Al Batra Restaurant & Coffee Shop: Authentic Mediterranean Dinner (Jupiter Makati)

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.

It has a huge green and white sign.  

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. 

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 of Jupiter Street.   

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

Mixed Al Batra Appetizer Small (180 php)

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 had Hummos (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

Meat Biryani (450 php)

We had no idea that the Meat Biryani would be goat meat with biryani spices in biryani rice.  I was the only one who appreciate this. 

Chicken Curry (390 php)

Being a curry enthusiast, I ordered the Chicken Curry.  It was good but it failed to stand out against the rest of our orders.  
 

♥ Broasted Chicken (360 php)

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

♥ Meat Kebab Small (300 php)

My cousins husband Matt who was the only man on our table was yearning for some meat so we ordered the Meat Kebab.  

♥ Meat Kebab Small (300 php)

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!
 

♥ Lamb Chops Small (390 php)

The Lamb Chops was served skewer-style with grilled onions and bell peppers in between but without the stick. 

♥ Lamb Chops Small (390 php)

The Lamb Chops was another hit among us!  But, the experience would have been less tiring if we were not using plastic utensils to dissect the big chunks. 
 
Fresh Seafood

♥ Hammour (Lapu Lapu) (100 php/100 grams)

As soon as we arrived at Al Batra, my uncle was enthusiastic about their very affordable fresh seafood so he ordered one steamed Hammour (commonly known to us as Lapu-Lapu) for each table.   I usually encounter steamed Lapu-Lapu during our lauriat Chinese 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 Rice (120 php)

Kabsa Rice is 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.

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	Cash
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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