Combining art and food in Antipolo’s Crescent Moon

So… Antipolo has long been promoted as a creative hub in the Province of Rizal, hosting the likes of the Pintô Art Museum, and art collectives like the ARTipolo Group, Inc. This may also explain why major Antipolo destinations are sold as art spaces that offer add-ons… such as restaurants or cafés or whatever.

And here, the Crescent Moon Cafe and Studio Pottery easily comes to mind as a Southeast Asian restaurant that’s also a pottery store and art space with creative workshops.

How was the place for us?

Una, the place isn’t easily accessible to those without private vehicles. So… from this alone, you already know the target market of this place.

Ikalawa, the actual venue is… artsy. There are various buildings here – e.g. one houses paintings that are also for sale, and another houses pottery outputs also for sale. So if you arrived early, or if the orders take too long, you can tour the area to check the art pieces on display.

Ikatlo, the staff’s okay naman, able to offer help as needed – e.g. sundo while touring another building when our food was about to be served already

Ika-apat, how was the food?

• We started with the Gado Gado (₱470, mixed spring vegetables with tempeh and peanut sauce) that may have been refreshing, but… the serving was quite small.
• The Beef Rendang (₱640) was actually good, properly blending the flavors of lemongrass, ginger, galangal, turmeric and chili for a savory, spicy and sweetish offering. Too bad the serving’s quite small considering the asking price.
• The Lemongrass Pork Belly (₱500) was delish, malasa (tasty) without the overpowering taste of any particular ingredient (not even the lemongrass).

As FYI: this is not a cheap place, seemingly emphasizing the “art is for rich people” mantra. A serving of rice, for instance, costs ₱55, which should actually already pay for one kilo of rice if bought in some marketplace. The coffee, too, was disappointing, served quite cold (not even lukewarm), making you feel you just wasted ₱135.

So…

1. Art-wise, this place is worth checking out. They may not have as big a collection as, say, Pintô Art Museum, but… what’s there is okay enough.
2. Those workshops may also be of interest to some, particularly for those interested in pottery. Plus you can buy pottery goods here, so yeah, a quick check may not be bad at all.
3. Food-wise, however, we found this place wanting. The flavors we expected weren’t there… at least for most of those served to us. Considering the asking prices (and those reviews), the expectations were high. Too high, they weren’t met.

But off we go in search of more lafang venues.

Crescent Moon Cafe and Studio Pottery is located along Sapang Buho Rd., Brgy. Dalig, Antipolo. For more information, contact +63282345724, or email crescentmooncafeantipolo@gmail.com.