Abaca Baking Company: The Cebu Café Where You Can Buy the Art off the Wall

There's a café in Cebu called Abaca Baking Company — "ABC" to everyone who lives here — known for freshly baked bread and good coffee.

And then there's the cup. The paper cup your coffee comes in is a work of art by a local artist: a line drawing of the Cebu skyline with yellow birds flying over it.

It was drawn by Josua S. Cabrera, a political cartoonist who spent years drawing for a local newspaper and who has won the Philippines' most prestigious literary prize.

(Photo: an Artist Edition cup and a bagel — Abaca Baking Company, Cebu IT Park, April 2025)

The basics

The coffee is very good

Reviewers often describe it as good coffee by Philippine standards, and I'd agree.

Cebu also has homegrown chains like Bo's Coffee, which sources beans from Philippine farms. For someone as dependent on caffeine as I am, IT Park — with its concentration of serious coffee shops — is close to paradise.

Come closing time...

I only ever went in the morning or at lunch, so I didn't know this until later.

At ABC, bread and pastries go half price in the hour before each branch closes. It happens every day, to make room for the next morning's fresh bake.

That usually means around 10pm, though it depends on the branch, since the rule is simply "one hour before closing." One reviewer described staff stepping outside as 10pm approached to announce the markdowns. A 2025 local article put it at 30–70% off late in the evening. Good news if you're a student here.

Three reasons this café is special for art lovers

I came here for lunch this time. The walls are full of artworks — with prices on them.

1. The art on the walls is chosen by the gallery next door, and it's for sale

The curator is Qube Gallery, Cebu's leading contemporary art gallery. It has been choosing the work on these walls since the Crossroads branch opened in 2015, and today it manages the wall space across the branches.

It's less that the café has art hanging in it, and more that the café's walls have become the gallery's exhibition space.

2. The paper cups are works by local artists

The series began in 2023 and is still running in 2026. Abaca commissions Cebu-based artists and puts their work on the cups. Nine artists have taken part so far.

3. The interiors and menus come from local creatives too

The murals and the menu illustrations were commissioned from local design studios and artists.

What you look at, what you hold, the room you sit in — all of it carries Cebu's own sense of design.

How to buy a piece, and how to get it to Japan

Sales of the wall pieces are handled by Qube Gallery. At the Crossroads branch, the gallery is right there in the same complex (Tuesday to Saturday, 11am–7pm), so you can simply walk over and ask.

The gallery also arranges shipping and the export paperwork on the Philippine side.

On cost: original paintings are duty-free coming into Japan. The only charge on arrival is the 10% import consumption tax.

Payment methods, shipping costs and the full process are covered here → A Guide to Buying Art from the Philippines

About Qube Gallery

Qube Gallery was founded in 2013, and Apollo has called it one of the leading commercial galleries outside Manila. It has shown at Art Fair Philippines six times, and has taken part in fairs in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Tokyo and Singapore.

If you find yourself in Cebu — travelling, or studying English — do make time for the coffee and the art.

You can also find the latest on their Instagram: @abacabakingco

SEILA