Have you heard of Makati’s secret new bar and gallery? With hidden doors and passages, you’ll only find the PH@ Gallery through word-of-mouth.
The Philippine Artisan Trade Gallery (PH@ Gallery) is a platform that highlights excellence in local products and Filipino social enterprises, where artisans can easily leapfrog challenges by getting into the market faster in a premium downtown location, which is Makati.
The gallery itself is filled with Filipino products with a purpose, each having a charity or community you can give back to. Batala Bar on the other hand compliments the PHat Gallery, serving all-Filipino based dishes and drinks, from your favorite local craft beers to their very own Pinoy-inspired concoctions!
Check out why we love PHat Gallery…
Philippine Artisan Trade & Batala Bar
830 Arnaiz Ave. Makati
E-mail: info@philippineartisantrade.com
Facebook: PhilippineArtisanTrade
Website: www.philippineartisantrade.com
Opens daily from 3:00pm to 12:00 mn.
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PH@ Gallery is located across Greenbelt, on the second floor of Hineleban Cafe.
Look out for this big bamboo wooden door that will lead you to the gallery. You can also try to find the secret door inside Hineleban Cafe.
Still on their soft opening, the gallery will always have rotating exhibits to cover different themes. They currently have local furniture, interiors, sculptures, and stuffed toys that are all made with a purpose.
Bryan McClelland, founder of Bambike Ecotours and co-owner of the bar and gallery highlights that most of the products and crafts here are from the province and countryside, whose efforts are hardly showcased to the public.
Makati, a financial business hub, is a perfect place for these social enterprises to be recognized. It’s about trying to bridge the gap between those manufacturing products for a purpose and those who are conscious consumers.
The gallery and bar also has their own line of in-house furniture. All the tables and chairs that you see are made of engineered bamboo, upcycled wood, and recycled steel bases–the same technique they use in making the Bambike.
We love the gallery’s interiors, highlighting the Filipino’s excellence in craftsmanship by using indigenous materials with a contemporary design sense. To my surprise, these ergonomic benches were quite comfortable; my only complaint is their bad acoustics.
Some of the products include Hacienda Crafts from Negros, a social enterprise where communities use local materials considered as agricultural waste and produce gallery quality furnishings like lamps and tables.
Of course, they also have Bambikes on display. Bambike is a locally hand-made bamboo bicycle that is produced using sustainable building practices and fair-trade labor. You might find their bicycles familiar because these are the same ones used in the Bambike Eco-tours in Intramuros.
Poppy Pals are stuffed toys made by communities of women who utilize native fabrics in creating characters which are genuinely Filipino but are also endangered–the Philippine Eagle, Philippine Crocodile, and the Tamaraw.
Another line of stuffed toys on display is Plush and Play from the Gawad Kalinga social enterprise. They have cute characters that are fruits and vegetables, all with witty names like Manny Pakwan, Jessica Saging, and Buko Martin, to name a few.
The whole idea of Batala Bar is to compliment PH@ Gallery, so people can stay longer to eat and drink while admiring the exhibits. Filled with local craft beers and spirits, the bar also shares they same values and concept as the gallery, showcasing premium Filipino craft products with nothing imported.
(Trivia: “Batala” is an alternate spelling to Bathala, which is the pre-colonial name for the creator of the universe. And because they sell Filipino spirits, it’s their quirky play on words for a “spiritual” place. It may sound playful their passion for Filipino spirits and craft beers is certainly no joke.)
They have a hydroponics garden outside growing mints, basils, calamansi, miracle fruit, and ginger, among others. All these go into the food and cocktails they serve.
Everything is solar powered. You can see their solar powered roof and how they produce energy every day to offset their carbon footprint.
The local craft draft beers are my favorite drink in general. The beers on tap are locally brewed. They have two providers–Juan Brew and Engkanto Brewery.
For the last three years, there’s been a big boom in the craft beer movement. Engakanto Brewery is the newest player in the market trying to level the playing field and making local craft beer more accessible to the public.
What’s nice about Juan Brew is that everything in their brewery is solar powered and sustainable. Their beers also come to the stores in solar powered storages.
Engkanto Lager (P180 – 0.33 | P250 – 0.5 | P450 – 1L)
Lager is a nice beer, perfect for the afternoon when it’s hot. It’s a cooling kind of beer, very light with a nice hoppy and citrus balance to it.
(Tip: That’s why lager beer is served during their happy hour because it provides a nice chill in the afternoon.)
