Heritage meets modern, one cup at a time
Happiness is now spreading through hearty meals and artisanal treats.
A cafe built around cacao
Tsokolateria is a Filipino artisanal cafe built around a single ingredient: cacao. It shows up the way it always has in Filipino homes, as thick tsokolate whisked to a froth, and in ways it never has, folded into savory plates and warm pastries.
It began in Tagaytay in 2015 and has since carried the same idea to Baguio and to Metro Manila. The cacao is Philippine-grown, and the kitchen leans on local ingredients rather than imported ones wherever it can.
The room is where heritage meets modern: warm, cozy, and unhurried. You can settle in for a slow cup or a full meal at any of them, from the flagship on the second floor of Greenbelt 5 in Makati to the pines in Baguio.
The batirol and the silver pot
Traditional tsokolate is not poured from a machine. It arrives in a silver pot with a batirol, the wooden whisk that has frothed Filipino hot chocolate for generations. Spin it between your palms and the cup wakes up.
That ritual is the heart of the house. Tsokolate Eh is the traditional cup, bitter to semi-sweet; Tsokolate Ah is its sweeter sibling. Everything else on the menu grows out from there.
A wooden whisk, a silver pot, and a cup that has not changed in generations.
Hearty meals, artisanal treats
The kitchen serves elevated Filipino comfort food with cacao infusion. The best seller is the Cacao Smoked Black Palabok: black noodles with seafood and a poached egg, smoked with cacao. Alongside it sit the alimango at aligue pasta, the spicy tuyo pasta, the bibingka souffle, and tablea champorado made with black mountain rice.
A Happy Concept Group brand
Tsokolateria is the work of Chef Happy Ongpauco-Tiu, who grew up in the family behind Barrio Fiesta and now runs Happy Concept Group. The cafe is one of the group's brands, and the same kitchen and standards run behind every branch.
For inquiries, catering, and partnerships, the group can be reached at inquiry@happyconceptgroup.com.
The dish the kitchen is known for is on the menu.