Annex House — Restaurant in Makati

My friends and I heard great things about Annex House so we decided to check it out on a whim last night. The doorman/bouncer ruined our experience only a few minutes into it. He wasn’t there by the entrance when we first stepped into the al fresco area and we didn't notice him so we mindlessly walked ahead. He finally spotted us and ushered us back to the entrance to offhandedly tell us about a door charge, the amount not being revealed to us because he immediately moved on to another newcomer.

He already looked disinterested in entertaining us so my friends and I talked quickly amongst ourselves and decided to maybe have one of us take a really quick peek at the vibes indoors (a peek through the window or through a crack in the door would do), since the al fresco area was packed and it was a humid night. My friend politely raised his inquiry to the doorman to which the doorman repeatedly and brusquely responded that the CCTV was monitoring us? And that the door charge was in place for a reason? The cost of which he never even bothered telling us? My friend had no plans of evading the door charge, nor did any of us. The implication was rude enough.

Although offended by the implication, my friend tried to clarify his intentions but the doorman remained very, very disinterested in our patronage. Having had enough of his unwarranted attitude, we promptly decided to take our money elsewhere. This is the worst part of it all: to our shock, upon seeing us trying to leave, the doorman proceeded to loudly reprimand either my friend or the entire group, exclaiming IN ENGLISH, “You know the rules!"

Whatever his problem was, he tried making ours as well. Here’s to hoping he doesn’t make it the...

Inconspicuous place, better use Waze or maps to locate it. The upside is that it's not too crowded even on a Saturday night. Love the vibes the place has - it gives cozy, small town even though we're in the middle of one of the business districts. It's great when you want to have a girls night out but you're on your late 30s and can't keep up with the younger crowd.

On the pic was ube latte and leche flan latte, obviously coffee meets Filipino desserts. The ube latte was like liquid ube biko (biko is a rice cake for those not familiar with it). Leche flan, on the other hand, is custard similar to creme brulee, so I'd assume that's the flavor profile (it was my friend's order, didn't try it, sorry). They both can be ordered with oatmilk as a milk substitute. Yay, for us lactose intolerant ladies!

They have a couple of pastries to pair with coffee, but since we're full from a buffet, we did not order any. It's seemed to be the typical assortment, cookies, cinnamon roll/danish, etc.

I also had another drink, which was the mangosteen and bitters. That made me crave for more, as I loved the sweet, bitter, and salty combination it has, but they have last orders by 9pm. I definitely want to go back.

The dim lighting did not give the photo justice to what they served, I'd probably go back at an earlier...

I went here last week and ordered a calamansi liquor drink. The menu listed it as PHP 350. Without explaining anything, a guy who was just eating at the counter took my order. I handed him PHP 500, and he gave me back PHP 50 and some coins.

I asked him about the price because I thought the drink was only PHP 350. He then told me it was actually PHP 409 due to tax. I half-heartedly accepted it, thinking it might be a tax thing since I had just returned from Japan. Without giving it much thought, I put the change in my pocket.

A moment later, he asked me again if he had given me the correct change because he thought he had made a mistake. I told him not to worry about it because I just wanted the interaction to end, but I was pretty sure I had been shortchanged.

After finishing the drink—which I didn’t think was worth PHP 409—I decided to go to a different bar. I informed the doorman about what had happened, and he told me the drink should have only been PHP 350. He then directed me to someone who I assumed was the manager.

After explaining the situation, the manager told me the extra charge was due to tax and a gratuity fee. Not wanting to prolong the exchange, I simply told him that if this explanation was true, it should have been stated...