After another grueling week of handling online events, I finally took a long rest. I then checked my Facebook to see what’s up. It’s HoYoFest, MiHoYo’s special event for its fans in Southeast Asia.
The Moon Rabbit Cafe in San Juan is the lucky restaurant to represent HoYoFest in the Philippines. I’ve seen and shared their posts on Facebook. What brought me to decide to have my lunch there is a post from a cosplayer I’m following.
Just look at them in the photo, Jay. Ang sweet naman.
As soon as I woke up (late, as my body needs to recharge), I got myself up, booked my ride to the cafe and spent time outdoors as I’m just in time for the next session. Several people have reserved the cafe in order to get official merch, too.
Meanwhile, I, as a walk-in diner, just want to take lunch in a themed cafe. Working hard left me no choice but to play hard or else my sanity’s gonna tilt. It’s darn time to have some rest and recreation.
As a walk-in diner, it took a bit of time until the doors were opened for me to dine in. I kept myself busy by then. When I’m allowed to get inside, I am greeted with a nice, welcoming ambiance befit for a themed cafe.
The Cafe
The current theme is MiHoYo’s otome game Tears of Themis, which is something my Animazing Show co-host IK is gushing for. Long story short, it’s a Romance x Detective x Adventure game first released in Mainland China in July 2020, and worldwide one year after.
I’m not a gamer myself, so the best way for me to appreciate the cafe is to look at the character designs. Posters are scattered around, hanging chibi illustrations are in the ceiling, and there’s a lot of post-it’s in two designated areas.
The Food
Of all the four featured dishes, I ate two. I was inclined to order the orange spare ribs dish but my eyes are looking at the other dish: Ama’s homemade meatballs.
I believe I finished eating the rice first then the meatballs. Forget the rice – the meatballs are flavorful. Dip it in ketchup, it gets a bit more flavorful. Did I forgot to mention that if you eat the meatballs together with the pickled ginger, it tastes different versus the ketchup?
Complementing the set is the hazelnut coffee and the sweet mango pudding. Just the right touch.
The Cosplays (Yes, there are!)
Moving on, just before I partake into this meal, I got to talk to cosplayer Lix Tsu and her friend Aizi. Reserving a dine-in schedule takes time, and for Lix’s friend who is based in the province, it takes a lot of effort to confirm a slot.
I feel for the staff assigned for the reservations, because I also called to book my slot last-minute as well (as in ‘yung last minute na).
I also saw a familiar face: cosplayer Mitsuru, cosplaying as private detective Luke Pearce. Complete with a bouquet of flowers for you. (Prompt: Aiiiiyeeeee)
I’ve taken some photos of the best post-it’s from the cafe, which are posted on Facebook along with the rest of the photos from this post.
Lastly, I picked up the orange spare ribs on the way back home, just in time for the Animazing Show episode with Kamiya Juu. That was one heck of a day for me.
By the way, since HoYoFest is a Southeast Asian event, have you seen this cosplay from Larissa Rochefort at their HoYoFest cafe? Also, have you taken a look at my other food posts?
