Whenever I fly to Manila, I try to meet up with friends and oftentimes the best way to catch up on life is to just sit down at a restaurant or cafe, order great food, and chatter the day away.
Breakfast at Cafe Mary Grace
I started the day at the Serendra area where I met up with college friends Mike and Xochi. We decided to visit Cafe Mary Grace and have some of their famous ensaymadas along with some hot chocolate.
Mary Grace’s homemade ensaymadas are soft and moist, and the sweet and salty taste (thanks to the generous amounts of shaved edam cheese) makes it deliciously over the top. Of course there are other things to eat such as Filipino-style breakfast sets and pasta, but nothing beats the rich and energy filled ensaymada to start the day.
Lunch at Italianni’s
I decided to meet up with Budi and Christianne for lunch. Having transferred to Manila because of their jobs, it was a reunion of Dabawenyos who love their food and in big servings at that, so we decided to have lunch at Italianni’s at Bonifacio High Street.
We decided to not scrimp with the calories and go straight for the good stuff. We started with Italianni’s rustic pizza and followed it up with my favorite Fettucine with truffle and prosciutto. Every bite of the pasta cooked al dente was like a bite of heaven with a rich creamy finish thanks to the truffle and rich creamy sauce. And yes, prosciutto is love.
Dinner at Cafe Breton
After the very filling lunch, I had to leave for the Podium to meet up with Mark. Deciding to skip entrees, we went directly to Cafe Breton that brings me back ten years to college and going to Cafe Breton’s first store at Malate. Although the original store is already closed, Cafe Breton not has stores at the Podium and Greenbelt.
The mean reason why we decided to skip dinner and go directly to dessert is that Cafe Breton still has some of the best crepes in Metro Manila and shame on us to not leave space for something so delicious. Mark choose the Adam and Eve Crepe which is filled with apple slices and cinnamon topped with vanilla ice cream while I had a hazelnut cream filled crepe to satisfy my Nutella craving.
So after three filling meals and enough talk to fill pages and pages of my diary, I call it a day and rest my happy stomach.
