But, it's undeniable that many of us could hardly keep up with them in terms of discovering unique dining spots and to-die-for, Instagram-worthy food photos. Through social media, they have turned the everyday act of eating into an event, part of the food story they are constantly creating and sharing.
But how many can agree when I say trying these restaurants and cafes out is a hit and miss, granting that it's either a great concept or is formulated by a seasoned chef, you're not certain whether you'll like the experience. Thank God for online reviews, those honest ones, mind you!
Excitement is unerring whenever you see your favorite Instagram influencer post her new discovery, but for a semi-frugal mom like me, who honors family budget above all rather than trying out a lavish sampling from a highly-acclaimed resto, you can't help but get tired of fancy-ing over their posts.
I'm sure most of the time, when you are out and you need to chow down, you are bewildered on where to go to "just EAT", in a relaxed mode and without going out of the joint feeling like you have been robbed off your weekly budget.
How about breakfast? Let's talk b-fast, shall we?
In cases as such, I'd rather rely on places that have been servicing for decades, but not to be judged by snobby millennials, I'd unlikely post photos from fast-food. When you happen to be in Makati, Ayala and Makati Ave. in particular, why not have breakfast at City Garden Hotel Makati's service resto.
Le Jardin
Ensconced in the busy concrete jungle that is, Makati Ave., is City Garden Hotel, which kept up with the trending foodie movement with a newly designed menu to entice even the most nitpicky millennials.
With a breakfast buffet spread that boasts of modern take on regular salads, toasts, mains, and even pancakes, your Instagram account will be pooled with many likers for each food post you would do.
Not many know, that this hotel is open for everyone who wishes to dine there, although they are first and foremost obliged to service their inhouse guests. The restaurant on the 2nd floor is a casual dining resto which also serves ala carte menu for lunch and dinner. Aside from this, they also have a late night bar at the Roof deck that is overlooking Makati Skyline with live Acoustic Night every Friday.
A bevvy of regular breakfast fare given twists and modern takes will keep you waking up early. According to their FnB Manager, a total of 14 menu in cycle will make every breakfast worth spending time for.
Below are the best-sellers, the ones diners keep on backing back for and making other restos around a run for their money.
Mushroom Parmesan French Toast
If you are craving for something new and you love bread and cheese, this is for you. This ultimately yummy open-faced French toast is cloaked with sauteed button mushrooms and parmesan cheese.
My husband's personal choice on our visit was the Crispy Chicken Adobo Flakes topped with Egg Salsa. This adobo had taken a makeover as its meat were deep fried and then oil drained. It was livened up with a salad composed of boiled egg, tomato, onion, cucumber and scallions. I can live with this and pair it with steamed rice or the fried rice of the day.
Be the healthiest you with colorful bowls of veggies for bfast.
The first meal of the day is also a great opportunity to sneak in some of that two to three cups of vegetables recommended we have daily. Hence, Mixed Salad with Tinapa flakes. Drizzle this mix with Honey-mansi dressing. Let the crunch and the tang for the dressing collide in your mouth and let the smokey tinapa break that.
Another interesting piece in their salad is the tuyo, our humble dried fish, which we only eat (usually bare hands) with rice and egg for breakfast, is given a new image. This one, the Mixed Salad with tuyo flakes is so good especially when mixed with the garlic coriander dressing it comes with.
Both the tuyo and tinapa flakes. show how our humble meal elements can enhance even the taste of salads.
Okay, if you're not a fan of the Filipino local dried or smoked fish, maybe the bacon will.
This one can surely capture a vegan's heart or many health buffs for that matter. Buckwheat Pancakes which you can build with your choice of fresh and dried fruits, nuts and maple syrup. is another thing in the modern foodie world.
It's a pancake for super-moms,I mean moms who go for super-food...
Buckwheat is another gluten-free food source, that some of my mom-blogger friends use as replacement for refined flour. Gluten is a protein present in certain grass family grains and may induce stomach upset and diarrhea in individuals with Celiac disease.
Now, where else can you find one? Not i buy the flour at some specialty store and make your own at home but it wouldn't be the same, City Garden's are fluffier and not that grainy in texture. The chef makes their own batter and I love that it's not sweet, so you can indulge with the honey and maple syrup mix.
Another unique element in their buffet is the granola. This American breakfast staple had been preferred by the millennials and the moms of the century, for it's healthier than commercial cereals. Like any granolas made at home it is composed of rolled oats, nuts, honey or other sweeteners such as brown sugar, and sometimes puffed rice, that is usually baked until all crisp, toasted and golden brown.
At home, I love topping this with Greek yogurt and fresh berries, like what I did in this recipe.
Breads aplenty, and so are soups, salads and steak on their menu.
If you have been crazy about Pinterest and Instagram, most of the foodies flock over the posts made with overnight oats, #overnightoats. Beautiful and colorful photos of no-cook, overnight-soaked oats, flavored and amped up in more than hundreds of ways were being featured like an ambrosia for health-gods and goddesses.
And well, yeah, they also have it. Soaked in their own-made yogurt, oats and dried fruits meld seemingly in cocktail shots as a sustainable and more practical ways of serving it to the diners, just like how they would serve their yogurts, no wastage. Their yogurts come in different flavors, today we had strawberry flavored and the regular one.
Not only these are filled with fiber, it's all very good for the gut too, having probiotics and all.
Lastly, the spread completes itself with some pastries made by the chef still with the thought of making it healthier with less the guilt. Yes they were sweet but just enough to satisfy your cravings but it's not that cloying that you could definitely have more than one. I love the mini Banana muffins, they taste just like how I make it, next are the crispy kind of cookies, love them too!
With the onset of food-related diseases and illnesses, Le Jardin is a breath of fresh air. Their breakfast buffet is designed with the customers in mind, thinking not only outside the box, making unique, modern take on usual faves but making sure of the customer's well-being, but not compromising on quality flavor.
What I love the most is that I don't have to worry about spending too much while eating consciously healthy breakfast and paying homage to the Filipino food we are accustomed to. In fact, the wide spread buffet costs only P495.
What you get is hotel-comfort food, hotel-quality service and comfort for a fraction of the cost. But better if you get to stay at the hotel and enjoy the over-all service the hotel offers.
What a steal, right?
Lastly, don't forget to follow them at Facebook for their hotel and restaurant promotions. They are having THE FILIPINO OKTOBERFEST ... THE PULUTAN EDITION promo as well, best experienced every Friday with an acoustic band.
Le Jardin - City Garden Hotel
Address: City Garden Hotel, Makati
Corner Kalayaan Avenue,
Poblacion, Makati City
Contact Numbers: 02 8991111
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ReplyDeleteExcellent article. Very interesting to read. I really love to read such a nice article. Thanks! keep rocking.
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