Eggs in the Equation: A "π Breakfast and Pies" Review

I love breakfasts. There’s something about spam, sunny-side ups, fresh mangoes, and a nice, tall glass of orange juice that sets my mood right before I begin my day (or what’s left of it when I wake up late on weekends). Man, just thinking about these makes me hungry again.

Being a breakfast-lover and a sweet tooth at the same time, I knew I had to try π Breakfast and Pies. From the name alone I can already tell that I’m going to love it there, and the fact that the people behind this restaurant are the same guys behind Pino and Pipino sealed the deal and made me decide to visit the place as soon as I can.

π Breakfast and Pies is conveniently located at Malingap Street, right beside Pino and Pipino. The interiors sport a rustic and industrial design, which I thought was a bit gloomy for a food establishment offering breakfast dishes in its menu.

As usual, we asked for their specialties. The lady taking our orders recommended the Eggs Benny (Php 275.00), the Kitayama Wagyu Beef Sirloin Tapa (Php 225.00), the Beef Belly Corned Beef (Php 225.00), and my personal favourite, the Caramelized Spam (Php 245.00).

The Eggs Benny looked lovely when it came in. It’s thick-cut bacon (and we really mean thick), five-minute eggs, and an English muffin – definitely what an English breakfast is about. It also comes with Asparagus, Siracha Hollandaise, and potato fries. I loved how the yolk seeps out of the egg when you slice it open, making the muffins soggy but tasty. However, we would have probably enjoyed this much better if it was served to us warmer.

Since tapa and eggs are one of the first things that come to mind when we talk about Filipino breakfasts, we knew that we had to try the Kitayama Wagyu Beef Sirloin Tapa. The Wagyu Beef comes with a five-minute egg and atchara, but π Breakfast and Pies adds a little twist to the usual tapsilog that we know by serving it with garlic kimchi fried rice. The chewy meat tasted so well with the kimchi rice, which in turn had just the right spiciness for something that you would have on a breakfast.

Corned Beef and eggs are one of my favourite breakfast combos so I was the one who asked for the Beef Belly Corned Beef. It was served with herbed garlic fried rice. A nice double sunny side-up blankets huge chunks of corned beef, which I secretly wished to be served in more quantities.

My personal favourite was the Caramelized Spam. It was a creative mix of flavours from ingredients that I didn’t know would go well together. It has spam, kimchee, five-minute eggs, pesto, and scallion – all in one dish! The spam was served in huge bite-sized chunks instead of the usual thin slices that we are used to. It also had a thin sugar coating for some sweetness that complements the saltiness of the meat.

We knew we already ordered a heavy meal, but we just had to try the Dark Chocolate Champorado (Php 155.00), served with cream cheese and cereal milk. Having cream cheese with champorado was new to me so I eagerly added it to my mix, but after tasting it I decided that I prefer the classic champorado much more. Or maybe it’s just because of the fact that just like the Eggs Benny, the champorado wasn’t warm enough when it was served to us.

I also got to try the Chicken Waffles, with the “chicken” part coming in the form of chicken skin laid on top of huge waffles, made more flavourful by granny smith apples, blueberries, and maple sour cream. Eat it with little bit of caution though as the waffles are spicy, having bits of Jalapeno inside to surprise you in some bites. Sadly the friend who ordered the waffles was on a strict diet (hey, it's almost summer), so he had to do away with the chicken skin. Would have gobbled them up happily though if it was me.

Of course, the experience wouldn’t be complete if we don’t try some of their pies! As much as we would have wanted to try them all, we already had a heavy meal so we had room for just one dessert. The lady taking our orders recommended the Smack π (Php 115.00 per slice, Php 1,150.00 if whole), which was π Breakfast and Pies’ own version of the Momofuku Milk Bar’s bestseller. It didn’t look fancy, but the moment I tasted it my tummy suddenly made more room and asked for more.

Aside from being a dine-in restaurant, π Breakfast and Pies also serves as a takeout bakery for those who wanted to take some of their homemade baked goodies back home.

π Breakfast and Pies did not disappoint and satisfied my cravings for some good breakfast food. I loved their creativity with the dishes which was served generously, making the price worth it. π  Breakfast and Pies is located at 39, Malingap Street, Teacher’s Village, Quezon City. It’s open daily from 7am – 10pm.

Geoffrey Ledesma