Rustic Mornings by Isabelo

A couple of years ago, we had our annual holiday dinner at Isabelo Garden in Marikina.  It was a bitch of a drive then, it was a bitch of a drive now.  But it got better.  Now, they’re actually open for during the day for breakfast and lunch, but they decide to call the same place “Rustic Mornings.”  No objections.  It makes the getting lost part a lot easier on the eyes, but go figure.

The menu’s different, but the ambience is nothing less than what you get at night.  With the heat of the sun, it’s a good chance to dine inside the room, which looks nice but a bit to girly for us chest-haired¹ men here at Food Porn Junkies.

We start off with some Americano Coffee, which comes with 1 free refill.  Has that nice roasted smell to it.  Not bad, as I was told.

One of the things I looked for a few years back was some sort of drink.  Now they have some Frothy Lemon² Iced Tea and I liked it.  Refreshing and cool.

Mom had the Sausage Platter.  It’s a Bratwurst and a Cheese Sausage with 2 sunny side up eggs and toasted rye bread.  Not bad at all, but I’m not sure I’d drive all the way to Marikina for this.

Neither will I do that for the 2-Piece Real Buttermilk Pancakes, Bacon, and Hashbrown.  It really wasn’t bad, but I still hold Malcolm’s Deli as the best pancakes in Manila.  And the Fort isn’t as taxing a drive.  I top it off with Sweet Strawberries for an additional P20.00 (or $0.45).

The Crispy Waffle Served with Homemade Pancake Syrup topped with Walnut Streusel³ was really nice.  It was crispy on the outside, soft inside — like how it should be.  It’s a wonder how many people actually fail to do this properly.

I figured that if I’m driving all the way to Marikina, I might as well go for some lunch.  The BBQ Pulled Pork Crackling looked really good⁴, but was unavailable that day.  I went with the Creamy Tomato Curry Kofta Balls, which serves (at least) 2 and is fucking awesome.

This, I’d drive to Marikina for.  It was tangy, seasoned well, spiced right, saucy, hearty — lives up to the rustic name of the place.

Always a nice change of scenery to visit this place but I’m still looking at you, pork crackling.

Rustic Mornings by Isabelo 2013-12-23

couple of years ago, we had our annual holiday dinner at Isabelo Garden in Marikina.  It was a bitch of a drive then, it was a bitch of a drive now.  But it got better.  Now, they’re actually open for during the day for breakfast and lunch, but they decide to call the same place …