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Omakase Set

Pepper Teehankee

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:959px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1781623607362Chefs Mianne Manguiat &amp; Alexa Versoza, Kathleen Joy Chua, Jamieson Chua, Marvin Chua, Bryan Chua, Meri Marino, Yasuhiro Fujita, Hiroshi Sekiguchi.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner"><em>Chefs Mianne Manguiat &amp; Alexa Versoza, Kathleen Joy Chua, Jamieson Chua, Marvin Chua, Bryan Chua, Meri Marino, Yasuhiro Fujita, Hiroshi Sekiguchi</em></span></span></span></div><p>During the Showa era in Ginza, Tokyo, what made its streets remarkable was not just the grand department stores, but the small intimate cafés that drew inspiration from the café cultures of Vienna, Paris, and London, and made them entirely their own through Japanese care and precision. These were places where the quality of the bread, the composition of a bento box, and the temperature of a cup of coffee were all taken very seriously.</p><p>Key Coffee Kissaten Glorietta is built on that same belief. This new branch is called the Ginza Salon—named after those small, carefully run establishments that once lined the streets of Ginza. Key Coffee has held that standard for over a century, and at Glorietta, it finds its fullest expression yet.</p><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:958.667px;display:block" width="958.667"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1781623670763Key Coffee Kissaten 2.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib" style="display:block;width:958.667px;height:auto" width="958.667"/><span class="fr-inner"><em>Ginza Salon</em></span></span></span>Key Coffee was founded in 1920 on one belief: that great coffee does not happen by accident—it is made on purpose. More than a century later, that belief has not changed.  Key Coffee Kissaten Glorietta has an in-house micro roastery, where every coffee served here is brewed. </div><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/lifestyle/food-travel/2026/6/15/playful-evolution-at-digamo-2324" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: &#x27;Playful Evolution&#x27; at Digamo</a></div><p>The philosophy behind it comes from Japan: <em>Shokunin</em>—the way of the craftsman. A <em>Shokunin</em> does not just aim for good enough. In coffee, this means every decision—how the beans are grown, processed, sorted, and roasted—is made with the finished cup already in mind. Most roasters start at the farm—they work with what is available and do their best with it. Key Coffee starts with the cup: a specific flavor, a specific character, a specific result we intend to create. Then we work backward—going directly to farmers and processors to find and develop the beans that can produce exactly that. They call this cup-to-farm. The outcome comes first and sourcing is built around it. This is how Key Coffee Japan has always worked, and it is the standard they brought to Ginza Salon.</p><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:504px;display:block" width="504"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1781624495071Omakase Set.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="504" style="width:504px"/><span class="fr-inner"><em>Omakase Set</em></span></span></span></div><p>Boosterfoods, Inc. launched Key Coffee in the Philippines in 2017 introducing Filipinos to this iconic Japanese brand through retail product placements in key supermarkets and grocery store shelves in the Philippines. In 2023, the Key Coffee Kissaten flagship store has officially opened its doors at Mitsukoshi BGC in Taguig City. The flagship coffee shop aimed to bring the kissaten and Hi-Fi café culture to the Philippines the same way that Key Coffee did for the centuries-old cafés in Japan. It surely did as they opened two more branches after the flagship store opened.</p><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:471px;display:block" width="471"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1781624620309Ebi Corn Soup.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="471" style="width:471px"/><span class="fr-inner"><em>Ebi Corn Soup</em></span></span></span></div><p>The Showa era was a time when Japan took what it admired from the West and made it its own. The café salons of Ginza were a perfect example as they reflect a real tradition that Ginza absorbed and transformed into its own elevated café culture. At their Glorietta branch, the menu follows that same spirit. Their bento sets are served Teishoku-style—premium Japanese Wagyu with three carefully chosen sides, each prepared with the same attention as the main dish. Teishoku is not just a meal format. It is a way of composing a plate with balance, intention, and care. The sauces, breads, and condiments are all made in-house. The food here is prepared by Chefs Mianne Manguiat &amp; Alexa Versoza.</p><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:476px;display:block" width="476"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1781624670314Ginza Cheesesteak Sandwich.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:476px;height:403.16px" width="476"/><span class="fr-inner"><em>Ginza Cheesesteak Sandwich</em></span></span></span></div><p>This is the Ginza Salon. Refined and built on more than a century of craft.  Key Coffee is one of Japan’s oldest and most respected coffee brands, having paved the way in introducing the love of coffee to the Japanese.