UCC Clockwork is UCC Coffee Philippine’s first foray into the 3rd wave coffee generation. Located at the sprawling Blue Bay Walk complex in Pasay, it is housed in a building with sister brands, Yamato Bakery and Mitsuyado Seimen. UCC was arguably the pioneer in introducing specialty coffee in the Philippines, who can forget the sugar crystals to go with the Blue Mountain No.1 cups.
UCC Clockwork is beautiful with a centrally located coffee bar with a ton of things to see. It is a 2 story structure with some tables on the ground floor reserved for seniors and people with disabilities. The main dining area is on the 2nd floor which has smoking rooms as well as small function rooms.
While on your way to the 2nd floor seating, you can peruse the coffee paraphernalia they are selling as well as fresh coffee beans on display. You can touch, smell and ask questions because they want to educate people about coffee.
You can also see the different methods for coffee extraction they offer, Halogen Siphon (replaces the old burner), Pour Over, Cold Brew and their Espresso beans locked in Nitrogen filled containers to prolong the freshness. There is also a display of single malt whisky and other alcoholic beverages at the end of the coffee bar.
This gets my vote for best seat in the house, it’s a bar table situated on the edge, overlooking the coffee bar. It feels like you are part of the hustle and bustle going around but too far to bother anyone.
The menu at UCC Clockwork is very different from the usual UCC stores, don’t come in expecting to find your usual sandwiches and soup spaghetti. They’ve created a new menu consisting mostly of comfort food with a few UCC favorites thrown in.
We started with some atypical UCC offerings like Chili Fries (P180). French fries topped with sauteed ground beef, tomatoes, garlic and cheese sauces. A nice starter to share of pair with their alcoholic beverages.
Another for sharing appetizer is the Four Cheese Quesadilla (P220), served with a sesame side salad and french fries.
Try the Quinoa, Grilled Chicken with Manadarin Orange Salad (P320) for a healthy lunch pick. The serving is generous, can served 2 to 3 people or as a meal for 1. The dressing is an easy to enjoy honey-sesame vinaigrette and paired with the quinoa and chicken is filling and good for you.
We had some flavored beer to pair with our appetizers, Son of A Peach (P185), Salted Caramel Beer (P185) and Pina Colada Beer (P185). My fave among the trio was the Salted Caramel.
The Indian Curry Pasta (P270) is not the prettiest looking dish around but it does win the taste contest. Al dente spaghetti topped with tomato curry and bacon. It is savory and spicy but with some sweetness to balance the flavors out. It takes a bite or too to get the used to the unique flavor and before you know it, you’ll be reaching for more.
Fresh Corned Beef Kimchi Rice (P350). Homemade meaty corned beef paired with a poached egg and kimchi rice and a side salad. Smear some horseradish on the corned beef and mix the egg into the kimchi rice to add a creamy sheen. The rice has a perfect balance of sour and spice and umami that matches the corned beef to a t.
Milkfish belly Paksiw (P300). Paksiw is a dish I never eat because it is cooked with vinegar so I was apprehensive to try this. Irene loved it and told me to taste it and assured me it did not have the strong vinegar taste. I tried a little piece and was surprised I enjoyed it, there was a hint of sweetness (makes every dish better) that muted the vinegar flavors. This is not something I’d go out and order but if it’s on the table, I’ll eat some and that’s praise coming from me.
Pulled Pork Sandwich (P260). English muffin topped with honey basted pulled pork and creamy scrambled eggs. I found the pulled pork too sweet and would have wanted a smokier flavor to the bbq sauce. On another visit, I tried their Pulled Pork Cheese Sandwich and I’d highly recommend that one as the sharp cheese balanced out the sweetness.
Our feast of the savory dishes was done so it was time for dessert and of course coffee.
We started with their single origin beans brewed using the pour over method. They have many different coffee beans available from local beans from Benguet, Kapatagan and Mt. Matutum, to many from South America and Africa. Their priciest offering is the Panama Santa Teresa Geisha (P590), this one was light and fruity you could mistake it for a tea. This is super limited, so once they run out, it will be removed from the menu. I saw that they had some new Hawaii Kona in the store the other day, will have to try this before it’s gone also.
