A coffee shop in the Obrero maze

I almost got lost looking for this coffee shop in Obrero. I have been living in Davao City for the last nine years; I still struggle to get around this area. It is not easy to memorize the name of the streets in Obrero. Added to that is the many road works happening in the area.

When I checked their Instagram profile, the address of the coffee shop was Rustico Cabaguio St., corner Lupo Diaz St. My first impression was, “Where is this in Obrero?”

Thankfully, this new coffee shop posted on its Facebook page an image of its location on Google Maps. After seeing that they are near Stella Maris Academy of Davao, I was able to locate them.

Southside Coffee may not be easy to spot along Cabaguio St. because they do not have signage yet. But whether they have signage or not, you would immediately know it’s them because of their aesthetics.

Their white exterior makes them a standout against the industrial buildings and establishments in the area.

The coffee shop’s look is similar to some Indonesian or Thai take-out coffee shops that you can find on Instagram. What I love about Southside Coffee are its colors. There is something about brown and white with pops of green that makes it look nice.

What I am not a fan of is their stools in front of the counter. I find it too small and quite unstable to sit on. I almost fell off my chair during one of my visits. It also gets quite uncomfortable after several minutes.

For my coffee, I ordered their Spanish Latte, Southside Brew, Iced Americano, and Iced Mt. Apo pour-over.

The Spanish Latte was quite good. I love that it was not extremely sweet and not too milky.

Their Southside Brew is their version of a cold brew with milk. I find it to be quite milky. I also like how it was not very sweet. I have tried several cold brews with milk that are very sweet.

The Iced Americano was just okay though I find it be too diluted. They could maybe reduce the water considering that there’s also ice in it. My personal preference when it comes to Americano is I like the coffee stronger in terms of taste.

The Iced Mt. Apo pour-over was okay too. However, like my iced americano, it was quite diluted too. But I was still able to pick up some of the notes of the usual notes or characters of Mt. Apo coffee like its fruitiness and its sourness.

The coffee shop was also kind enough to offer me some free brownies. While it looked like a simple brownie, I liked it. It would pair nicely with their coffee.

Southside Coffee was a wonderful discovery within the maze of Obrero. Their coffee drinks are generally good though they still have enough room to improve them. I also love the coffee shop’s simplicity and its design.

Another thing I love about them is their location. Rustico Cabaguio St. is generally a not very street with the schools closed. Hence, Southside Coffee is a quiet place to have a coffee, especially after work.