Love lizards, snakes and other reptilian creatures? Check out the awesome Gubat Café in Bacolod City for a great reptile encounter for the entire family!
Gubat Café used to be the famous Reptilya Cafe in Bacolod City. They’ve reopened now in a house on Pine street, Villa Soledad Subdivision, Bacolod City, Negros Occidental Philippines.
The inside of Gubat Café is dominated by a central hanging vine. The vine spreads its aerial roots down to the ground. The roots are all over the outdoor portion of Gubat Café You’ll feel nice and cool relaxing in the shade and you wull sort of feel that you are in the jungle.
There several places to sit. The tables are also spaced wide apart so proper social distancing is observed.
Gubat Café allows you to meet and photograph the animals for just a minimum of 100 pesos food order. For another 100 pesos, you may pick up and pose with a reptilian friend of your choice. Plenty of alcohol and wipes are provided and the animals are rotated so they wont get stressed from the interaction with the guests. The 100 peso fee also goes for food and care for the animals. Sounds like a good deal!
Protip: Order your food and select a table before going in to see the animals. Your food will be ready once you come out.
Head to the main entrance of the reptile room and wait your turn. Only one family or group at a time is allowed inside. While you’re there, take a look at the reptiles hanging out in the sun!
You will see Red the Iguana basking in the sun. This cute tiny lizard was previously spotted at Cafe Reptilya when he was a tiny, wee thing. Now he’s a giant “monster” at Gubat Café . He’s got a lovely red coloration so that’s why he got his name.
The nearby cages house green tree pythons. This guy looks really grumpy!
Once inside the reptile room you will see the animal habitats complete with warming lights so that the animals can enjoy the warmth of the “sun”.
The other side houses the snakes and the pythons! They’re Huge! They’re the same gentle animals that previous visitors to Reptilya Cafe have encountered.
The center of Gubat Café’s reptile room is a big wooden enclosure where the tortoises hang out! These big, gentle creatures are quite heavy but they are popular with the kid visitors to Gubat Café.
These tortoises are Red foot tortoises and they are from the dry and wet forests of Central and South America. These creatures can live up to 50 years so be sure that you want to keep one as a pet because it can potentially outlive you!
You will see giant pythons in enclosures. Most of these are used to being handled and are very gentle. You can opt to carry big ones and pose for a picture. This only should be done if you can manage to carry the pythons as they are very heavy!
They also have some pythons which are pure white. These look so beautiful!
For those who’d rather check out smaller reptiles, take a look at Gubat Café’s resident lizards. They’ve got a big variety!
A big reptile that you’ll see is the Savannah Monitor Lizard. These large reptiles are from Africa. They have gorgeous colorations and patterns on its scales. Don’t worry, they’re not harmful to humans as their primary diet is insects!
You can also get up close and personal with some “dragons” at Gubat Café. These are actually lizards called Bearded dragons. These creatures have spiky, scaly growths on the underside of the their chins hence the “beard” in their name.
The Argentinan Tegu is one of the most intelligent lizards that you can see in Gubat Café. This friendly little fellow was checking us out and following us as we took photos. In the wild, these lizards are omnivores and can run pretty fast. Due to their high intelligence they make good pets and can be “housebroken”.
We were also able to see the food of the reptiles on display! There’s a bucket full of squirming superworms.
We were also able to see the feed for the tortoises. This was a finely chopped mix of squash and mulberries and dusted with a vitamin (calcium?) powder
For the insectivores, Gubat Café has Dubia Roaches. These roaches primarily eat fruits and vegetables.
For Humans, the dining area is separate from the animal enclosure and there are sinks to wash your hands after you’ve interacted with the animals. You can order All day breakfast or their house specials.
We tried the chicken a la king at Gubat Café. It’s fried and breaded chicken cutlets covered in a white sauce. The meal came with rice. Tasty and filling!.
The best deal at Gubat Café is the Palabok Special. You get a massive dish of Palabok with two slices of toasted, buttered bread. The Palabok is only 85 pesos and very filling.
We’re so happy to see the return of Reptilya Cafe. Renamed, Rebranded, Reborn. The old staff has also been retained and if you were a regular like me at the old cafe, they will recognize you. It is so nice to learn that they got their old jobs back in the midst of this pandemic.
Visit Gubat Café . It’s a fun, convenient way to get closer to nature and interact with animals. You will love it!
The Bacolod Food Hunters 
What a crazy idea!!! I’ve seen hedgehog cafes, owl cafes, and of course cat cafes… but reptiles? How cool!
Thanks!! And it’s on a little island too!