For most people, each day has to have three square meals, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. For for many busy urbanites, combining breakfast and lunch, or brunch, is fast becoming a popular trend.
What is brunch you might ask? For me, brunch is what its namesake implies. It is a meal that is full of breakfast goodies such as bread, bacon, ham, eggs and proper coffee but is served supersized to make one feel fuller with calories enough to last well past lunch time.
In the recent past, I used to get my brunch fix at Bondi & Bourke. Thanks to their adjoining hotel, The Bourke, the restaurant was were hotel guests had their set breakfast. In the weekends, Dabawenyo urbanites would also visit Bondi & Bourke for their hearty signature brunch items and enjoy proper Aussie coffee.
Recognising the popularity, Chefs Wade Watson and Patrick McCarthy decided to spin off their brunch service to open up Bramble Bakehouse, a proper bakery and all-day brunch restaurant.
“We really wanted to bring in an Australian-style, all-day brunch concept to Davao and were firm to incorporate ‘bakehouse’ into the branding,” shared Bramble business partner, Hannah Castro. “Earlier this year we were coming up with names that can go well with the pitch. We wanted to name it something fun enough for word play since we were keen on luring away from the overdone industrial-style coffee shop/bakery.”
When asked why the name Bramble Hannah said, “we were going over bakery ingredients and different types of berries which spurred ‘brambleberry’, another term for a blackberry and then there’s ‘bramble’, a term that covers any type of berry shrub. ‘Bramble’ coincidentally also covers rose shrubs. Our theme is peach, pink, and forest green. It’s the perfect fit.”
The unique colors and styling of Bramble is clear. One is greeted by a massive two-storey mural celebrating international cinema done in peach, pink and green hues. I later found out that the mural is a tribute to the history of the Legaspi House, whose garage served as a make-shift cinema immediately after World War II. Inside, the restaurant has a tropical 60’s beach hut feel with layers of bleached wood, printed walls in pink and green, and plant accents.
Finally we come to the food. Being an all-day brunch restaurant, Bramble serves freshly baked artisanal breads and pastries. These include croissants, ciabatta, bagels, danishes, meat pies, and turnovers which one can drop by and pick up, or have prepared for dining onsite and paired perfectly with a cup of brewed coffee.
Going deeper into the menu, I saw many of my favourites from Bondi and Bourke such as their Eggs Benny (poached eggs and smoked ham on toasted sourdough and hollandaise sauce), and The OZ (eggs, sausage, home-made bacon, potato hash, tomato and toast) at their new home. There were also various salads and sandwiches for those who want to have lighter fare to start their day.
For the hipster crowd, Bramble serves various “Love Bowls” which are breakfast bowls featuring ingredients such as seasonal fruits, chia seeds, almond milk, chia seeds, goji berries and other super food. There are also some rice and noodle dishes such as Adobo Rice, U.S. Prime Steak Rice, and Spicy Singaporean Beef Noodles to satiate the ones who cannot live without rice.
And what is Brunch without a proper cocktail or two? Bramble also serves brunch cocktails from Mimosas, Mojitos and their signature Brambleberry Bellini. Those who would like to keep their brunches alcohol-free can try Bramble’s house made sodas instead which come in pitchers good enough for two to three people to share.
Bramble is located at the Legaspi Compound and is open daily from 6 in the morning until 10 in the evening.
