Early Bird Breakfast Club

March 16, 2013. Saturday.

I noticed that since the year started there has been a healthy influx of new restaurants that carry all day breakfast menus every single day of the week! First there was Recovery Food, then the much publicized local opening of IHOP, and now we also have Early Bird Breakfast Club. Aside from sharing the same theme of offering breakfast food at all hours of the day, all 3 restaurants are located in BGC, Taguig. Considering the area is ripe with BPO offices and party places -- serving breakfast food at odd hours makes sense for me. Just think of them as your local 24/7 lugawan/ gotohan, only fancier and definitely more expensive.

I love breakfast food, and it doesn't matter what time of the day it is. It is sort of my comfort food, especially any -silog dishes. Just came home from drinking? Breakfast food. Tired from running and biking? Breakfast food. Lunch break while at work? Breakfast food. But I digress. For this entry we tried out Early Bird Breakfast Club (or EBBC as we'll refer to it for the rest of the entry).

EBBC opened roughly around the same time as IHOP. Being a smaller restaurant, it got lost among all the hoopla surrounding the opening of the bigger SoCal dining fixture. Kim and I initially wanted to try eating at IHOP, but then I found out about the lines during weekends and we decided to wait until the hype about it has died down. Luckily, we read the great reviews about EBBC and decided to give it a try.

The first thing you'd notice as you enter the restaurant is that it is adorned in very lively colors. On one side of the wall you have mirrors and a light figure of a half egg shell, while the other wall had a predominantly blue mural on it. Add to that the lights and high ceiling, making the place bright and well- lit just as you would want it to be when having your breakfast. The have the standard height chairs and tables, but we chose to sit on the lower chairs which had a round table between it.

We ordered the following:

Viva Longganisa. 345php.

I ordered the Viva Longganisa. First, I loved how this was plated. The fried rice was in a cup/ glass, and the vinegar was in an egg cup. Really a nice way to spice up what should otherwise be just a traditional  longsilog. The longganisa itself was really meaty and had a sweet flavor to it. You can choose which way you want your egg to be cooked, I had mine scrambled. I just wished they'd ask me before they sprinkled some kind of chili powder over it.

Sunny Salpicao. 315php.

One of Kim's favorite food is Salpicao and when she saw that EBBC had it in their menu, she just had to order it. She was so excited about it that she forgot to read one important detail about it.. it was chicken! So imagine our confusion about it when we tasted it. It certainly wasn't beef, and we only found out after ordering it. It was served on a hot plate, with the fried rice in the middle. It certainly made for a great looking plate, but it was sort of hard to eat it from there since everything was so compact inside the small hot plate. As for the taste, it was certainly different from a Beef Salpicao, but it wasn't bad at all. Granted that the texture of the chicken was different from the normally medium rare beef in this dish, good thing then that the taste of the garlic and the oiliness of it really satisfied Kim's craving.

Breakfast Sausage Tart. 285php.

The menu had a section called Breakfast and Eggs and I wanted to order everything from there! I loved eggs with my breakfast, err with almost every meal I mean. We settled to share the Breakfast Sausage Tart. Or at least that's what we ordered, but what was served was the Bacon and Cheddar Frittata. The tart was supposed to have sausage, bacon, mushrooms, tomatoes, cheese and of course egg! While the frittata was egg and potato baked with bacon, cheddar and spinach, and that's what came to our table. I only noticed the confusion after the meal, so I forgot to ask the server what was really served (maybe next time). Whatever it was, I'm glad it was good! It was served on a hot pan, and came with a tomato and pepper salsa. If I had to choose which of our entrées was the best, this was it. The egg was light and fluffy, the potatoes was soft and filling. And the  melted cheddar was just heavenly. The bacon was a little lean for our liking though.

Nutella Cheesecake. 350php.

This is what we ordered for dessert and Kim absolutely loved it! I already knew how this was going to be served, so I told Kim that she's in for a surprise. And was she surprised, in a good way. The cheesecake was served inside a square jar! And if that's not different, this one was topped with Nutella! Surprisingly this was the most expensive thing we ordered. 350php might seem a bit much for dessert, but I'll gladly pay for this again. The biscuit base provided a nice contrast in texture to the smooth cream cheese and creamy Nutella topping. It is then topped off with chocolate shavings. It might seem too sweet when you look at it, but it's not. It's just has the right amount of sweetness and saltiness from the cream cheese. Really a nice way to end our meal. And oh you need to cough up another extra hundred pesos just to take the jar home with you.

