Commonly Uncommon Coffee: Cebu’s Most Serious Filter Bar Is Behind a Paper Shop
Six single-origin filters on the board, every one of them roasted in Busan, and no sign outside to tell you any of it is there. Crossroads Mall, Governor M. Cuenco Avenue. Prices and menu checked August 2026.
The hardest part is the door.
Crossroads on Governor M. Cuenco is a small mall of the old kind, low and quiet, and Commonly Uncommon does not have a sign on the outside of it. What you look for instead is Paper And, a specialty paper shop run by the same people. The cafe is behind it. Walk through.
People have been getting lost on the way in since 2021 and the shop has done nothing about it, which after four years reads less like an oversight and more like a position.
What is on the board
An iPad on the bar, blue screen, and a list that most cafes in the Philippines would not attempt.
| Filter coffee | Origin | Variety and process | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ethiopia Gesha Village Surma | Bench Maji, Ethiopia | Gesha, natural | ₱300 |
| Honduras COE #16 El Ocote | Santa Barbara, Honduras | Cup of Excellence lot | ₱280 |
| Ecuador Terrazas del Pisque | Pedro Moncayo, Pichincha | Sidra, washed | ₱250 |
| Ethiopia Mulish | Guji, Oromia | Ethiopian heirloom, anaerobic natural | ₱200 |
| Colombia Villa Betulia | Acevedo, Huila | Castillo, natural | ₱180 |
| Brazil Sitio da Torre | Mantiqueira de Minas | Yellow bourbon, natural | ₱180 |
Three more were sold out on the day, including a Kenyan on SL28, SL34, Batian and Ruiru 11, and an El Salvador Pacamara from Alotepec-Metapan. A second Kenyan from Nyeri, Kieni AA, was listed as coming.
Six lots available, three sold out, one incoming. Every one of them carries origin, variety, process, tasting notes and roaster on the board.
Every single one is roasted by the same house.
Filter menu photographed and prices confirmed August 2026. Availability changes constantly; the sold-out list is the point, not the exception.
The Korean connection
Momos Coffee. Pusan, South Korea.
That name is on every line of the filter menu, and it is not a name Philippine specialty coffee usually gets to put on a board. Momos is a Busan roastery, and in April 2019 its barista Jooyeon Jeon won the World Barista Championship in Boston, the first Korean and the first woman from Asia to take the title. In the specialty world that is roughly the equivalent of a restaurant putting a three-star kitchen’s name on its wine list.
Cebu has a bar pouring an all-Momos filter program. It is on the board at Crossroads, in the shop, on the day, and that is where we read it.
What it means practically: the coffee is imported, the roast dates are somebody else’s problem, and the prices reflect both. ₱300 for a Gesha is a world price rather than a Cebu one, and the room charges it without apologising.
Who built it
Three friends, in the middle of a lockdown, none of them from hospitality.
John Park, Joby Ngochua and Wynne Yap opened Commonly Uncommon in December 2021. All three work in construction, and the build is described the way you would expect from that: raw walls left raw, a stainless steel bar top, steel and wood and concrete in black and white. The bar in our photographs is exactly that, brushed steel and nothing on it that does not need to be there.
Park had been running an Instagram account reviewing beans he picked up while traveling. The cafe grew out of that, which is why the filter list reads like a collection rather than a menu.
The name is theirs and they have explained it: coffee is a common thing, and specialty coffee produces uncommon sensations. Common thing, uncommon experience.
Opening a specialty coffee bar with no sign, during a pandemic, behind a paper shop, is either very confident or not thinking about it at all. Four years and a second branch later, the answer looks like the first one.
What to order
New to filter coffee, order the Colombia or the Brazil. ₱180, both natural process, both on the sweet and fruit-forward side of the board, and both a fair introduction to why anyone bothers. The Ethiopia Mulish at ₱200 is the step up in price and in complexity.
If you know what you are doing, the Gesha is on the board at ₱300 and it will not always be. Gesha Village is a serious farm and the lot is not a permanent fixture.
For milk drinks, the espresso bar runs the full set under a section headed The Usuals: espresso, long black, short latte, latte, vanilla latte, mocha, matcha latte, chocolate latte, and cold brew in black, milk, coconut and oat versions.
The signature drinks live under Little Crafty, which is where the shop stops being austere. Cream coffee, ice cream latte with Korean vanilla ice cream, naughty latte with peanut cream, matcha cream, salted caramel sunshine with house-made salted caramel and apple caramel crisps, tropical espresso fizz with pineapple cordial and sparkling, citrus cascara fizz, citrus mint tea, and the Crossroads Special, which is cold brew foam over cold brew with vanilla and is the drink the shop is named for in practice if not on paper.
The tea list is not filler either. Jasmine rose, red jade bergamot, unity white tea, jasmine phoenix pearls, ruri hojicha, camellia blossom white tea, and a Duck Shit Dancong, which is a real and famous Phoenix oolong with an unfortunate and entirely accurate translation. The menu makes the joke itself.
