METRO MANILA | Upside Down at Pan de Amerikana Katipunan

Saturday, August 20, 2011

After years of hearing about Pan de Amerikana, an eccentric breakfast place with huge chess pieces on a garden setting somewhere in the Marikina area, I was finally able check it out—well sort of—upon chancing upon a blog post by Marlies Travels about the said place, albeit on a different location.

I was on the night shift and I was thinking it could be the perfect excuse to have breakfast at this restaurant since it was not that far from our office. We hopped on a train to Katipunan Avenue and hailed a cab straight to the place. I’m not a taxi person but we’ve no choice as there seems to be no other way to get there by commuting.

We were too early though, the diner doesn’t open ‘til 8am, so we’ve no choice but to wait it out.

If the original Marikina branch of Pan de Amerikana was quirky, this one at Katipunan Avenue tops it off easily enough; the restaurant is upside down, I suppose it can’t get any odder than that. The whole facade is an inverted Swiss chalet complete with red 4x4 jeep, bicycle, plants and lawn. The entrance is through a hole in its shingled roof.

The theme is extended into the airy interior of the restaurant. Colorful wooden dining set complete with plates and glasses hang perilously from the ceiling complemented by a sala set on its side. Diners seemingly oblivious to it all sit and chatter complacently right below them.

The theme is jarringly genius, it sort of remind me of my childhood summer days when there was nothing to do but sit upside down on our sofa and imagine all our furnishing glued to the ceiling. I kept thinking I’d have to watch out for our fluorescent lamp, I don’t want to ever smash into it since it’s now on the floor.

I’d bet my breakfast if this place isn’t a hit with kids; it’s like the owner took their daydreams into reality.

After craning our necks ever upwards, it was time to eat. The food is surprisingly affordable; you’d think with its nice and quirky ambience, their grub would be expensive; well, you’d be totally wrong.

I ordered my fave breakfast fare, longsilog (Php55.00) and asked for an additional piece (Php30.00), since it only includes a single serving of sausage. L ordered her favorite morning dish, tocilog (Php55.00). We also had a couple of hot chocolate (Php30.00) and a pair of pandesal sandwich (Php25.00) to bundle with our meal.

The Ilokano longanisa was pretty average, so was the tocino. The hot choco was thick, but not too sweet, just the way I liked it. The pandesal sandwich was my fave though; the bread was large and soft, and the filling (I chose corned beef) was very generous in serving and cooked just right, not too tender.

The service crew were all polite but the serving time took quite a while.  I was almost done with my rice meal when my extra longanisa arrived.

I wonder why they named the place Pan de Amerikana when their dishes are so very Filipino. It may be that breads are more popular in the west but this upside down restaurant’s version of it is still clearly Filipino; with our favorite pandesal, larger than usual.

So if you’re looking for a typical Filipino breakfast without busting your pockets and you happen to be near Katipunan Avenue, do check out Pan de Amerikana. It’s almost on the same price level with your average streetcorner tapsihan but with a nicer atmosphere.

And of course, who’d not want to eat at an inverted house.

 
Pan De Amerikana
Address: 131 Katipunan Ave., Brgy. St. Ignatius
Quezon City, NCR
Contact Number: (02) 215-6571 | (02) 442-5601

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14 comments

  1. I like the concept of the restaurant. And I love pandesal too. :))

    World of Vhincci

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  2. haha.. cute! saw this in Umagang Kay Ganda before at talagang na-amaze ako dahil kakaiba sya. hehe

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  3. WOW! thanks sir sa pag-link sa blog namin.. it means a lot to us! :) nahiya naman ang mga shots namin sa mga kuha mo.. hehe! :p puntahan natin next time yung branch nila sa marikina.. :)

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  4. the place may be unique, but am very disappointed with the food:

    -for our silogs, we specifically asked for our eggs to be "scrambled", but we both got very runny sunny side ups.

    -my "chicken" sandwich turned out to be a generous spread of Lady's Choice Sandwich Spread with bits of chicken.

    buti nalang medio mura :>

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  5. I've been studying in Ateneo for four years, but I've never been here. Haha! I should visit this place some time. Malapit lang pala!

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  6. i thought i was looking at the picture the wrong way, god damn it, design pala yun! this is so gonna go in my list!

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  7. Vhincci, Batang Lakwatsero, Marjorie
    Interesting concept right? According to Marlies' site, this is the only upside down restaurant in the whole southeast asia. Wow!

    MarLiesTravels
    Shempre dahil sa site nyo kaya ako pumunta jan =)

    Lestat
    Ouch! hehe

    Kim
    Bisita na! Mura lang ng food nila but don't expect too much =P

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  8. very nice concept. ang layo lang. hehe!

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  9. ^ Oo nga e. Sayang, ang layo sa Cavite, hehe. :D Pero kapag napadpad ako sa QC, I will visit this place. :)

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  10. Cool...:)
    Akala ko pati yung mga mesa at upuan nakabaligtad rin.. hehehe...

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  11. Michi, Karla
    Yun din sentiments ko, mahirap sya puntahan

    Tripper10
    Haha pwede! =P

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  12. paano pumunta dito guys paq galing ako ng pasay??? pls reply via email

    khen_camba@yahoo.com

    thanks guys! :)

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    Replies
    1. From Pasay, you can take the MRT to Ortigas station, then take a cab from there. It's about 10 minutes away by car.

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