The Breakfast Club: Your Friendly Neighborhood Restaurant in Quezon City

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Setting up a restaurant within a residential area is quite risky. This is probably why we see most restaurateurs choosing malls and other busy areas as their preferred site for their restaurant business. Though the crowd is indeed massive especially during peak hours of lunch and dinner, the competition among other restaurants is also something significant to be concerned about. But all of these should not be too detrimental if we really believe in our product. Our food should do most of our marketing and let the satisfied customers share the great news about their dining experience.

My first visit at The Breakfast Club was during a meeting with the parents of a young singer who I met during a radio show interview a few days ago. They invited me over for lunch and this dining spot in Quezon City was their choice. Though it was not my first time to hear about The Breakfast Club, I have not tried it out yet. Later, I realize I knew about it from the Kris TV show where I also learned that the co-owner was teen Kapamilya celebrity Erich Gonzales.

I took the initiative to call the attention of the chef for a short interview, or let's just say a friendly chat. She was there at the restaurant doing her regular meet and greet the customers, so I couldn't resists asking her a few questions, and grew more curious when I saw and tasted their Baby Back Ribs that were not only huge, but was definitely so tasty for its very low price.

This led to a return engagement at their restaurant, this time with a friend, since I really need to find out more about their other dishes. Thus, your friendly neighborhood pambansang blogger made a second visit to be able to dine on their other specialties and indulged once again on those amazing Baby Back Ribs.

One reason why people frequent the place is because it's not as crowded as the ones you'll see in the malls. Maybe except during breakfast hours where they serve buffet, The Breakfast Club prides itself for being a venue where you can almost feel at home with friendly staff that remembers your name more intimately. It's a convenient place to dine with the entire family, and to hang-out with friends and acquaintances since you are assured of a more relaxing ambiance.

The place can comfortably seat around 60 people, and also accepts reservations for your special occasions. They can personalize your events by coming up with dishes that are not even in their menu. Chef Athena and her trusted Sous Chef, Chef Redj  would eagerly come up with your special requests. They would quickly rush to the nearest market even a day before the event just to buy the necessary ingredients and cater to your needs. Now, that's what you can call great customer service!

Almost everything at The Breakfast Club are all cooked and prepared upon order so expect around 15 minutes before being served depending on the time of the day. Peak hours will of course take a little more time but you are assured of freshness and quality. They even have their own commissary that prepares their own breads, pastries and cakes. Trust that everything that goes into your plate was made more special because it's made with carefully selected ingredients minus the instant and artificial alternatives.

Chef Athena and Chef Redj

We had time to get to know more about The Breakfast Club from both chefs while waiting for our meals to arrive. There was even a point that they were the ones interviewing us. Lol. Talk about a reversal of roles.

From their outfits, it is very evident that they both studied from the Center for Culinary Arts (CCA), a prominent provider of culinary education in the country. This is added assurance that the people who conceptualize and prepare your food have professional degrees to come up with exceptional culinary creations.

They also informed us that the owners never knew about the movie which carries the same name so the similarity was purely coincidental as the owner just really wants to create a place where one can always drop by to dine on his favorite meals.

Green Mango (Php 130), Watermelon (Php 130) and Lemonade (Php 95) drinks

The Breakfast Club has fresh fruit shakes like watermelon, green mango, strawberry and coco pineapple plus other popular drinks like lemonade, house blend iced tea (refillable), and many more including sodas and a few beers.

I would highly recommend the watermelon shake as it was truly a refreshing drink that will make a lasting impression. The green mango was a bit hard to drink since unripe mango tend to be a bit hard to pass through the straw.

Premium Beef Tapa (Php 195)

The Premium Beef Tapa or more popularly known to us as the "tapsilog" is pan-seared, 12-hour marinated Angus beef that is served with garlic rice and fried egg (your choice of scrambled or sunny side up).

The Angus beef is already something to rave about, plus the tenderness of the meat and its distinctive sweet taste puts it a level above the rest. It is not surprising that people keep coming back for this treat.

Bibimbap (Php 195)

You have a choice of beef or chicken for the Bibimbap which is a bowl of warm rice topped with sauteed and seasoned vegetables(carrots, radish, bean sprouts and sayote) topped with a sunny side up fried egg and served with gochujang (chili pepper paste) and sprinkled with lightly roasted sesame seeds.

It has the spiciness good enough for you to appreciate the flavor without distracting you to want to grab a glass of water. You'll surely eat this up especially while it's hot because the mildly explosive taste of it in your mouth would be truly sensational.

