Small Talk Café — Restaurant in Legazpi

I'm originally from Legazpi and been coming to this cafe when it just started over 10 years ago. Now that I came back to visit, I thought of meeting some people in here for a cup of coffee but when I found out that they have a free wifi, I chose to stay to talk and eat as well. Today, I am very frustrated with the waitresses. As I was having lunch and using wifi to call my kids kids back in the US and calling my American guest who's also in town because we both don't have a local telephone, there was one long-haired small white guy who came in the cafe to eat. As soon as he sat down and heard me talking to my American friend via WhatsApp, this foreigner started harrasing me, telling me that I shouldn't be talking on speaker phone and was very rude. I was getting ready to call the police because he started harassing and threatening me. I told the waitresses if they have a police department's number just in case this guy attack me or something. The waitresses didn't do anything but instead they told me that that's really how he is, and that he doesn't like people talking and loud. Instead of giving this foreigner a lesson that him being a visitor don't have the right to harass the local customer, I decided to leave because I didn't feel safe being inside anymore. I was only using a wifi to ask my American guest to come to the cafe for a cup of coffee and check out the place but the response of the waitresses scared me more and didn't feel safe for my American guest. I left the place without finishing my lunch. I hope the owner of this place knows about this incident and teach the waitresses the proper way of handling the situation. Just because the guest is a foreigner doesn't mean they are safe and have the right to harrass the local customer. Just because I don't have a blonde hair that they should favor the blonde-haired one and to think this foreigner looks like a loser.

With this experience, I will not recommend this place and I will never come back to this place ever again. If not for the internet, I would not recommend their expensive food. There are other local places that has a better-tasting food. I just hope that when I come back to visit my own town, there'll be more cafe that has a wifi and safer for us the balikbayan to hangout to meet other "respectful"...

To sum up this review this early, I would say this is an enchanting place with good Bicol food and exemplary Bicolano hospitality.

Since we arrived in Albay, I wanted to visit this place and dine. However, I had to postpone my cravings for two days due to the holidays—but the long wait was all worth it. During nighttime, the place transformed into a charming, tastefully-lit, orange-painted restaurant. It actually looked like a house converted into a diner, so you will instantly feel at home. The Ates/servers were eager to recommend their best-sellers without being too pushy. They recommended that we try their Spicy Pinangat, Peppery-hot Pinangat Pasta, Cordon Bleu, and Chocolate Mousse.

I never liked Pinangat or Laing my whole life, but I enjoyed the resto's Spicy Pinangat. The Pinangat Pasta was the best of them all: spicy, creamy, and lightly-salted (I think the dried fish gave it a nice, extra savory taste). The Cordon Bleu was a close second and pretty standard, served with rice, mixed veggies, and the yummy mushroom soup. For the dessert, we initially thought of getting a slice of their mango cake, but we settled for the chocolate mousse which was also yummy.

With all the fancy-looking interiors, tasty dishes, and good service, we thought the bill would be around ₱800-1000. Lo and behold, it was just ₱660! This restaurant deserved all the good hype and ratings for everything: price point, menu, service, and location/atmosphere. Came here around 6:30PM on a Sunday, and we got a table as soon as we arrived.

If I get the chance to visit Legazpi City again, I will definitely return to Small Talk Cafe—an amazing place to dine with family, loved ones,...

This was on my Legazpi itinerary as one of the most well-reviewed restaurants in the city. The cafe is a short walk from Penaranda Park (center of Old Albay).

Bicol Express Pasta (P140) 3.0 Uses spaghetti noodles which are sauteed in bicol express. The combination is tasty and I'd try making this dish myself. That being said, I would improve the dish by looking at it as an "alfredo" dish with bigger amounts of sauce. Serving size is not large but just as expected.

Pasta Mayon (P245) 3.5 I liked this better than the Bicol Express Pasta. This is pinangat/laing stuffed in ravioli and then drizzled with a tomato & tuna sauce. The taste of the pinangat is not too forward and you may be misled into thinking this is just a variation of pesto. Portion size is smaller than the Bicol Express pasta.

Both pasta dishes come with pieces of toast. This seems to be ordinary pan bread.

Pili Pie (P95) 2.0 Pretty small portion but I guess that befits the price (inflation is a bummer). Unfortunately the taste is nothing special and the pie was quite dry. I would describe this as just a larger pili tart. Wouldn't recommend this.

The staff were quite attentive. In fact, just seconds after a senior citizen card was pulled from a wallet, the staff were already by our table to retrieve it.

Unfortunately, during our visit they did not have dough on hand to make the pizza for which they are quite known for.

This is still a TBD for me. I'll definitely come back to try their other dishes, but I would not specifically suggest that people visit on the basis of what I've had.

The ambiance was pretty good, the aircon was...