Honeysuckle welcomes Masarap, your new sweet spot for cookies, Filipino desserts & coffee

Some food stories begin with big ideas and even bigger plans. Masarap’s story started a little closer to home – in the family kitchen, with a batch of cookies and a dream of sharing a much-loved recipe with the rest of Newcastle. 

Since launching in 2024 there’s already been a few Masarap iterations, with owners Mia and Zay moving from their bake-at-home in Kurri Kurri approach to a tiny shopfront location in Broadmeadow, which unsurprisingly they quickly outgrew.

The latest Masarup chapter sees Mia and Zay land harbourside, bringing their freshly baked cookies, brownies, crookies (it’s not a typo), Filipino-inspired desserts, specialty drinks, and great coffee to 15 Honeysuckle Drive.

With more space needed, and a growing team, Masarap is now settling into its Honeysuckle home – although Mia says they’re already thinking about what comes next.

The sweet story behind Masarap 

After tasting her way through Newcastle’s cookie scene, Mia decided to put her own spin on them.  

A weekend of baking soon turned into orders from friends and family, with Mia’s mum’s friends among the first customers. Word spread quickly, and before long, orders were coming in faster than the business could keep up with.

Moving into the tiny Broadmeadow storefront allowed the team to jump between the shop and home kitchen to keep up with production, but it wasn’t to be for long.

The new, and gorgeously coloured baby pink, Honeysuckle space has given Masarap more room to grow, particularly for their wholesale customers, whilst allowing the baking, coffee, and dessert experience to come together under one roof. However, we get the sense things are moving quickly.

“We’ve been talking about getting just the kitchen, purely the baking, and then having an actual storefront.”

As the team has grown, Mia has stepped into a management role for the first time – another part of the journey she’s been learning on the run.

“Being a boss – learning how to delegate and give direction – is something very new to me,” she says. 

Cookies, brownies & plenty of ube 

The original cookies remain a major draw, but the menu has expanded well beyond those first batches.

Masarap rotates its menu fortnightly, meaning there’s always a reason to come back and see what’s new. Whether they’re serving traditional flavours or trying something completely fresh, Mia and Zay like to keep their team and customers guessing.

While cookies are the main attraction, the Crookie – a croissant filled with cookie – is another menu staple, alongside larger desserts like the Loaded Biscoff Skillet and Ube Cheesecake, made by Mia’s mum.

For anyone unfamiliar, ube is a purple yam widely used in Filipino cooking and desserts. Its flavour is difficult to compare to anything else, with Mia describing it as “a nutty vanilla flavour”.

Ube jam is folded into the centre of the cookies, while ube-based drinks bring the flavour into the cafe’s specialty drinks offering.

Bringing Filipino flavours to Newcastle 

Filipino influence has always been part of Masarap. Mia’s mum moved from the Philippines to Australia as a teenager, and much of Mia’s early cooking and baking experience came from spending time alongside her in the kitchen. 

That heritage now comes through in a menu designed to introduce customers to Filipino flavours alongside the cookies and coffee they already know and love.

Halo-Halo, a Filipino favourite, is now available every weekend, while pandan is also being gradually introduced alongside the already-popular ube.

It’s an approach that has been shaped by experience. After finding some of the less familiar Filipino flavours needed time to find an audience in Broadmeadow, the Honeysuckle store is allowing the team to introduce them gradually and see what customers gravitate towards.

And it’s already attracting a loyal mix of customers, from young dessert lovers to residents in the surrounding apartments – including a group of regulars affectionately known as the “loom ladies”.

Some now return specifically for their favourite Filipino desserts.

Make sure you try the specialty drinks 

Dessert may have started the story, but drinks are becoming an increasingly important part of the Masarap experience.

The specialty drinks menu includes the Banana Bread Latte, made with a house-made banana syrup combining brown sugar and banana, alongside a Biscoff Iced Latte, Strawberry Matcha, Mango Smoothie, and a growing range of ube drinks.

Many of the syrups are made in-house, including the banana bread syrup.

The aim is to eventually give specialty drinks an even bigger presence on the menu, with more Filipino-inspired flavours to come.

Your new Honeysuckle sweet spot 

Masarap is now open at 15 Honeysuckle Drive from Wednesday to Sunday, with doors opening at 10am.

The cafe trades until 8pm Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday, and until 9pm Friday and Saturday – making it a handy spot for an afternoon sugar hit or an after-dinner dessert and drink.

With freshly baked cookies, Filipino flavours, specialty drinks, and a menu that changes every fortnight, there’s always likely to be something new to try.

Come for the cookie, stay for the ube cheesecake, and keep an eye out for whatever flavour lands next.

Photo credit: Riley Tyler

Editor’s note: This article was produced independently by the HUNTERhunter editorial team and is not paid or sponsored content.