Behind all of that is a proper kitchen rather than a pastry case. Brunch runs a usual breakfast, a breakfast platter and a custom French toast with a Suntory whisky reduction. Mains include an ebi katsu don, pan-fried salmon, a pork belly or salmon chashu don, crispy pork belly, and a Korean sweet chilli fried chicken. Pasta runs shrimp rose, summer aglio olio and chicken carbonara. Bread runs a chicken sandwich, a tomato ricotta toast on house sourdough, and a BLT.
The two dishes long named as best-sellers are the summer aglio olio and the tomato ricotta toast.
Oat milk on the bar is Minor Figures. Substitutions and extra shots are priced separately under Extras.
Food prices are not published here. The board was photographed at an angle that renders the numbers unreliable, and printing a price we cannot read is worse than printing none. Expect roughly ₱200 to ₱400 a head for food and drink together, per current listings, and check the board.
Menu sections and items confirmed from the shop’s own boards, August 2026. Filter prices exact. Food prices not verified.
Working here
This is a work cafe and it is honest about it.
Wifi, power at the seats, air conditioning, and a room built for people who stay. It has been named in Cebu work-spot roundups as recently as December 2025, and no laptop restriction or time limit is documented anywhere. It gets busy at peak, and weekdays are the quiet run.
It is pet friendly. That rests on a 2022 account we have not re-checked, so call ahead if you are bringing a dog.
The recurring complaint across four years of reviews is the price. That is a fair complaint and it is also the deal: a ₱300 Gesha flown in from a championship roastery in Busan is never going to cost what a chain latte costs, and the shop is not pretending otherwise.
There are two now
A second branch opened at Astra Lifestyle Centre on A.S. Fortuna Street in Mandaue around April 2026, and it is the bigger of the two.
Astra itself only opened in December 2025, so this is a new mall taking a four-year-old specialty brand as an anchor, which says something about where Cebu’s coffee scene has got to. Astra branch hours are not published and we have not confirmed them.
Practical
Crossroads branch. Crossroads Mall, Governor M. Cuenco Avenue, Cebu City. 10.3283° N, 123.9095° E Behind Paper & in Banilad. Nearest landmark is the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino.
Hours. Best current information is 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM Monday to Thursday and 8:00 AM to 10:00 PM Friday to Sunday. This has changed at least once: the shop ran 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM daily through 2023 and 2024.
Phone. 0927 529 8236 for Crossroads. The Mandaue branch has been listed separately on +63 966 248 6654.
Socials. Facebook and Instagram both at commonly.uncommon.coffee, with dots. There is no website and no delivery listing we could find.
Astra branch. Astra Lifestyle Centre, A.S. Fortuna Street, Banilad, Mandaue City 6014.
They sell the coffee to take home. Canned cold brew in their own designed cans, black and milk versions, priced at ₱145 on the bar mat in August 2026. The can artwork has been part of the brand since the beginning, including a “Have A Nice Day” and a rather less polite companion.
Checked August 2026. Hours from listings rather than the shop.
More Cebu coffee: Punched Coffee, Pamahaw Café in Lahug, and Coffee Bear at IT Park.
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Cebu Coordinates
Island Series
₱999
Airport Series CEB
Mactan-Cebu
₱1,299
Frequently asked questions
Where is Commonly Uncommon Coffee?
Crossroads Mall on Governor M. Cuenco Avenue, Cebu City, behind the Paper And paper shop, which is run by the same people. There is no clear sign outside. A second branch opened at Astra Lifestyle Centre on A.S. Fortuna Street in Mandaue around April 2026.
What are Commonly Uncommon Coffee’s opening hours?
Best current information for Crossroads is 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM Monday to Thursday and 8:00 AM to 10:00 PM Friday to Sunday. This comes from listings rather than the shop, and the hours changed from a 9:00 AM opening within the last two years. Confirm before traveling.
Who roasts the coffee at Commonly Uncommon?
Every filter coffee on the bar menu is listed as roasted by Momos Coffee of Busan, South Korea. Momos is the roastery whose barista Jooyeon Jeon won the 2019 World Barista Championship.
How much is coffee at Commonly Uncommon?
Filter coffees ran from ₱180 for the Colombia and the Brazil up to ₱300 for the Ethiopia Gesha on the menu we photographed. Canned cold brew is ₱145. Overall spend is commonly listed at ₱200 to ₱400 a head. Checked August 2026.
Is Commonly Uncommon good for working?
Yes. Wifi, power at the seats and air conditioning, and it appears in Cebu work-cafe roundups as recently as December 2025. No laptop restriction or time limit is documented. It is busiest at peak hours.
Who owns Commonly Uncommon Coffee?
Three co-founders: John Park, Joby Ngochua and Wynne Yap. All three work in construction, and they opened the cafe in December 2021 during lockdown. Park had been running an Instagram account reviewing coffee beans collected on his travels.
What does the name mean?
The founders have explained it as coffee being a common thing that, done as specialty, produces uncommon sensations.
What to order at Commonly Uncommon
Start with the Colombia or Brazil filter at ₱180 if you are new to filter coffee. The Crossroads Special is the house signature. The summer aglio olio and the tomato ricotta toast are the long-standing food best-sellers.