EB Signature Iced Tea. 125php.

Ginger Peach Lemonade. 125php.

We ordered these for drinks. A little on the expensive side considering they weren't bottomless, but we wanted to try some of their signature drinks since it was our first time here. They were different from most Iced Tea' and Lemonade's we have tasted. Kim's Iced Tea had a nice minty flavor in addition to the subtle sweetness it had. My lemonade was certainly fragrant. You can smell a nice hint of the ginger as soon as it was brought to our table. I liked that it wasn't overly sweet or citrus-y.

We loved everything about EBBC! The ambiance, the courteous staff and of course the food. Breakfast for dinner? You can never go wrong with that! The restaurant's menu might not exactly be cheap, but you get real good value for your money. The food might be common and traditional, but EBBC has made it different enough to keep it interesting and fresh. So if you're nursing a hungry belly after a night of all- out drinking and partying and you just happen to be in BGC, a meal at EBBC might be the right cure.

Early Bird Breakfast Club
Unit C, Ground Floor, Fort Pointe 2 Bldg., The Fort Complex, 28th Street, Bonifacio Global City, 1634 Taguig
(02) 4708847
(0917) 859 4950
https://www.facebook.com/earlybirdbreakfastclub?fref=ts
http://www.earlybirdbreakfastclub.com/

Tri Mo Shawarma Co

March 9, 2013. Saturday.

We usually don't feature small, cheap hole in the wall joints here in our blog. But that has always been one of our guilty pleasures -- finding and eating at these small places that have been around for so long that they are practically institutions in their neighborhoods.

And Tri Mo Shawarma Co is an institution. Growing up in Fairview my whole life, it has been there for as long as I could remember. Okay, technically Tri Mo (as it is regularly called) is in Lagro and not Fairview, but who cares? Lagro is basically in Fairview, or vice versa. The point is this shawarma joint has been around a very long time. How long? I don't know, but I do know that a special (I'll explain later what a special is) used to be at 40php and it's now at 75php.

From the outside, the place doesn't look much and frankly the inside isn't any better. The place is a little worn out, there's no proper exhaust and ventilation, and it's essentially just a garage filled with a counter and tables and chairs. At least the tables and chairs are new- ish compared to the last time I was here, and there's a working bathroom now! There was a time some years back that I had to find the nearest tree in a dimly lit area to do my thing, but that's a story for another time. But people flock here for the food! I've heard stories of people coming from as far as Parañaque just to grab a bite here. That's crazy, right? All just for some hot beef on a pita bread? If you want to know how crazy people are for this place, you have to be here during the prime hours when it gets so jam-packed, you have to grab a number and wait for your number to be called for you to order. If there's a number system just to order, then you know it's good.

Sizzling Shawarma. 90php.

I got Kim the Sizzling Shawarma. It's the contents of a Beef Shawarma put on a hot plate with egg, with torn pieces of the pita on top of it. She absolutely loved it! The beef was tender from being slow roasted on the skewer, and really flavorful. She had it with rice and she generously poured garlic sauce with every spoonful she had. Here's a little tip from a local (naks! haha), we usually don't order this since it's the most expensive thing on the menu. What we do is order a Beef Shawarma and a plate of rice. We just pour the contents out of the pita onto the plate and tear the pita over it. You saved practically 20php which could then be used to buy another plate of rice! I just ordered Kim this since this is not an item you'll see in most menu's.



Special. Beef Shawarma with Cheese. 75php.

I got the Special. You won't see the word Special on the board, but you'll see Beef Shawarma with Cheese on it. Tell the lady you're ordering the latter and she'll just shout to the carver, "Special!" So if you want to look like you've been going here for the longest time, just call it the Special. The price of this has almost doubled, but the taste has remained the same. Still one of the greatest Shawarma's I've ever had. You're pita is always packed to the brim with all the beef, lettuce, onions and tomatoes. With every bite, you get that slight creaminess and saltiness from the slightly melted cheese inside. Just pure food bliss.

Tainga and Isaw na Manok.

There's also a bbq stand right beside the entrance of the Tri Mo. The bbq fare here were always just tolerable in taste, but for some reason on this day it tasted bad. The tainga was hard and the isaw na manok had a really bitter after taste to it. I'll let it slide and just chalk it up to a bad day for them since it has always been a good partner to their Shawarma.

