Chef Laudico's BFAST: "Could be bit better than usual..."

Rating:	★★★
Category:	Restaurants
Cuisine:	Asian
Location:	Ayala Triangle Gardens, Makati City, Philippines

MAKATI CITY, PHILIPPINES, 11th December 2010 - I had always been of the opinion that when you get to eat something at the point where you are famished, whatever would pass your mouth and tongue would turn out to be mouthwateringly heavenly, well...98 percent of the time.

I woke up 11:30 am and walked to the Ayala Triangle Gardens to have what you would probably call lunch though officially for me it was breakfast - being my first meal of the day.

Don't get me wrong.

Even though I cannot in all honesty claim that this "All-Day Breakfast Cafe" serves the kind of breakfast to make me wake up just to eat there, I daresay it would be good enough for some folks who are not as picky as I am when it comes to breakfast which I pay my hard-earned money for.

The selections were broad and familiar enough to the Filipino palate - after all the "-logs" (tapsilog, longsilog etc.) were just a part of it, and one for which I opted.

I had chosen a "silog" (Php 148) with the "angusino" (angus-like tocino or angus ba?) as the starring viand (for an additional Php 30), and a regular iced tea (Php 40 since my first choice was out of stock). Total of Php 218.

With that kind of total price, I expect more than the usual.
I expect my palate to be abruptly jerked to awareness and sit up in eager attention, like a dog waving its tail happily, anticipating a meaty bone or something.
I did get a generous helping of rice, achara, lovely vinegar (points for this), and a mixed salad of sliced fresh tomatoes and onions.
But while the flavor of the angusino was good, there were some pieces which were not chewably tender as I had expected something named in honor of the Angus beef to be.

Maybe I got spoiled by eating at Rufo's Famous Tapas and having their less than Php100 "tapsilog" which wasn't marked as anything Angus-like but really was quite tasty and tender. (Tapsilog means = "Tap" for tapa (beef strips), "Si" for Sinangag (fried garlic rice) and "Log" for itlog (egg)).

The service at BFAST is quite good - at the entrance, I was greeted smilingly by probably the overseer. Same with the cashier. Servers were also attentive and courteous and not old hands (people who've waitressed for some time have a different aura).

But, I will still support this cafe, if not for its meals, then for its efforts in conservation and going nature's way.

Somewhere on the photos below you will read their claim of serving natural food - no preservatives, no msg. They also use recycled wood, coffee sacks and old jeans for their furnishings and recyclable materials for their packaging.

Bottom line - my honest opinion is that the taste is not what I would call equivalent in value to the amount I pay for the meal.

But maybe they factored in some other items - hey, going natural, organic, and conservationism these days is more expensive!
The atmosphere and surroundings was also conducive for a breakfast chat with friends.