Warm milky oatmeal dotted with sweet fruit bits, buttered French toast drizzled with honey, tasty bacon cooked in its own fat—a universal favorite, breakfast is the tastiest way to kickstart your day.
But breakfast isn’t just confined to the first few hours of the morning. Whether as a pick-me-up in the middle of a bad day, comfort food after a hellish all-nighter or a cure for a nasty hangover, it’s a meal that can be savored at any time of day.
Restaurants like the Early Bird Breakfast Club, Rustic Mornings by Isabelo and IHOP have dedicated themselves to satisfying these cravings by offering breakfast around the clock. From the all-time favorite Filipino tapsilog to the classic American flapjack, these all-day breakfast joints are bringing a sunnier side to the Philippine food scene.
The breakfast bandwagon
Because breakfast food is a staple of everyday life, it’s difficult to trace where and when the all-day-breakfast trend began. Pancake House, for instance, has been around for decades. But Early Bird Breakfast Club co-owner Kendrick Co claims that their restaurant, which opened in January 2013, was one of the first to introduce the concept to the Metro.
“Other places either offered breakfast only in the mornings or as a small part of their menu while focusing more on lunch [or] dinner type of dishes as their main attractions,” he explains.
The Early Bird Breakfast Club in Bonifacio Global City prides itself on its extensive mix of Filipino and European breakfasts. Some bestsellers, like the Early Bird Full English Breakfast—which includes bacon, mushrooms, grilled tomatoes, fried eggs, bread, hash browns and baked beans—are so popular that they actually sell out. When this happens, diners turn to their other signature dishes such as Viva Longganisa, served with rice and egg or French Toast Fondue, topped with cinnamon sugar, maple syrup and melted chocolate.
Meanwhile, foodie and blogger Margaux Salcedo believes the boom of call centers played a role in the rise of all-day breakfast joints. “Breakfast food would definitely be a better option than beer garden food when they finish work in the morning,” she theorizes.
Regardless of where it started, restaurateurs and food critics share similar ideas about what keeps the trend alive. Portia Baluyut, owner of Rustic Mornings by Isabelo, believes breakfast is about the entire experience of dining. “Aside from the ambiance, or the food you eat, it’s the whole experience of being here, the kind of music that you hear. It all just works together [to make a good breakfast experience],” she says.
Her restaurant in Marikina lives up to its name and reflects her philosophy with its tree-shaped chairs, floral tablecloths and beaded curtains. The equally quaint garden has gazebos where diners can tuck into waffles, omelettes and tawilis.
“It’s about that comfort and nostalgia you feel, being reminded of lazy Saturday mornings or of when you eat a big breakfast to prepare yourself for the day ahead. I think it’s something that everyone looks forward to,” says Bread and Breakfast co-owner Gillian Pua.
Perhaps it’s also that, unlike lunch or dinner, breakfast is simpler to make and enjoy. “Compared to other meals, I like the lack of pretentiousness of breakfast,” adds Salcedo. “It’s ‘yo mama’s cooking.’”
Behind-the-scenes
With the breakfast trend in full swing, new restaurants offering the perfect breakfast are cropping up everywhere. Even young entrepreneurs within the Ateneo have jumped onto the breakfast bandwagon.
The recently concluded phase of the John Gokongwei School of Management Student Enterprise Center (JSEC) Challenge, a three-part competition to determine next year’s roster of JSEC stalls, saw the participation of several breakfast-themed booth, among them Rice and Shine and Bread and Breakfast.
According to the stall owners, there was definitely a noticeable demand for all-day breakfasts within the Ateneo. According to Rice and Shine co-owner and junior management major Bea Policarpio, “Sales steadily increased in the morning hours [during the week of the challenge], well into the lunchtime peak, and even after.”
