Based in Manila, Philippines, Dessert Comes First is a chronicle of the food-obsessed food writer, Lori Baltazar. This website is all about desserts, restaurants, coffee, and the pleasures of homebaking. Read more about me Xtremely
Mon, April 28th of 2008
11:37 am
What is extreme? Extreme is eating 12 scoops of ice cream in one sitting. Extreme is eating four cupcakes for breakfast. Extreme is falling so hard in love with a coffee shop that I eat there twice in seven hours. I’m guilty of all of the above, and so extreme is my latest sin of excess that it should be called “xtreme.”
Note: For the remainder of this post, “extreme” is spelled xtreme.
Xtremely Xpresso Café is a tremendously popular coffee shop in Subic. Calling it a coffee shop however, grossly undermines its totality. It’s so much more than that – it’s a coffee place, a café, a pizza parlor, a pastry shop, and a deli. Now that’s xtreme.
The café opened in 2003 serving primarily espresso-based beverages and accompanying sweets. The moniker, Xtremely Xpresso, connotes the “extremes” the owners will go to give the best to their patrons. Apparently, so xtremely good were their efforts that the management soon expanded their offerings to include a full-service menu from breakfast to soups to salads to pasta to main courses and pizzas.
The café-now-restaurant’s xtreme claims to fame are their pizzas. The oversized rounds are edibles encapsulating xtreme-ness: size. At 14 or 22 inches in diameter translating to 16 slices for the latter, these pizzas are so xtremely popular that during my two visits, I notice that every table has one.
The photo here is of the Big Ben (P649), the king of xtreme pizzas. It’s heaped with bacon, sausage, pepperoni, olives, beef, garlic, mushrooms, and a duo of cheeses. It’s impossible for the waiter to subtly place it on the table; plates and glasses have to be quickly moved as everyone at table expresses their “oohs” and “ahhs” in unison.
Its crust is the perfect compromise for thick crust/thin crust lovers. The crust is thin, but the ends are thick and puffy. Firmly entrenched in the thick crust camp, I’m scolded a few times by my Bin for surreptitiously attempting to slice off a few crusts for my consumption. When it comes to pizza, I prefer two or three toppings at most. I’m not a fan of everything-but-the-kitchen-sink varieties, but this Big Ben is good.
Xtremely Xpresso is loved — very loved — by Subic habitues and visitors from Manila. Having said that, do be prepared for slow service during evenings and weekends. The owners run a tight ship but they’re terribly understaffed. The staff that are there however, are very efficient.
Looks messy, tastes incredible
I also highly recommend the eggplant parmigiana (above), chicken oriental salad, and the plata patatas (not pictured) which is really just chunky mashed potatoes deluged in cheese sauce. It doesn’t look like much and the cheese sauce obviously comes from a can, but there’s something about it that makes it impossible to quit picking at it.
Much of Xtremely Xpresso’s charm is its ambience, an eclectic mish-mash of country-style meets bookstore. Look at the photo to understand. Off to the left is the pastry counter. Today, there are some appealing cakes like tablea-chocolate, hazelnut-chocolate, and a chocolate-carrot, my choice.
I’m not expecting much but the cake is just this side of moist with enough chocolate to make its presence tasted. Pair that with the best cappuccino (Lavazza coffee) I’ve had in months, and this dessert lover is happy. Xtremely.
Xtremely Xpresso Café
#1 Dewey Avenue corner Sta. Rita Road.
Subic Freeport Zone
(047) 252-3681
Open for breakfast, lunch, dinner, late night
The Meeting Place
SM City Clark
(045) 499-0314
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i jaz came back from my bacolod trip. and there’s a cafe there that serves a good Lavazza Coffee too…
[Reply]
Comment by eric — April 28, 2008 @ 3:51 pm
I agree that they have very poor and very slow service in the evenings. The time I ordered coffee there was around 8PM and they could not get my coffee right. I was standing in front of the cashier and despite the number of servers in front of me (seeing me waiting) nobody could accommodate me. I just wanted to pay for my order. Instead I stood in front of the register for about 20minutes until the cashier eventually got my payment and then after she was the one who also made my coffee. Tsk tsk. Too bad as I think the food looks great (and heard it tastes great too).
