Kohikan at the Diamond

I used to go to Kohikan a lot when it still had a branch in Promenade, Greenhills.  It’s still a mystery to me why it closed down considering it was very successful, there was no hint at all that one day it’d close down.

Luckily, my mom knew that they also have a branch that is located at the lobby of Diamond Hotel.  She suggested that we go to Kohikan for dinner.  That day, I was driving from Tagaytay as we went to Sonya’s Garden for lunch.  It was a looong drive and I was too tired, Diamond Hotel was on the way home.

Kohikan is known to have coffee that is charcoal-roasted.  It’s a given that we would order coffee, why would you not order the specialty of a restaurant right?

Unfortunately, most of the menu items from their promenade branch weren’t available.  I wonder why.  Maybe, since hotel guests usually just want coffee or dessert, it probably doesn’t make sense for them to offer a lot of items.

Anyhow, here’s what we had:

• Winner (Php 175)

This is Sumibi Coffee w/ whipped cream.  It’s pretty funny that they call it winner, but maybe it’s because Sumibi coffee is the popular coffee at Kohikan.  By the way, the whipped cream is so rich, you might want to mix it first with the coffee before drinking.  You would enjoy it better that way 🙂

• Iced Sumibi (Php 180)

Iced Sumibi as the name implies is the iced version of the Sumibi coffee.  I love its presentation plus the cute lil container for the cream & syrup.  Tasted good too!  Just as we expected from a Japanese coffee.

• Matcha (Php 260)

Green Tea Shake topped with a whipped cream.  My mom’s friends always orders this, I keep forgetting to try it.  I can’t seem to break my habit of always ordering the Iced Sumibi from Kohikan hahaha!  Maybe next time 😛

• Coffee Jelly (Php 250)

Doesn’t look like Coffee Jelly at all, does it?  That’s because it’s a shake!  They blended all the ingredients & topped it w/ vanilla ice cream.  My mom doesn’t like vanilla ice cream so she requested for it to be separated from the drink.  It was a delicious drink according to my mom, when I get the chance to go back to Kohikan, I’ll try this first then the Matcha..

• Sauteed Shrimps al Ajillo (Php 450)

I was hungry but my 2 companions weren’t.  I ended up being the only one who ordered a full meal.  I tried the  shrimps w/ garlic rice.  Shrimp has always been my favorite food item, can’t get enough of it.  This version was spicy but definitely tasty!  This turned out to be a really wonderful dish because of balance of flavors that was incorporated into the tomato-based sauce.  The shrimp wasn’t overcooked at all, and most of all, the garlic rice really was a great companion to the dish itself.

• Ensaymada

I noticed at the counter a lot ensaymada on display.  Looking around the place, I also noticed that everyone ordered it.  Christina then ordered it just to give it a try.  I took a bite and I loved it!  Ensaymada is basically a bread coated with butter, sugar and cheese but the thing that differentiated it from other ensaymadas is that there’s ube inside Kohikan’s version, yum!  It was served hot too as they microwave it first before putting it on our table.

The price of their menu items are a bit too steep IMHO.   I felt it was really too much considering the taste and ambiance of the coffee place.  A factor could be because it’s inside Diamond hotel, I was hoping they could lower the price a bit or else, I don’t think I would want to go back often.

Anyhow, I still enjoyed our dinner since I’m with my mom & my best friend 🙂  I was also too tired from driving so I was able to relax a bit.

Service was okay, nothing special, there was an instance where my mom had to ask for water 3 times from 2 different servers before it was served to us.  It wasn’t consistent coz there was a server who was very accommodating.  Oh well, let’s see if there’s a chance for me to go back.  And probably the only reason is definitely because of the drinks, really can’t go wrong if you need a place to just sit and relax and enjoy the company that you’re with 🙂

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Kohikan at the Diamond
G/F Diamond Hotel, Roxas Blvd corner Dr. J. Quintos St., Manila
(02)528-3000