While Davao City is one of the country’s major urban centers, its night scene is very much chill compared to Cebu and Manila. Yep, chill is how we would best describe the local nightlife. One of the best spots for chillaxing is Zanzibar Davao.

First, if you haven’t been to the place, you might not find it at all. The bar is situated inside Batu House Cafe. It used to have no outdoor signage of the bar at all. (Luckily, now they have a signage already.) So it’s sort of a secret bar. It used to be such a quiet place, known only to a few. But now, more Davaoeños have discovered our favorite spot. And we suspect, its popularity will just grow in the coming months.

Zanzibar Davao is a nice, cozy place where you can just sit back and enjoy a bottle of beer for less than a hundred while spending quality time with old and new friends. They pipe in music at just the right volume that you can actually converse with your friends.

Davao Bloggers at Zanzibar Davao

Davao Bloggers love the place for its easy, relaxed vibe and their wide range of delicious cocktail drinks. They have so many drinks that it can become confusing and overwhelming for those visiting for the first time. Great thing is nothing is over PhP300. And their 30+ cocktails are categorized into five: Bold and Boozy, Sour, Fruity, Fizzy, and Sweet Confectionery.

Fruity Cocktails at Zanzibar Davao

Since we love the place so much, we each have our own favorites. Here’s our guide to our Davao Bloggers’ Favorite Cocktails at Zanzibar.

Let’s start with our most ordered drink, the Strawberry Basil Fresca.

Strawberry Basil Fresca

Menu Description: Like summer in Baguio! Refreshing and Cool! Vodka, Strawberries, Basil, and Lemon.

Clea Banal and Julie Alontaga both love this drink since they both like strawberries. It’s strong but remains sweet and refreshing. It might seem like a light drink, like a fizzy strawberry drink. Do not get deceived. The alcohol will hit you even before you finish one glass.

On our first cocktails night at Zanzibar, the girls tried Gin Pom.

Menu Description: Made using Davao’s Sweet Pomelo!

Back in the 1990s and early 2000s, Gin Pomelo was the most popular cocktail of college students and yuppies. It was sweet and fruity and gin was hella cheap. You could say Zanzibar’s Gin Pom brings us this classic favorite, but this time made with fresh pomelo juice. And the rim of glass has pink sugar, making it an Instagrammable drink.

For those who want something more refreshing, our editor-in-chief Ria Jose recommends Kalamansi Krush.

Kalamansi Krush Cocktail by Zanzibar Davao

Menu Description: A cocktail that highlights our own local lime! Gin, Calamansi, Cointreau, and Honey.
Like the other fruity cocktails of Zanzibar, this is deceivingly sweet and light. But becareful. It packs a punch. So do not take this and other items in the Fruity Cocktails menu lightly. They will give you a buzz.

Sweet Confectionery

If you want something sweet but not fruity, order the White Russian.

White Russian. Photo by Claudine Chua.

Menu Description: Creamy Coffee Cocktail! A boozy dessert!
For coffee lovers who also love alcohol, this is what Claudine Chua and Jeffrey Mondia would like you to try. It is a combination of milk, Kahlua and well, vodka. It is the best of both worlds, or three rather, as what Claudine says.

Note that Kahlua is basically rum and coffee. So you get two doses of liquor in one drink. And they serve it in such a quaint way, too. The vodka-infused milk is served in a jar labeled with the instruction “Pour Me” and the Kahlua is served in an Old Fashioned glass with ice. And you get to pour the milk over the Kahlua so you get to see the layers of booze, milk, and coffee swirling and mixing together creating a decadent (and very alcoholic) drink. After drinking, it has the aftertaste of coffee instead of the rum or vodka.

Roxanne Lacap mixing the White Russian

This cocktail is not just for the girls because guys love it too. “I am not a big fan of cocktails but I like the White Russian for its coffee flavor and it is like I am making an affogato.” Jeffrey shares.

Sours at Zanzibar Davao

If sweet is not your thing, give your palate something tangy, citrus, tart… everything sour.

Julie suggests the Amaretto Sour.

Amaretto Sour

Menu Description: Disarrono liqueur, hand-squeezed lemon juice, egg whites, all shaken violently.
It is just the right amount of tangy and bitter with just a hint of sweet. Unlike the fruity and sweet cocktails, you can easily taste the alchohol content in this one.
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