Cafe MangoSix

Don’t ask where the name came from. The sign on the door is in English and Hangul; with the high amount of Korean investment out of Korea, preferring to invest in the U.S. “free market.” this eating establishment on island comes as no surprise. However, for olfactory delicacy, kimchi is not in the menu.

Cafe MangoSix is the Starbuck of Korea, with the “Six” separated by an elongated “S” sign (or, Starbuck is the Cafe MangoSix of the USA, excuse the parochialism), but a national symbol, with its own brand of coffee and favored desserts.

It is actually more upscale than what the ordinary CW wallet can afford but it is within walking distance from NMC so making it a student hangout or holding a meeting place for trysts and appointments makes it a convenient place. Then one can pick up pickled radish at the Korean supermarket next door for the wife!

The water fountains are a visual relief from the warmth of the summer as 10 spouts gush up on the upper parking lot with the landscaped garden that would not shame a Nippon in Hawaii. Cafe MangoSix might help the Highway department attend to the sidewalk while the cacti vie for water and sun along with the palm tree, mango, papaya, taro, and other plants.

School donation of one’s choice is offered when a customer puts the receipt on a school slot by the door, a smart promo for the establishment’s support of education as well as a “feel good” incentive for customers, the majority of whom are upscale children of the moneyed business class from Sinosphere, seen to drive their own recently out-of-the-dealers’ vehicles.

Cafe MangoSix lists four Wi-Fis, accessible with a password printed on the wall bulletin board, or carefully enunciated when asked by the amiable staff that evidently absorbed their customer service manners at training. It is a plus that the smoothies are stirred with fruits exuding garden freshness.

We are not partial to any coffee shop establishment on Saipan, notwithstanding the competing one that this paper’s parent company owns, so focusing on Cafe MangoSix is not an endorsement of the place, by any means, save as we endorse any establishment on island that takes the effort to carefully plan out their design and construction, is ecofriendly with its surroundings, and bothers to really make its staff behave so that the customer feel welcomed at the place. We are not gushing, but Cafe MangoSix excels in all of the items in our criteria.

Coffee is a recently discovered drink in Sinosphere that now competes fairly with tea. The Spanish and the Germans, along with the Americans, did leave a legacy of caffeine consumption, so coffee trees are still visible on the leeward side of Mt. Tapuchao. The CNMI is thus culturally not a stranger to the habit.

Nor should we skew the fact that the countries of Sinosphere are also imbibing on the drink and have a ready market to buy them should we choose to plant them in Agrihan, Pagan, Alamagan, Anatahan, and Tinian rather than defoliating two of the places with ordnance like the Farallon de Medinilla graveyard!

So, coffee farmers, you may increase your yield. (c) 2015 Saipan Tribune