Chef Athena mixing the Bibimbap

Chef Athena mixes the Bibimbap for us so all the flavor of each ingredient of the dish can be fully experienced.

Korean Beef Stew (Php 360)

Much can be said about their Korean Beef Stew  which is slow-cooked premium beef short ribs with carrots, radish, capsicum and potatoes. If you're looking for a flavorful dish that's great with your favorite steamed rice, then this is your best choice. You'll be tempted to order extra rice with just the sauce as your viand. The nearly crunchy veggies that comes with it are cooked just right that I can feel that it was indeed newly prepared just for us.

Spicy Aglio Olio Tinapa (Php 190)

You'll enjoy the familiar taste of the Filipino favorite "tinapa" with their Spicy Aglio Olio Tinapa pasta dish that comes with some toasted bread. I didn't really notice the spiciness as I maybe used to spicier dishes like the earlier Bibimbap.

Many have been making use of "tinapa" in some dishes like pizza as a primary ingredient to cater to the demand for Filipino identity. I agree that it's high time we promote our own locally produced products to give more opportunities to our SMEs.

I feel like it is a small serving for my appetite if taken alone so it's best partnered with another dish for a more filling meal. Maybe they could add more toasted bread to add value.

Baby Back Ribs (Php 380)

I saved the best for last (who am I kidding - I made it my title image). I simply can't get over their Baby Back Ribs and there's no denying I greatly adore this one. Slowly cooked, oven baked, fall off the bones ribs in sweet, savory and smoky BBQ sauce that is served with home-made mashed potatoes topped with corn bits and gravy.

Honestly, I did not made use of the BBQ sauce that comes with anymore since the Baby Back Ribs was great enough on its own already. True to its description in the menu, this almost melts-in-your-mouth meaty treat will satisfy even the most peculiar food critic.

I would love to eat it with just the mashed potato side dish but I always prefer rice for something that's so delish. It is dishes like these that made my waistline size from a medium to an extra large. It's hard to go on a diet when restaurants keep coming up with very tempting heavenly dishes that would make you want to add more "cheat days" in your calendar.

Good enough for two to three persons, it's the highly recommended dish I would order at The Breakfast Club if I wanted to impress somebody.

Choco Lava in a Cup (Php 170)

 Worrying that the Choco Lava in a Cup would quickly melt is part of the fun and excitement. You'll soon be digging your way down into these sweet treat as you try to spoon out the luscious lava cake underneath the vanilla ice cream topped with an Oreo cookie plus chocolate swirls.

This is my first time to see a lava cake in a cup. The merging of warm and cold between the lava cake and vanilla ice cream respectively is sensationally dreamy to the taste buds. You might even try to spoon out even the dripping ice cream. It is truly the ultimate bliss in a cup.

Pannacotta (Php 165)

The Pannacotta is light textured cooked cream with your choice of either Mango or Strawberry. The Mango comes with caramel and the Strawberry is glazed. Plus there's a cherry on top for the finishing touches.

This is another remarkable sweet treat that you'll appreciate. Do always remember to scoop in deep down to get all the flavorful taste of every part that makes up the dessert.

Peanut Butter Cake (Php 155)

The Peanut Butter Cake was created out from the request of Kris Aquino before her special feature of The Breakfast Club on her TV show. It's chiffon cake with peanut butter and ChocNut on top plus a few fancy stuff to make it more appealing.

You should know that each slice, just like with the Oreo Cheesecake, may be prepared differently in every visit depending on your server especially if he or she identifies you as a frequent customer. There's more love added to the preparation of each slice that's not only a satisfying treat but is another way of showing how The Breakfast Club appreciates your presence.

Both cakes were not as sweet as their other counterparts from different restaurants or bakeshops making it a pleasurable experience in every bite.

Chef Athena and Chef Redj

Thank you to Chef Athena and Chef Redj for welcoming us at The Breakfast Club Quezon City branch located at 43 Tirad Pass street corner Sto. Domingo Avenue. It's the the next block after Maria Clara Street. The restaurant will be on your right. They have another branch located at Pioneer Center in Pasig.

I'm more than willing to recommend this restaurant to all not because it's almost frequented by celebrities (you may sometimes catch Erich Gonzales and/or her celebrity friends every now and then), but because the food they serve very much deserves a well rounded applause.

Also remember that they can customize the food based from your liking so do tell them how you want your favorites done and they'll try their best to please you.

Know more about them from their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/BreakfastClubPH

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