Antipodean Coffee Roasters Legazpi Village — Restaurant in Makati

Update: I accepted the offer by the restaurant to return to the cafe. I met Alun and Ina, two of the Cafe owners. I very much appreciated that they extended an invitation for me to experience a meal at their place with a companion. This time I ordered the Big Breakfast and my companion ordered the Chorizo Pizza. Ina came to chat and said that she is Indonesian and that the recipe for the Nasi Goreng is hers so she was not happy to hear of my first experience. She thanked me for my feedback. Though we did not order it, the server Ivy brought a Nasi Goreng meal. This time the Nasi Goreng had about 5x the amount of chicken satay compared to the same meal in my first visit. The chicken was tender, fragrant and delightful to savor. The rice was beautifully prepared with lots of chilis. The egg was fluffy and cooked perfectly. I missed the kropek from last time though because that tasted better and was very crunchy. Nevertheless the improvement this Nasi Goreng 2.0 was significant and I rather enjoyed it.

The surprise in the Big Breakfast was the mushroom bites, that I thought were hash browns. Those mushroom bites were delicious and a welcome addition to what is usually expected in a Western breakfast. I tasted the chorizo pizza, which had a thin crust and a very thin layer of cheese. I enjoyed it. I suggest a version with more cheese and toppings for greater enjoyment.

If in my first visit I did not enjoy the coffee, this time I tried an iced cappuccino. The experience of these two beverages are like night and day. I very much enjoyed the iced cappuccino which was perfect for a warm morning.

On top of all these, Alun and Ina brought a little red velvet cupcake with whipped cream and a lighted candle, singing Happy Birthday for my companion, who was celebrating his natal day. We didn't know they would do this and it was a lovely surprise.

Not every establishment would offer a do-over such as they did, and actually show up to oversee our experience to the last detail. Even our server, Ivy took the time to learn our names so our experience communicating was much more enjoyable. Its rather extraordinary that the owners cared about how one person experienced their cafe and actually did something about it. And for that I changed my rating of Antipodean Cafe to 5 stars. They deserve it!

Many thanks to Alun, Ina and Ivy for a great breakfast experience!

Original review: I wanted to celebrate some wins with a lovely breakfast, my favorite meal. So I googled breakfast places nearby that offered free coffee with its breakfast offerings. Antipodean came up as walking distance and with a high rating so I gave it a try. The look and ambiance of the place is good. However, when I asked the server what is the best breakfast they offer, she said Nasi Goreng. I'm sorry but the Nasi Goreng was really bad for the price which is 448. The rice didn't taste that good and it felt undercooked and dry. The eggs were undercooked. The chicken satay portion was tiny, seriously tiny. The best part was the little kropek on the side which made for a disappointing experience. I seriously could make a better breakfast any day for a lot less money. I felt it was such a waste of my money. I was sad that my high expectations were dashed. Not only that they also did not offer free coffee, they bundled a tiny cup of black coffee or another 100 pesos with breakfast, which means it wasnt free. The coffee itself was on the side of bitter with the acidic side nearly on overwhelm. I had to ask for milk on the side to make the taste palatable. So the total price was roughly 550 for a very disappointing, why on earth did I go here breakfast? The ambiance is nice but it wasn't enough to assuage my sadness and disappointment. There was also only one server, and though they didn't have many tables that were occupied, the server most of the time could not even be seen. It is not possible to make requests when the server wasn't even there. Not...

Updated review as of March 23, 2022: Glad to know Antipodean is still open despite the pandemic. Been visiting this place for lunch and merienda, tried their Iced Mocha, Affogato, Fresh Orange Juice, and Cafe Latte, all generous serving.

I recently tried their Bill English Pizza out of curiosity. It's pizza with spaghetti as topping, I was full for the rest of day. (Please check my latest photos from Antipodean.)

Tried a few cakes as well, the red velvet is a standout for me. I don't know how to feel about the Balinese Dates cake since it was just a simple cake. But the Pavlova took me by surprise, it was so big we weren't able to finish it hahaha

And of course, the service is still excellent. Staff are always kind and attentive. In one of my visits, I only had GCash but their QR code was not working, the waitress was fast enough to offer an alternative so that I won't have to run to the nearest ATM. Thank you so so much!

As of writing, I ordered the Chicken Parmesan Pizza only (since I already had coffee from another resto). I think the pizza is my new favorite.

1st review (1 year ago): A big shout out to our waitress Elaine for being so accommodating. I missed going to Antipodean because of the lockdowns, and I'm so glad Elaine is still working at this delightful restaurant. She is friendly, energetic, and her vibe is topnotch. Elaine made sure our dinner experience was comfortable and satisfying. My balikbayan tito was impressed with her when she waited our table months ago before the pandemic.

For this review, I love their Red Sangria. I've been ordering the same drink for as long I as can remember, and it's always the right mix of fruits and alcohol. For this visit, I ordered it twice. Kudos to whoever's hand concocted this elixir.

Oh let's not forget to mention everyone in their awesome crew tonight. Thanks for bringing out our orders in a timely manner. Thank you for implementing social distancing. Thank you for staying open until we were done with our food, and for making us feel so welcomed. Thanks a bunch and I hope to...

Dined in for lunch at Antipodean today and it’s my second time to try their food.

**What went well:

-Large menu, lots of things to choose from. The QR code by the table was helpful because they have a picture for every meal.

So you can compare price x serving size x overall presentation or expectation of the meal

They also have a huge menu on the wall for extra reference

-The service is great, it was a busy lunch time for the staff but they do their best to attend to everyone

-The food didn’t take too long and that’s a plus for a person like me who gets hungry easily by lunch time

-The coffee was great and they have almond milk as alternative milk. That is a big deal for me who needs nut milk for coffee

-They make sure you’re hydrated by replenishing the bottles of water in your table all the time.

-Ambience is good and unique, it’s a place where you would love to just hang out for hours with a loved one.

**What needs to be improved

I ordered the carbonara with spinach because I’ve been craving for pasta the whole time.

It was fine, not bad. But not to my taste because of the cream. I assume this will appeal to people who are used to the creamy carbonara style in PHL.

-I tried also a bite of the beef kebab and it was not bad, just fine. For the price, it was okay-ish (I’m just being honest)

Other thoughts:

-If you want to explore trying 2 or 3 meals in one visit but you have a tight budget, consider some menu planning beforehand.

The price per meal is around 400php and above per meal without drinks. So for 2 people, our bill was at 1800php—ish.

Some meals are meant for 1 person like the carbonara, and other meals like the beef kebab is for 2 (unless you can consume food equal to 2 people).

I will return to have more coffee and hang out. But I think for the food, I’ll have to try other options.

Besides the food, I appreciated the...