Common Grounds Zora — Restaurant in Pagedangan

A café that dares to call itself Common Ground yet turns out to be anything but common. Nestled conveniently beside my son’s school, it’s no surprise this place has become part of my routine, though routine hardly feels the right word for what they serve.

Their latte, for instance, is not your everyday cup. It’s rich, smooth, and clearly brewed with a careful hand. There’s a warmth to it beyond temperature, a sign that they take their coffee seriously without overcomplicating it.

The pastry counter tempts with an array of choices, and it’s one of those rare places where “you can’t go wrong” actually holds true. Sweet or savory, everything seems to have been curated with intention. The same can be said for their food menu, which ranges widely yet stays cohesive. You can pick at random and still end up satisfied.

Among the standouts, one dish keeps calling me back: the chicken popcorn with sambal matah. It’s unassuming until that first bite, then comes the spark, the heat, the flavor that jolts you awake. Indonesians have a perfect phrase for it: "merem melek", something so good it makes you "blink blink".

Common Ground Coffee BSD may bear a modest name, but in every cup and plate, they quietly prove they’re anything...

TL;DR: If you're looking for a cafe to work in and need a reliable internet connection, I wouldn't recommend Common Ground BSD. Consider other options in the area until they address this major issue.

Common Ground BSD looks cool and the food is ok-ish, but there's a huge problem: the internet is terrible. Like, dial-up bad.

Now, this wouldn't be a big deal if it was a cheap coffee shop, but Common Ground isn't. They charge premium prices, so you expect premium service. That includes at least a proper Wi-Fi connection that actually works, not one that constantly drops and ruins your day.

I tried working there the other day, but the internet kept cutting out. It was super frustrating and completely messed up my schedule. The staff was apologetic, which was nice, but it didn't fix the problem.

While I get that technical issues happen, Common Ground needs to get this fixed ASAP. People come to cafes to work, connect with friends, and stay online. Without a good internet connection, that's just not possible.

So, to the management and owners of Common Ground BSD: Fix your internet or fix your prices. Your customers deserve better, and your business...

I used to frequent Common Grounds back in Citywalk when they only had 1 or 2 branches if I'm not mistaken. However I was utterly disappointed after my last visit to Common Grounds in Daikanyama BSD. I haven't visited Common Grounds for quite a while. When I saw the place I thought, "oh they're doing well to be able to open so many fancy looking branches all over greater Jabodetabek + Serpong" Place looked nice but acoustic can be better, it was so noisy and echoey it was very difficult to talk with normal volume. Ordered a steak and egg only to find a sad thin piece of meat and sad looking sunny side up and accompanied by even sadder looking freezed packed supermarket thin french fries in smaller serving than McDonald's Paket Hemat. Apparently their so-called success came with a price. That price translates to pricey food, cost cutting strategy tiny serving, mediocre food quality and ingredients, and depressing looking food presentation. Sorry Common Grounds, you have failed me, a long time fan, a big big time. There's a huge improvement homework to do before I would go back to any of your posh...