Dapitan Market and Lunch at The Breakfast Club

December 15, 2013, we had nothing planned except to visit my brother at the columbarium. I wanted to head out to Divisoria but it was too late at 9am. My mother, on the other hand, broached the idea of heading to Dapitan Market where they sell all sorts of home decorations for export. As I mentioned before, nowadays, they're just too expensive to bother with. But it would be nice to see what Christmas decorations they had this year.

So Chea, Tita Fe, Thirdy, my mom and myself headed to the Divine World columbary. While there, one of my brother's best friends, Gino, arrived with the mother of another of my brother's friend who was also interred there. We stayed and chatted with them until 12 noon, after that we headed to Dapitan Market hoping to beat out the foreboding rain clouds.

Along the way, my mom and Tita Fe chatted about this new restaurant owned by Erich Gonzales, the ABS-CBN actress, whose restaurant, The Breakfast Club, was recently featured by another ABS-CBN talent, Kris Aquino in her TV show.

We found it along Santo Domingo in Quezon City, but the parking lot was full. And even from the road, I could see that there was a line of people outside the restaurant itself. It really is amazing how Kris Aquino's endorsement could send people rushing to establishments, like us for instance.

So we decided to have lunch later instead and went first to Dapitan Market. Arriving there, we managed to get parking immediately. As soon as I got off the car, I saw an ex officemate of mine, Beck Bautista, along with her husband, looking around. After a brief chat, Tita Fe, my mom and I went for a quick look around for a Christmas tree. I saw three stalls selling them, but they were practically at mall prices, so I went back to the car, so Chea could take her turn to go around while I looked after Thirdy.

We spent less than an hour at the place. It wasn't packed at that time as compared to a week ago, when Gino told us that it was full. I guess most people have already finished with their Christmas decorations. It is mid-December already.

Chea and I found some Christmas balls which were the same as the ones we bought at Uniwide. The stall owner said that 3 pieces were sold for 100 pesos. We were slightly amused, as these were being sold for 19 pesos each at Uniwide. There was another lady eyeing the decorations and we mentioned them being sold for less at Uniwide.

Anyway, Chea bought some small Santa plushy tree decors for 20 pesos each. There were similar ones being sold at Uniwide as well for 39 pesos, so these were a good buy. My mom also bought some decors she planned on hanging in our garage. After that, we headed back to The Breakfast Club.

When we arrived, there was no longer a line outside, but it seems there were still people standing inside waiting to be seated. Chea really wanted to try the place out, so I went in and asked for a table reservation. The hostess told me that waiting time was about an hour, and I said I was willing to wait. I went back to the car and told everyone that it'll be an hour before we were seated and handed Chea a menu left on one of the outdoor tables.

Bright yellow! 

Patrons still arrived while we were waiting. Some had been deterred by the waiting time and left. I spent the time waiting outside at the outdoor tables along with my mom and Tita Fe, while Chea and Thirdy were waiting inside. The afternoon sun unfortunately shone directly at the front of the restaurant, so it wasn't such a great idea waiting outside. The waiting line inside was full and some of the patrons were standing. So we waited outside while chatting with one of the guards about Kris' visit to the place, and about Erich as well.

After 45 minutes (it was 1:45pm), my name was called, and we were finally seated. My mom ordered a chicken Bibimpa, which turns out wasn't available, so we went for Carbonara, Baby Back Ribs and four plates of rice. I ordered Chap Chae because I was in the mood for noodles, while Chea ordered soup for Thirdy. My mom and I also ordered Iced tea.

The place was fairly new, as was described by a signage outside. And with the entire place packed with eating customers, and others still waiting to be seated, service wasn't as fluid yet, and there's certainly a wait for getting your orders. Fortunately, they served free french bread with margarine. We had about 2 full bread baskets before the first of our orders arrived. Looking at my watch, it was a 20-minute wait.

You might want to order light or share meals. There's a bit of a wait, so you might get full just from the bread.

We first got the soup, then the carbonara, quickly followed by the baby back ribs and the four plates of rice. The table for four we were seated at looked adequate when we seated, but as soon as the plates arrived, it turned out to be a bit small. When the chapchae came, there were barely any space left on the table, especially since we planned on sharing the meals and we asked for small plates.

Cream of mushroom for Thirdy.

As for the food itself, the carbonara was creamy. It had a different taste to it, and I could taste a hint of ham on the noodles even without chewing on one.

Creamy. Pretty good.

Chap chae. I liked this the most.

I then went for the chapchae next and I liked it a lot. It wasn't sweet and had more flavor to it than with what i've tasted at other places. The sauce was a bit dark in color than most, so I assume it had more soy. But the saltiness was just perfect. There were some red powder sprinkled on top which I thought might be chili powder, but it wasn't as it wasn't really spicy at all. It could've been paprika, but I rarely could tell one spice from the other.

I think the shortest one was about 7 inches long. Picture isn't accurate though. This was paler in person, and didn't look as good as in the picture. 

Next was the pork baby back ribs which looked like it was baked in an oven. There wasn't any charring to it. There weren't any sauce on top, so it was practically bare, and the color was an even light brown. You can see most of the herbs rubbed on top.

The meat was tender but it didn't have as much flavor as I hoped. It came with a cup of mashed potato with gravy which was a little salty.

Felt more like a sponge cake.

Chea later ordered the cheesecake. Unfortunately, it wasn't a full-on cheesecake. The inside part crumbled easily which made it look like it was sponge cake mixed with cream cheese. The top actually tasted like pancakes.

The short straw kept falling into the glass.

If I had any complaint, was that the straws for the iced teas were too short as the glasses were a bit tall. As soon as your drank 1/3 of the glass, the straws dropped low so you had to fish it out with your fingers.

Overall, the food was pretty ok especially given the price. Chap chae was only 150 pesos, the carbonara was 190, and the baby back ribs was only 350 pesos. The refillable iced teas were at 95 pesos each. The cake, 155. There was a sufficient number of staff around, so service was pretty decent.

Our bill was around 1300 pesos, and with two senior citizens, it was 95 pesos less. So it's a pretty ok place. Most of the menus cost less than 200 pesos, and the big menus like steaks are fairly priced (steaks started at 750). But to be honest, most of the food is not worth an hour's (or so) wait.

So if you're around the area, try to drop by and see if there isn't a queue and give the place a try. Based on some accounts, Erich visits at night and has dinner when the crowd is light.