Last July 6, 2013, I was invited by a blogger friend Anton of pusangkalyet.net for breakfast at Cafe 1771 for a restaurant review. Excited, I woke up early in spite of having late night because of watching live MMA matches. I arrived at the cafe around 7:05 a.m. ahead of our 8:00 am appointment.
I was impressed by the exterior of the building primarily it is juxtaposed to the tall buildings of Ortigas Centeral Business District (CBD) and it look quite an idyllic escape from the concrete jungle of the CBD.
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| View from ADB Avenue |
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| Flags and Architecture |
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| The Entrance at the side |
Impressed by the exteriors and having a glimpse of the what is inside from the windows, my heartbeat was increasing in excitement of what was to unfold in my sight as I enter the restaurant. The ambiance of the place delights the senses.
Here is a walk-through video of the interiors so you can see what I’m raving about:
Walk-through of the Interiors
Now after talking about the venue, let’s get into the star of the show, the FOOD!
Filipino Corner
For those who loves a hearty traditional Filipino breakfast meal of rice, the Adobe Flakes Fried Rice is a sure winner. It is garlic fried rice mixed with flakes of chicken and pork adobo, spring onions, topped with fried egg. The vinegary taste of the in-between crispy and tender meat flakes couple with the garlicky (you even find a clove of garlic) fried rice is a match made in heaven. Highly recommended!
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| Adobo Flakes Fried Rice (Php 250) |
Another Pinoy (Filipino) dish I tried was the Baguio Longganisa na Sabog. It’s longganisa (filipino sausages) version of Baguio with more of the garlicky taste rather than the sweet Pampaga versions. The longganisa was cut down to pieces to make it more crunchy and well done. I favor the sweeter versions of longganisa so this did not impressed me much but if you are into the Vigan type of longganisas, this will appeal to your palette.
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| Baguio Longganisa na Sabog (Php 350) |
From the childhood days of my relatives from abroad sending cans of Carnenorte (Corned Beef), to my stay in the Middle East buying corned beef products from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, I just love corned beef. At Cafe 1771, their Holed in One Corned Beef, their corned beef hash and fried egg ranks very high in my list of best corned beef I ever tasted. It is so YUMMY! It can served with a choice of wheat bread or plain rice.
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| Holed in One Corned Beef (Php 350) |
Organic Egg Station
If you want a break from the rice based Filipino breakfast, I highly recommend that you try out Cafe 1771’s alternative breakfast.
Try Eggs Florentine in a Boat. It is poached organic eggs and creamed spinach over delectable puff pastries with hollandaise sauce served with salad and you have a choice of :
- Homemade Ham (Php 380)
- Smoked Salmon (Php 440)
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| Eggs Florentine in a Boat with Home-made Ham (Php 380) |
Eggs Florentine is a variation of the Americans’ Eggs Benedict (which is also served in the Cafe). In culinary parlance, ala Florentine signifies that it has spinach. Another clever variation is instead of English muffins for the base, they used puff pastry which I love for savory treats.
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| Close-up Eggs Florentine in a Boat with Home-made Ham |
I tried the home-made ham variety. The combination of the puff pastry with ham and healthy poached egg complimented by the creamy spinach tickles the taste buds with it varied texture and taste. Two thumbs up for this breakfast treat!
French Corner
Bonjour! Want to try some European breakfast?
Try Cafe 1771’s Croque Madame. With tasty baked layers of ham, gruyere cheese, whipped with creamy bechamel sauce over a slice of English bread and topped with sunny side up egg. I definitely fell in love with this combination of ham, cheese and bread fused to a culinary breakfast treat to start your day. With the egg topping, it’s another welcome additional layer of delight to this already delicious dish.
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| Croque Madame (Php 370) |
Without the sunny side up egg, it’s called Croque Monsieur (Php 350).
Pancakes
One of their best sellers is their Sour Cream Pancakes. I tried their Sour Cream Pancakes with Caramelized Banana and Candied Walnuts. It’s a treat for a sweet tooth like me. Aside from the delectable toppings, the syrup is quite unique as well for pancakes. Rather than the typical maple syrup, they use something similar to the caramel sauce you find in the traditional “leche plan”. The pancakes have sour cream as well that makes the pancakes fluffier and tastier.
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| Sour Cream Pancakes with Caramelized Banana and Candied Walnuts (Php 350) |
Other options for the pancake are:
- Plain (Php 200)
- With Crispy Bacon (Php 390)
- With Sausage Hungarian/Cervelat or Schublig (Php 390)
- With Crispy Bacon & Eggs (Php 450)
I thought that after the sweet pancakes, the sweet trip has ended. We were served also with a selection of desserts that makes me want to go back to Cafe 1771 to satisfy my sweet cravings.
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| Selection of Cakes and Desserts |
Here are some of the ones we tried:
Gianduja Truffle Mousse Cake
Tempting layers of gianduja truffle mousse using a white and dark Valrhona chocolate with home-made marshmallow and brownie fudge.
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| Gianduja Truffle Mousse Cake (Php 250) |
Sugar-Free Passionfruit Cake
A combination of coconut dacquoise, passion fruit bavaroise and caramelized pioneapple using a natural sweetener. Delightful but not sinful!
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| Sugar-Free Passionfruit Cake (Php 230) |
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| Sugar-Free Passionfruit Cake (Php 230) |
Amandelle
Milk chocolate mousse in between layers of orange creme brulee and caramelized apricot and almond dacquioise. This is my favorite among the 3 that was served. The orangy taste that accents the milk chocolate mousse. Highly recommended!
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| Amandelle (Php 300) |
Breads and Pastries
The cafe has also selections of breads and pastries that you can enjoy dine-in or as take away “pasalubong” for your love ones.
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| Menu board for pastries and cakes |
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| Selection of breads and pastries |
Tea Anyone?
If you are into tea, you can also try their selections of teas to compliment your bread or pastry.
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| Selection of Tea |
Review
It was a great week-end breakfast experience for me at Cafe 1771. Not only it met my expectations when it comes to their culinary offerings but it exceeded my standards for an ideal breakfast venue for my valuable week-end indulgence escapades!
The food quality and the presentation are at par with 5 star hotels. That’s already enough reason to go there. Furthermore, the ambiance of the place makes it a worthy option for your week-end (or weekdays) breakfast destination.
Highly recommended! The price is not for your everyday place to eat but it’s value for your precious time for you to spend your well deserved week-end break to enjoy not only a hearty breakfast but a relaxing time alone or with friends or family.
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| Me in blue shirt with friends |
For reservations, you can call Cafe 1771 at 631-7340. The cafe is located at El Pueblo Real de Manila near the corner of ADB Avenue and Julia Vargas, behind SM Megamall.
