Bayview Park

time check: 07:15 am

Worst breakfast buffet. Ever. 

I should be chronicling only about the sweetest and most beautiful morning stories, after all, this blog is about heralding the wonders of the start of a new day but that sad introduction needs to be written. You know, for drama’s sake. One stormy Saturday morning, I got to experience the sloppiest breakfast since I started this breakfast journal. The hotdogs were sweaty with oil, the tocino, too pink to be eaten, the scrambled eggs were swimming in oil. I eat like a construction worker and my mouth is a chronic chewer but for this morning, I ended up eating just the fruit and a teensy bit of congee to hush the growling tiger belly. But, as they say, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. UPGRADE THAT LEMON! 

 

My lemon upgrade came in the form of a very rare breakfast date. For that Saturday morning, across the dining table was my father discussing his political views and insights on the pork barrel bonanza. While I oppose his views, the breakfast table is simply not the place for debate. I prefer to greet the morning with calmness, happiness and cheer. Maybe lunch can take care of that. My mother sat next to the lecturing father. She’s the reason we were at the hotel. The accommodation was her prize from having reached a sales quota. To my right was my brother, my ever willing butler. Paul, water please. Paul, fruits please. Paul, heat the bread please. And get us some spread please. I forgot that we were in a hotel café and waiters were present to do these things for us.

I rarely get the chance to share meals with my parents since college uprooted me from the northern hometown to the big city.  So I spent my morning with my father’s pork barrel speech while making sure he was getting his fruit fix and that he got to try the jam; with my mother who was basking in silent happiness that she was spending that morning with us (she’s based in Cagayan Valley and occasionally visits); with my brother who was just as happy that he got to stay in a hotel and has spent the last night on a bubble bath then slept like a baby after wrapped in a bath robe (I kid not) and a comforter.

Worst breakfast. Ever.

Best breakfast date. Ever.

Life is good.

All Sunshiny,

Tina

Bayview Park Hotel

Roxas Boulevard

Manila

Zucchero

time check: 07: 14 am

Manila is so alive on a Sunday morning! Lolo's, lola's and tita's are stretching, dancing and doing aerobics by the bay. Kids are running around with their fluffy pets. Dads are all sweaty and sporty in their spandex jogging attire. Moms are just as sweaty, running after the dads. And their kids. While the rest of the world is in frenzy making the most out of the remaining hours of the week, we sit in a quiet corner in Zucchero Cafe in Harbour Square in Metro Manila (right behind CCP) with a smug, snob and royal expression on our faces - oh please Manila, Keep Calm and Eat Your Breakfast! Not just any breakfast but a breakfast buffet. And not just any breakfast buffet but 180-pesos-eat-all-you-can breakfast buffet! And not just an el cheapo breakfast, but a breakfast buffet by the bay! Oh Sunday morning love!

First up, we parked our yacht somewhere safe and within our sight (our captain and caretaker were on leave so we navigated ourselves all the way to our breakfast by the bay!) - haha! Seven o'clock in the morning is a little bit late for this breakfast experience such that the cafe was already full when we arrived. Good thing one of our amigos recognized our importance in the society and the whole world (nyahaha) and found us a sweet spot near the cakes and pastries and within comfortable distance from the buffet table. 

 

Zucchero according to the very reliable Wikipedia is an Italian rock singer. While I have my doubts about the consistency of the cafe's theme (they serve red eggs and tuyo for breakfast - which I am pretty sure do not make the Italian cut), the breakfast buffet is undeniably a rock star. For the longest time in our before-nine breakfast adventures, it's all pancakes, waffles and potatoes and ham and spam and while I truly, sincerely, honestly love them all, deep down in my golden and beautiful caramel skin (oh yeah), I crave for the Filipino touch. And boy, Zucchero did not disappoint.

oh breakfast love ♥

That's all folks!

Good morning!

All Sunshiny,

Tina

Harbour Square,Pedro Bukaneg St.,

CCP Complex

Malate, Manila

open 24/7