The family is constantly in search of new gastronomic adventures so for my mom's birthday I book us a reservation at Al Batra Restaurant & Coffee Shop. I found this restaurant through Tripadvisor. This is one of the rare halal restaurants in the Metro. It's conveniently found at the heart of Makati too.
![al batra restaurant coffee shop]( "al batra restaurant coffee shop")
It has a huge green and white sign.
![al batra restaurant coffee shop]( "al batra restaurant coffee shop")
But, it took as awhile upon parking to notice that the entrance is at the side as it is located on the second floor above 7-11.
![al batra restaurant coffee shop]( "al batra restaurant coffee shop")
It was surprisingly very spacious and segregated into two parts: the cafe area with small table able well-cushion loft seats with a window view ofJupiter Street.
![al batra restaurant coffee shop]( "al batra restaurant coffee shop")
and the dining area with big round black tables near the kitchen and the frozen fish display area. There were foreign customers at the cafe area but we were the only group at the dining area. Did I mention they are open 24 hours?
The supervisor welcomed us and was quite hospitable but for the first time ever we've encountered this peculiar problem: they ran out of utensils so half of our group had to use plastic utensils (which was bought from 7-11). The supervisor was kept apologizing about it stating that Middle Easterners only use their hands when eating. Is this true? So with plastic spoon and forks at hand, let's proceed to the food. We occupied 4 big round tables. And, there were many seating yet to be availed of so the shortage really surprised us.
Food
Cold Appetizers
Since our table wanted to try as much as we could of the menu selection starting with the appetizer, we ordered the Mixed Al Batra Appetizer. It hadHummos (chickpeas and oil), Mutable (mashed eggplant oven baked with yogurt in olive oil), Tabula (mix chops vegetable salad with burgol seasoning in olive oil), Green Salad (carrots, tomatoes, cucumber,special spices olive oil) served with 2 Al Batra Bread. Although I usually love flat bread, the Al Batra Bread did not appeal to my liking because it was neither soft nor crunchy. We also wanted to try the Sambusa best seller but out of stock.
Main Dishes
We had no idea that the Meat Biryani would be goat meatwith biryani spices in biryani rice. I was the only one who appreciate this.
Being a curryenthusiast, I ordered the Chicken Curry. It was good but it failed to stand out against the rest of our orders.
I'd never imagine myself ordering Broasted Chicken in a Middle Eastern before but our excited parents were so sold by our table's server that they ordered one for each table. I'm glad they did because it was really good! It was served with fries but we opted for rice.
Grilled
My cousins husband Matt who was the onlyman on our table was yearning for some meat so we ordered the Meat Kebab.
The Meat Kebab is served covered under two thick and warm Al Batra Bread. It was tender and succulent. It is one of the best kebab I've ever tried!
The Lamb Chops was served skewer-style with grilled onions and bell peppers in between but without the stick.
The Lamb Chopswas another hit among us! But, the experience would have been less tiring if we were not using plastic utensils to dissect the big chunks.
FreshSeafood
As soon as we arrived at Al Batra, my uncle was enthusiastic about their very affordable freshseafood so he ordered one steamed Hammour (commonly known to us as Lapu-Lapu) for each table. Iusually encountersteamed Lapu-Lapu during our lauriatChinese dinners but I have to admit, this tops all of those. They use different herbs and spices which works like magic. It was cooked with outstanding precision too. All tables were amazed with the soft, moist yet solid consistency of our beautiful steamed Hammour.
Rice
Kabsa Riceis a tomato based rice. It's my first time to try this but it felt as familiar as eating any tomato-based stew with rice.
Tsinoy Foodies Verdict
If you're looking for impressive authentic Mediterranean cuisine, definitely try Al Batra Restaurant & Coffee Shop. We were all very satisfied with all our orders. It is one of the best we've tried. We'd love to come back... Hopefully they have utensils enough for us by then and the air-conditioning is better.
The supervisor welcomed us and was quite hospitable but for the first time ever we've encountered this peculiar problem: they ran out of utensils so half of our group had to use plastic utensils (which was bought from 7-11). The supervisor was kept apologizing about it stating that Middle Easterners only use their hands when eating. Is this true? So with plastic spoon and forks at hand, let's proceed to the food. We occupied 4 big round tables. And, there were many seating yet to be availed of so the shortage really surprised us.
Food
Cold Appetizers
 |
| Mixed Al Batra Appetizer Small (180 php) |
Main Dishes
 |
| Meat Biryani (450 php) |
 |
| Chicken Curry (390 php) |
 |
| Broasted Chicken (360 php) |
Grilled
 |
| Meat Kebab Small (300 php) |
 |
| Meat Kebab Small (300 php) |
 |
| Lamb Chops Small (390 php) |
 |
| Lamb Chops Small (390 php) |
FreshSeafood
 |
| Hammour (Lapu Lapu) (100 php/100 grams) |
Rice
 |
| Kabsa Rice (120 php) |
Tsinoy Foodies Verdict
If you're looking for impressive authentic Mediterranean cuisine, definitely try Al Batra Restaurant & Coffee Shop. We were all very satisfied with all our orders. It is one of the best we've tried. We'd love to come back... Hopefully they have utensils enough for us by then and the air-conditioning is better.
| Tsinoy Foodies Review Rating | Al Batra Restaurant & Coffee Shop Menu | |
| Ambiance | ★★★ | Hot Appetizers | Cold Appetizers | Soup | Bakeries | Breakfast | Side Dishes | Main Dishes | Grilled | Sandwiches | Pizza | Rice | Pasta | Drinks | Drinks 2 | |
| Taste | ★★★★★ | |
| Service | ★★★ | |
| Price | ★★★ | |
| ♥=Favorites or Recommended | ||
| Al Batra Restaurant & Coffee Shop | |
| Business Address | 2F, A.M Flores Building, Makati Avenue corner Constellation Street, Makati City, Metro Manila |
| Business Hours | 24 hours |
| Payment Options | |
| Service Charge | 10% |
| Budget/Person | 250-500 |
| Free WiFi | No |
| Unlocked Foursquare Perks | None |
| Contact | (02) 403-5552 |
| Other | Facebook Fan Page |
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