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Comment by ApplesH — April 28, 2008 @ 10:39 pm
hi Lorie,
Next time you are in Subic, please visit Meat Plus Cafe in front of Freeport Duty Free. We have delicious and affordable steaks, burgers and fish for non-meat eaters. Our Apple pie is legendary…..pair it with Danesi Coffee, a perfect way to end a meal and a trip in Subic. Meat Plus’ sister restaurant in Manila is Tender Bob’s located in Shangrila, Promenade and SM Block North Edsa. Hope to see you there!
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Comment by beatench — April 29, 2008 @ 3:38 am
i miss eating at double X (that’s my nickname for the place). since i used to work in subic, i’ve seen this place from scratch–from initial meetings to construction then on to the completion of the diner. i love the grilled pork belly, which i usually ordered for lunch.
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Comment by joy cruz — April 29, 2008 @ 7:57 am
our family ate there last good friday when we test-rode the new sctex and it was xtremely jampacked! service was good despite the understaffing. of course we had the pizza! mmmmmmm! it’s now on our list of places to go to in subic, next to meat plus!!!
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Comment by cher — April 29, 2008 @ 7:08 pm
12 scoops of ice cream?!? You are naughty!
The Forum is a brilliant idea but like everything else, it has the good and the bad:
The Bad: I don’t get enough of your writing in the Forum and you know I can’t enough of it.
The Good: Your Avatar! You are so kind for making this old dude very happy.
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Comment by silly lolo — April 29, 2008 @ 11:39 pm
wow! that eggplant parmigiana looks awesome! too bad i rarely go to northern luzon. I LOVE YOUR BLOG! not only is it informative, but also really well-written. it shows that you’re not only passionate about food, but you also care enough about your readers to produce publishable work. more power to ya!
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Comment by buchi — April 30, 2008 @ 9:41 am
the pizza looks really familiar (seem like the one we’re used to having weekly). if i’m not mistaken, i think this cafe has a branch in SM Clark.
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Comment by maimai — May 11, 2008 @ 11:15 am
Yummy Pizza! Good Food and such a homey ambiance. Just the right place to be when in Subic. This place never misses any of my visits, and they’re always packed! Imagine this…72 orders of pizza lined-up so I had to wait for an hour for my share. It was all worth the wait. I really didn’t mind if service was a little bit slow – or really slow; what’s important is that you see everyone moving. It’s not as if they’re just standing and talking to each other, just like what bank tellers do! In fairness, this is the only restaurant where I’ve seen the owners themselves work and serve – not just give orders. Nice bunch!
Kudos to the staff of Xtremely Xpresso! Keep it up and good work, you guys! I will be back again this weekend.
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Comment by Constance — May 22, 2008 @ 11:56 pm
We had late dinner there last February. My friends are to go to the cafe beside it but I know better (I’ve done my research beforehand, good thing!) the lasagne was really good, coffee and drinks as well. It was worth the wait afterall!
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Comment by shem — May 29, 2008 @ 7:58 pm
Me and my friends were in Subic last weekend. Before we went home, we ate at Xtremely. The place was little but cozy in my opinion. They had to transfer us to the restaurant or this little room near the restaurant because their seating capacity could no longer accomodate the number of people. The place was a little dark and had nice pillows and sofa where you could seat on so it was nice.
Some of us ordered seafood pesto and california style pizza (8 slices for the price of Php 449). It was yummy. One of my friends ordered pasta and for the price of Php 190, it was good for 2 persons.
The staff was efficient as we waited only for a short time before our order came
.
We were satisfied and would come back in case we go to Subic again.
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Comment by Barbara — July 31, 2008 @ 7:52 pm
Hi Lorie!
I soooo love XX! Most of my barkada reunions are celebrated there :p I am indeed proud to be an Olongapo resident because of XX! Too bad I rarely go home as I currently work in Makati
On your next visit to Olongapo, you may want to try Sam’s Pizza as it’s one of our homegrown favorites in ‘Gapo.
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Comment by dianejoyce — August 23, 2008 @ 12:11 am
I like their food but service is way below the acceptable level. Sayang.
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Comment by dweebi — January 14, 2009 @ 4:29 pm
we regularly go to SM clark for their sunday catholic masses at 9am, after the mass we straightly go to XX. The staff knows us already, they have great food, excellent ambiance, but they have one drawback that might pull away it’s costumers, slow service. but hey! we still eat there every sunday morning even though Starbucks is infront of it.
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Comment by Nicolo — March 12, 2009 @ 1:40 pm
xtremely bad service!
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Comment by josie — February 22, 2010 @ 12:09 pm