Aside from noticing the popularity of restaurants like IHOP, the owners of Bread and Breakfast drew from their personal experiences in conceptualizing their stall. “Half of our group was comprised of dormers, so it was really a no-brainer for us to come up with a JSEC stall that would remind our fellow Ateneans of food they enjoy back home,” shares Ysa Syyap, a communications technology management sophomore.
Since breakfast is closely associated with home-cooked food, it might be difficult for restaurant owners to define their offerings as “the perfect breakfast.” To satisfy the cravings of a wider range of people, most all-day breakfast places serve American, European and Filipino favorites. “I would say that the Americans like their breakfast sweet [while] we like it salty, and the Europeans are somewhere in between,” observes Salcedo.
With so many restaurants jumping onto the bandwagon, it can become difficult for restaurateurs to make their establishments stand out. But “whether it be an amazing tapsilog or the best champorado, if people remember that that’s the place with the best, then they’ve got it made,” Salcedo says.
Reinventing old habits
The speeding up of the Filipino lifestyle is also contributing to this trend’s popularity, as people are looking to eat breakfast whenever they can. “Being able to sit down and enjoy breakfast is now becoming a luxury,” says Pua. “Breakfast establishments opening up everywhere shows that people are acknowledging that breakfast is the most important meal of the day.”
Although breakfast can now be enjoyed at any time, not all restaurants are sticking to tried and tested menus. Most restaurants that pioneered this trend tend to have Western themes, combining flavorful waffles and pancakes with a homey dining atmosphere. Meanwhile, others are tweaking their recipes to blend Western and Filipino concepts in one dish.
At the Early Bird Breakfast Club, Asian and Western flavors complement one another in a number of dishes. There is the Lemon Butter Bangus for one, a pan-seared bangus fillet with garlic lemon butter relish. There’s also the Yin-Yang Champorado, Belgian chocolate champorado topped with toasted dilis.
“In developing our menu, we usually start with dishes that we ourselves love to enjoy, then we put our own unique twists, each to make them even more memorable for our customers,” explains Co.
Because of all these changes, breakfast is taking on a different meaning for Filipinos. These restaurants may not be recreating the comforts of home-cooked meals exactly, but they are certainly reinventing the entire breakfast experience.
Whether it was fried bangus and salted eggs or crispy bacon and eggs Benedict, we all have fond memories of being greeted by the sight of a delicious breakfast in our own homes. It is simple and unpretentious, often a welcome comfort for our fast-paced and hectic schedules. As breakfast time varies with each person’s lifestyle, having customers at all times of the day ensures that this trend is here to stay.
With reports from Jasmine P. Ting
Breakfast bliss
These combos from all-day breakfast restaurant are great ways to start the day—even in the middle of the afternoon.
Buttermilk Pancakes and Café Mocha – Rustic Mornings by Isabelo
These crisp but fluffy buttermilk pancakes are topped with homemade buttercream and syrup. Coupled with a cup of hot café mocha, this cozy meal reminds you of home.
Strawberry Cream Cheese French Toast and French Vanilla Hot Chocolate – Ally’s All Day Breakfast Place
The classic French toast is doused in strawberry jam, cream cheese and finished off with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. The smell of vanilla in hot chocolate completes this sweet combo.
Yin and Yang Champorado and Babycino – Early Bird Breakfast Club
Made with rich, Belgian dark and white chocolate, this champorado is served with sweetened dilis. The dish goes well with Early Bird’s signature Babycino, a warm and frothy milk drink.
Batangas Beef Tapa and Pineapple Juice – Kanto Freestyle Breakfast
This Filipino favorite never gets old. Kanto Freestyle Breakfast’s tender beef tapa is plated with a generous helping of garlic rice, herbed tomatoes and scrambled eggs. A glass of pineapple juice adds zest to the meal.
I’ve Got Two Eggs Any Style Combo and Orange Juice, Heaven and Eggs
Nothing says breakfast like fresh farm eggs, cooked any way you’d like them. Juicy bacon, shoestring potatoes, crispy toast and cool orange juice will make a sunny morning starter even brighter.