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/lifestyle/food-travel/2026/6/16/lexus-philippines-the-dalmore-craftsmanship-culinary-excellence-yawaragi-hotel-okura-manila-2221" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: Lexus and Dalmore unite craftsmanship and culinary excellence at Yawaragi Hotel Okura</a></div><p>The coffee program at their third branch (the other one is at Opus Mall) connects heritage and locality. It carries Key Coffee Japan&#x27;s legacy—including the Toarco Toraja, sourced from Key Coffee&#x27;s own farm in the highlands of Sulawesi, a rare and elegant bean that was nearly lost after World War II and brought back to the world in 1978. Alongside it, they introduced a dark roast made from locally sourced Philippine beans, roasted in-house, and built around our own vision of what Japanese coffee craft looks like when expressed through Filipino ingredients.</p><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:461px;display:block" width="461"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1781624751731Wagyu Tataki Bento.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="461" style="width:461px"/><span class="fr-inner"><em>Wagyu Tataki Bento</em></span></span></span></div><p>The Coffee Bento Flight is highly recommended as it brings all of this together in a single sitting. The set consists of  three distinct roasts, each paired with Omakase pastries chosen to bring out what is already in the cup. This is what a roastery built with real purpose looks like—not just making coffee, but making coffee that could only have been made this way they wanted to.</p><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:483px;display:block" width="483"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1781624827029Wagyu Yakiniku Bento.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="483" style="width:483px"/><span class="fr-inner"><em>Wagyu Yakiniku Bento</em></span></span></span></div><p>Hi-Fi lounges/cafes succeed in creating an attractive environment by bringing nostalgia into the modern world we live in today. Things given much importance before, such as music, craft, culture, and conversation, are celebrated through modern refinement. Key Coffee Kissaten takes inspiration from Hi-Fi kissaten—a space that respects the old style history and heritage but at the same time re-imagined for the present. More importantly, it is a space to celebrate Japan’s unique relationship with jazz and the visual language it inadvertently produced over time.</p><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:511px;display:block" width="511"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1781625040109Apple Cinnamon Oat Bowl.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="511" style="width:511px"/><span class="fr-inner"><em>Apple Cinnamon Oat Bowl</em></span></span></span></div><p>This modern take on the famous Kissa was the idea of Bryan Chua, President of Boosterfoods Inc., Marvin Chua, Vice President of Operations., and Kathleen Chua, Marketing and Sales Manager. From their travels and coffee crawls in Japan, the trio knew that they wanted to bring this unique experience back to the Philippines but re-imagined the iconic Japanese coffee culture for the Filipino’s modern sense and sensibilities. Through the guidance and support of Key Coffee, this concept was born.</p><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:507px;display:block" width="507"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1781625116111Berry Cheesecake Citrus Crumble.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="507" style="width:507px"/><span class="fr-inner"><em>Berry Cheesecake Citrus Crumble</em></span></span></span></div><p>Of course, a concept is not complete without its visual design interpretation. They collaborated with one of the country’s most respected hospitality designers, Architects Noel Bernardo and Yolanda Bernardo of EC Studios, to make this design concept a reality. It is now a  stunning and intricately detailed space that celebrates the past through the present using traditional earthen materials and textures but presented in a playful and structured post-modern, future-nostalgic scenery. </p><div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1781625213130Key Coffee Kissaten 1.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/></div><p>The space was made to be an inviting café but also features other amenities such as a Japanese washroom, bakery retail, wine and sake bottle shop and a Napolitana pizza oven station.</p><p>Experience the feel of old-world Ginza coffee salons right here in Makati.</p><div><br/></div><div><em>Key Coffee Kissaten Glorietta is located in Glorietta 2 at Palm Drive, Ayala Center, Makati City.</em></div><div><em>Photos courtesy of Key Coffee Kissaten.</em></div>

<p>Inspired by the coffee salons of Tokyo's Showa-era Ginza, the new salon brings more than a century of Japanese coffee craftsmanship, cafe culture, and hospitality to Manila.</p>

Inspired by the coffee salons of Tokyo's Showa-era Ginza, the new salon brings more than a century of Japanese coffee craftsmanship, cafe culture, and hospitality to Manila.

A century-old Japanese coffee tradition finds its home in Manila

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A century-old Japanese coffee tradition finds its home in Manila

Pepper Teehankee

Published June 18, 2026 01:56 AM PHT

Read More:

Showa Era

Ginza Salon

Japanese Coffee Culture

Coffee History

Cafe Heritage

Japanese Hospitality

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