Engkanto Double IPA (P180 – 0.33 | P250 – 0.5 | P450 – 1L)
Double IPA is one of the strongest beers that contains about 8.5% alcohol. It has a strong citrusy taste on it, with a little bit of the hoppiness and more of the bitterness. You can say it’s more thick and cloudy unlike the lager, which you can see through.
MOMOX
MOMOL is short for “make out make out lang” but their version is “mojito mojito lang”. MOMOX, however, stands for “mojito mojito extreme”, which means a double shot of alcohol with extra mint from their hydroponics system.
The smell alone is very citrusy and refreshing!
Luntian (P250)
Order the Luntian! It’s a drink developed specially for Green Drinks Manila.
It is made from local gin, half a shot of Bambanog, and juices using calamansi, pineapples, and malunggay. It has a very earthy and citrusy taste that you’ll love, with all the hints of alcohol, and the sweetness and sourness of the juices. A must-try!
Freshly harvested are their mixer straws that they use instead of plastic straws. They use the bamboo leaves as both garnish and stirrers.
(Fun Fact: Green Drinks is an international informal gathering that serves as a platform for sharing useful knowledge and information in building green-minded communities. They already have a whole mix of different participants from professionals in ADB, academics, and people from renewable energy organizations. Green Drinks Manila is hosted by PH@ every third Thursday of every month.)
Manila Mule (P250)
The Manila Mule is their take to the Russian Mule. While the Russian Mule is made with ginger beer, the Manila Mule uses fresh ginger and fresh calamansi, muddled with dark rum. It’s a nice, refreshing drink, especially when it’s hot. The drink is cold and you get a nice gingery aftertaste in your throat.
Bambanog (P50)
Bambanog is, by far, Bryan’s favorite drink. Imagine the tree of life (coconut) and the grass of life (bamboo) combined into one drink. It’s his very own pet invention where pure lambanog from Batangas is infused with bamboo leaf tea.
Bamboo has anti-allergy properties, making this healthy alcoholic drink anti-Asian flush! 😉
Don’t miss their PH@ 830 promo where everybody gets a shot of Bambanog on the house every 8:30pm.
(Trivia: The promo is called PH@ 830 because their address is 830 Arnaiz Street.)
You can also order a mixed medley of Philippine nuts while you enjoy your drink. Check out the Batala Soft Opening menu.
Quesadilla (P200)
The quesadilla has a nice smokey-sweet flavor into it. It is made with Vigan longganisa and local cheese, served with salsa made from native tomatoes.
Gazpacho and Bread (P200)
I like their take on this Spanish dish using local tomatoes and suka de Iloko instead of balsamic/regular vinegar.
Tanglad Chicken (P280)
The tanglad (lemongrass) chicken is their take on rosemary chicken. The lemongrass gives a nice lemony flavor and is the closest flavor to rosemary but with a Filipino twist.
Pork Adobo (P280)
A traditional pork adobo but with flavors intensified by a lot of Filipino ingredients like peppercorn and bay leaf. It’s slow-cooked, so the meat comes out very tender.
Tip: You can still order Hineleban Coffee and their special Adlai-based dishes and have them delivered upstairs.
Most of the craft beers and cocktails we tried were really good. I love how they reinvented popular drinks and made them into our own. But I found the food to just be satisfactory.
For starters, we recommend their Gazpacho, and for something filling and good, go for the Tanglad Chicken. If you’re a beer lover, the tap beers of Engkanto Brewery and Juan Brew are good options.
For the cocktails, I highly recommend the MOMOX, Manila Mule, and Luntian. For an excellent pulutan with your drinks, they have cashews from Palawan and Mushroom Chicharon.
I love PH@ Gallery. Their gallery and bar concept is focused on helping local communities and enterprises and highlight Filipino excellence and pride. I’m hoping they can continue to build the community and gain momentum for their movement.
Congrats to Bryan McClelland for opening this gallery and bar concept in Makati! I hope the gallery continues to grow as a place of learning and for showing what’s possible if you have a more conscious approach to sustainability.
Philippine Artisan Trade & Batala Bar
830 Arnaiz Ave. Makati
E-mail: info@philippineartisantrade.com
Facebook: PhilippineArtisanTrade
Website: www.philippineartisantrade.com
Opens daily from 3:00pm to 12:00 mn.
Live an Awesome Life,
ABI of Team Our Awesome Planet
Disclosure: Our meal was courtesy of Bryan of Bambike. I wrote this article with my biases, opinions, and insights.
P.S. Best time to go is during the Happy Hour Promo (4pm–7pm):
100 pesos mugs on selected draft beer
Buy 1 take 1 on cocktails
One free Bambanog shot every 8:30 pm
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