcakes. They also offer a variety of chill coffee concoctions and sweet-tooth-satisfying goodies โ all contributing to a touch of viral hype now in Eastwood City.
An invitation to bloggers came up last week, and I’m glad to be one of the selected few to taste as many GIGI cupcakes as we wanted with delight. ๐
Review of GIGI Coffee & Cupcakes (Eastwood City, Libis, Quezon City)
Ambiance: โ โ โ โ โ
I’m impressed with the cutesie-wootsie style of the shop. The Almarios gave the interior design an outdoor feel (see the fake grass) but without the heat and the pollution. Once inside, I felt like just being in a park and at the same time a candy store with less candies and more colorful cupcakes displayed beautifully on the forefront. The list of drinks are listed at the backdrop, also taking attention.
GIGI is located in the lobby area of an establishment where employees and other people go in and out. I’m surprised that the place is quite cozy, peaceful and welcoming in spite of this. All around, you can see the colors green, brown and white as motifs, soothing to the eyes. With simple but stylish avant-garde furnishings, the French-inspired modern setting gives the perfect ambiance where guests can unwind, relax and chat for over an hour.
Service: โ โ โ โ โ
The staff members were fantastic and friendly. They served coffee and cupcakes and allocated space for us very quickly. WiFi connection can be accessed for free by dine-in customers. Password was given immediately after we asked for it, thank goodness. I appreciate the kind gesture.
Food: โ โ โ โ โ
Patrick Gaerlan mentioned that they serve different flavors of cupcakes in a day. They are not yet ready with their printed menu so diners have to choose from what’s available in the counter.
In our visit, we had the following listed below, while we missed Bacon Chocolate, Chili Chocolate, Cinnamon, Blueberry, Apple Crumble, Key Lime, Orange, White Mocha and Peanut Butter. (The latter two arrived later as part of the afternoon batch.)
- Sea Salt Chocolate – Sweet and salty frosting plus the moist texture of the cake equate to a perfect cupcake. Yummy! Warning: The chocolate is so rich that it will make you feel heavy afterwards.
- Chocolate Chip Overload – This chocolate-studded cupcake can be your ultimate indulgence. OMG, they are just delicious! You will be very satisfied with only one.
- Raspberry – The cake was out of this world, but that frosting was even better….super good and heavy to the stomach. If you’re hungry and you don’t have time to eat a full meal, this one can quench your hunger in no time. And as you take it, may the Gods of Sugar bless you.
- Red Velvet – I saw how customers just walk in, order the Red Velvet, pay to the cashier and move out. No doubt, this is the best-seller of all time. Trust me, it can really be one of the best cupcakes you will ever taste.
- Peppermint – Among all those cupcakes I’ve sampled, this is by far my personal favorite. I love mint with chocolate, and this cupcake flavor hit me right on target.
- Green Tea – Divine and unique, the green tea is another variant which I liked most. It tastes bitter and sweet, ridiculously flavorful, buttery and moist as well.
I was super full after taking bits of these six cupcakes! All of them are worth to be hoarded into your belly, but make sure to follow through with physical exercises to shed off the fats and calories especially if you’re conscious of your weight and fitness like me. ๐
As for the drinks, I had the white mocha frappe which is sweeter by about 50% than the mocha frappe. I was the only one who didn’t get to finish her drink. I probably had drank more plain water than the frappe to cleanse the sweetness in my mouth. ๐ Don’t fret as it might only be me; I’m not really a “frappe person” and I’m not much into drinks that can “damage” my waistline. I prefer subtle ones like milk teas which are concocted with little amount of sugar (if possible, 0-20%).
In fairness though, GIGI’s Coffee and Cupcakes has done an excellent job with the coffee base and whipped cream. Their drinks can be your next alternatives to Starbucks’ ice blended coffee drink fixes.
The third picture on the right is the lemongrass tea, which I look forward to order in my next visit.
Price for Value: โ โ โ โ โ
With joints selling donuts, cakes, sandwiches, yogurt, ice cream, milk tea, macarons, other desserts and snacks almost everywhere now, apparently the market has become saturated. But GIGI Coffee & Cupcakes should not worry. The shop is strategically located in Eastwood City (between Citibank and IBM Plaza), where streams of potential customers from offices and malls continually pass by from morning till midnight.
Each cupcake flavor is every bit as impressive as another. Gigi’s cupcakes are aesthetically pleasing enough that you can serve to guests at a party or at a client meeting. To sum up, their coffee and cupcakes are absolutely worth the price! There’s no shortening-based icing on the cakes but quality frosting which in Filipino terms can be put this way: “Walang daya.”
Cupcakes are sold at PHp 40 individually yet you can save some when you buy them in bulk. (Note that other cupcake stores sell cupcakes at PHp 80-120 each.) Prices of drinks, on the other hand, range from PHp 50-95. ่ฟๅฅฝๅง ! ๐
So, listen up, Folks! For the upcoming celebration in your home or office, instead of baking your own goodies, treat your families and friends to affordable but elegantly prepared cupcakes by GIGI. Avoid the hectic queues and call their contact number below to reserve boxes for convenience. When you’re just walking around Eastwood, casually drop by their shop and find yourself craving for more cupcakes one after the other. ๐
“A great cupcake starts with a great cake.”
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Operating hours:
Monday to Thursday – 7AM to 11PM
Friday and Saturday – 7AM to 12MN
Sunday – 11AM to 8PM
– Gigi and Patrick Gaerlan with their cute daughter who was making faces ๐ –
– The Bloggers (Me, Hana, Ann, Florence and Ross)
minus Mac, who took the shot, and Sef who came later ๐ –
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