I was at a new café that’s recently opened shop in Davao, Kangaroo Coffee Company. It’s on Tionko, just after Bangko Sentral. I’ve been there twice already: the first time with blogger friends, the night before our flight to Manila last week, and this time with Bob Martin (Mindanao.com, Live in the Philippines, among others). Unfortunately, at neither time was I able to try their food.

The first time, we already had dinner somewhere else, and then just went to Kangaroo for coffee. The second time, I did try to order a sandwich, but they forgot my order, even after a couple of times that I went back to the counter to ask for it… Still, I won’t give them a thumbs-down for customer service — the guy at the counter knew just how to handle the situation. The cappuccino over there is pretty decent, at least.

Since they’re still in the “soft opening” phase, I guess they can be forgiven for some lapses. Chalk it up to growing pains.

The place, though, looks really nice! I like it that the layout is not flat or square. I mean, there are different “levels” to the design of the place: there are the usual tables (some with very comfortable wing chairs), but there are some booths too. And, there’s a semi-separate area for small meetings, equipped with an accordion door. They also have a few tables out front for smokers.

Of course, free wifi!

When it was still under construction, I thought it was going to be a franchised brand. Turns out it’s a completely homegrown affair. I look forward to seeing Kangaroo establish a level of service that will be worthy of its excellent outward appearance. It really looks like a perfect watering hole for coffee lovers like me.