If you want some unadulterated dining experience, Tri Mo is right up your alley. I'm guessing not much has changed here. The food is prepared the same way it has always been prepared, and that's why the taste has remained the same -- still the best Shawarma this side of the Metro. Just one last tip, if you plan on dining here be sure to come real early or later than usual. It opens at 3PM and usually closes shop at 2AM. It is packed during meryenda and dinner time, from about 6PM to 9PM.

Tri Mo Shawarma Co

Bristol Street, Brgy. Greater Lagro
Quezon City

Gumbo: A Taste of New Orleans

February 23, 2012. Saturday.

After watching the Final Four of the Women's Volleyball tournament of the UAAP, we proceeded to Gateway Mall to have dinner. We really didn't have a preference on where to eat, so we took the first restaurant that wasn't packed. And that was Gumbo.

Gumbo is a New Orleans themed restaurant. New Orleans the place has been a melting pot of different cultures for the longest time. Influences of the French and Spanish can be seen infused with the local southern Louisiana cooking. This make up a good portion of Cajun cuisine, which typifies the Gumbo menu. Gumbo itself is actually a dish that can trace its origins from the fusing of these different influences.

The place itself was a little small, but you it didn't feel cramped. The interior had a "French Quarters" feel and look going on for it. I've never been to New Orleans, or the French Quarters for that matter, but this is how I imagine it to be based on all those movies I've seen. The servers were very attentive and courteous in taking our orders, and in serving them as well. Service was really fast and efficient without compromising the quality of the food.

We ordered the following.

Seafood Spaghetti.

Seafood Spaghetti. 345php.

Joseph and the JT's eldest sister ordered the Seafood Spaghetti. It was a pomodoro sauce based pasta that had shrimps, mussels and squid tossed in it. A pomodoro pasta is usually a light meal or snack, but based on Gumbo's servings this wasn't meant to be a light snack at all. And what you see in the picture is just the petite version. Joseph only had one thing to say about his meal, "Bennissimo." So I'm assuming, he was totally satisfied by this. Big bowl of seafood pasta goodness.

Cajun Shrimps Kebab.

Cajun Shrimp Kebab. 395php.

Kim loves shrimps, and since shrimp and seafood is a big part of Cajun cooking, she had to order something with shrimp in it. As soon as it was served, you could smell the nice grilled, garlic butter which wafted from the black baby prawns. It came with rice, veggies and corn. Kim loved everything about this dish except for the veggies, well mainly because she doesn't eat vegetables that much.

Cajun Fried Chicken.

Cajun Fried Chicken. 395php.

When this arrived on our table, JT was surprised at how big the serving was. This was supposed to be good for one, and it came with 3 pieces of chicken. The chicken is coated and seasoned with different spices before being fried into golden perfection. I wasn't able to taste this but it sure did look good from where I was seated.

Grilled Pork Chops

Grilled Pork Chops. 395php.

JT's youngest sibling ordered the Grilled Pork Chops. The plate had a generous cut of pork, together with mixed veggies and Cajun rice. It looked juicy and tender, and certainly aromatic from all the spices.
Shrimp and Steak Combo.

Shrimp and Steak Combo.

I wanted some shrimp since it seemed so predominant in southern cooking, but I also wanted some steak. Dilemma. Good thing, Gumbo served a Shrimp and Steak Combo which solved my mini food problem. The shrimp used was the same as Kim's order, black baby prawns. My hotplate also had a nice cut of ribeye topped off with mushroom gravy. The prawns had a nice sweet flavor to it, while the steak was a little chewy despite it being well done. This plate is a nice compromise if you want to have both seafood and meat.

Gumbo's menu might seem intimidating at first with the prices. But with the hefty servings, they offer good value for your money. Most of their dishes are really good for sharing, so if you're with a group that has a big appetite, dining in Gumbo might provide you a good opportunity to sample dishes that you don't see in most restaurants in the Metro. All our orders were just the petite serving size and they were still good enough to share. The staff is also very attentive and friendly which is a big plus.

Gumbo: A Taste of New Orleans
2F Gateway Mall,

Araneta Center, Cubao,

Quezon City

(02) 440- 4632
http://www.gumbo.com.ph/