Café Review: Little Wave

I was in charge of finding cafes during our vacation trip to Boracay, a beautiful island located in the Philippines, and the first one on my list was Little Wave.

Located in Station X on the main road, this quaint little café serves up delicious drinks as well as tasty food. Its color scheme is mint green and ash wood with lots of fun geometrical shapes that feel intentional, rather than random. Even their espresso machine, a trusty La Marzocco, is the delightful shade of mint that the walls are in.

For food, I ordered a ham and cheese sandwich. Good bread is something that Korea has not, in my experience, been able to deliver, so the soft, slightly crispy on the edges sourdough bread was a welcome change. The cheese was melted ever so slightly and the ham was good quality, as was the mustard. It was a great sandwich. It came with a side of the thinnest hand-sliced potato chips that I’ve seen in my life, and my only wish is that it would have been more thickly cut or a bigger portion.

My friends ordered the chicken salad after being told that the quinoa salad was out of stock. It was a formidable salad and was apparently very good as well.

And now, to the drinks. My friend ordered the Little Wave, “espresso and milk shaken together and finished with sea salt cream.” I tried the sea salt cream and it wasn’t for me.

I ordered two drinks, the first of which being the Sumuzu iced coffee, “espresso and milk poured over cold brew ice cubes.” I was ecstatic that they offered oat milk so I could try this drink with a plant-based milk. I’ve actually never had a drink with coffee ice cubes, and it was delightful. As the ice melted, a unique flavor came out in the drink.

I also ordered the dalandan cold brew. Dalandan is a type of citrus fruit native to southeast Asia and beloved by Filipinos. It added a slight sour zest to the cold brew, which was nice.

I did not order the Death Cream, “coffee and thick cream makes you feel like you’re drinking ice cream,” or their new salt-cured egg coffee. Their blend espresso is called Golden Ticket and its info card reads, “Any guesses for our inspiration for this coffee? The Brazil-Colombia blend has become everyone’s favorite. Milk chocolate, almonds and caramel in the cup. It’s a liquid chocolate bar.” Their seasonal espresso, Purple Haze, features two Ethiopian coffees from the Guji region and boasts of chocolate-covered blueberry notes, which is right on par for a Guji.

Of course, I can’t talk about Little Wave without mentioning its Slutty Brownie. It had Oreo cookies in a chocolate brownie base and it was delicious and probably a gazillion calories but totally worth it.

Sadly, I didn’t have enough time to go back to Little Wave but it’s definitely one of my favorite cafes for its cute aesthetic and yummy, innovative drinks.