They serve each cup in a wooden board with a beaker with coffee, a glass on the side and information about your coffee bean choice indicating it’s origins and flavor profile. You must let the coffee cool down to enable the flavors of to open up. I found the Kapatagan (P130) a welcome surprise, if no one told you it was local, you’d mistake it for an imported bean. The flavor profile are similar to my favorite Ethiopia Yirgacheffe. The Brazil Sta. Alina was also another enjoyable cup, with sweet caramel and lime zest notes.
The Bulletproof (P150) is a cup of coffee silkened with butter. The taste is peculiar and intriguing but good, not a drink I’d order regularly, maybe on a whim.
If you prefer a quirky drink, you should get a glass of Judy on The Rocks (P150/hot,P170/cold). Charcoal roasted coffee, topped with “On The Rocks Cream” (think milk tea cream cheese topping) and salted honey on the rim of the glass. You can get the cream add on and put it in any of their other drinks, be it hot or cold.
Matcha lovers take note, you can drink your matcha and eat it too at UCC Clockwork. Get a cup of the Matcha Latte (P170/hot, P190/cold) and the Thick Toast Green Tea Nutella (P340). The bread is baked next door in Yamato using premium green tea powder from Japan. Once you order, they’ll slice the bread and smear nutella inside, top it with scoops of Carmen’s Best Vanilla and Green tea ice cream, azuki red bean, cream and drizzle warm chocolate sauce.
We also sampled Yamato Bakery’s version of Kouign Amann (P70). A light, flaky pastry with a butter center, heat it then slice it and watch the warm butter flow out.
The last dessert we tried was the Mango Crepe Samurai (P220), a classic that you rarely see anymore. Mango crepe baked with custard cream and bruleed.
If you feel intimidated and out of place in the other 3rd wave coffee shops then head on over to UCC Clockwork. They want to educate and introduce people to excellent coffee so everything is out in the open and questions are welcomed. Food is uncomplicated and comforting with lots of nice choices for groups or solo diners. Coffee choices are aplenty in whatever preparation you desire with lots of good desserts to pair them with. The place also turns into a social drinking place later in the night.
UCC Clockwork
Blue Bay Walk Macapagal Ave. cor. EDSA Pasay City, Philippines Contact No.: (632) 843-4383Facebook Page: UCC Clockwork
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Hello. :)) This is actually my favorite restaurant.
What’s your favorite at UCC Clockwork?
Can you please post all about the camera/s you usually use? TY
I didn’t know anyone was interested in my cameras. I use a Nikon D7000 and a Fuji X-A1.
I go to UCC Clockwork every week, during my break time, to eat and to have coffee. My favourite is their Kori-kohi (which they also offer in other ‘regular’ UCC’s) and their Sumiyaki. I have also tried most of the food they offer in their menu–and it did not disappoint. I like staying here (yes, I’m at UCC Clockwork at the moment) because I love the ambiance and there are not much people in the afternoon, hence, the place is not to noisy that I can read and study too. Although, there’s only one thing that makes me sad about this place… the servers. Unlike Starbucks, the servers here aren’t always smiling whenever they approach the customers. They are not as nice and friendly as the baristas in Starbucks. It’s like they’re always judging the customer whether they’re wearing nice clothes or just uniform, if they have money to pay for what they ordered or not–which is totally not making me feel really good because I am a regular here and I do not just hang out here for hours with one order of coffee or whatever their cheapest drink is! Whenever I would stay here for hours, I make sure that I always order enough food and drinks to justify the length of my stay. A couple of minutes ago, I just heard two of the servers mocking me. I know my voice may be irritating sometimes but it is not a good enough reason for the staff to make fun of their customers. I really want to let their head to know about this but I do not want to make a scene by having to call the manager that’s why I decided to make this review hoping that someone in their business would see this and might know what to do.
I have noticed that too.. that they are not friendly like most other coffee shops
This is just a surprisingly great place to hang-out.
May I recommend Benguet.