The Bread Bag: a restaurant I just had to write about

Three facts before I get to my point (Proctoid!):

1. I rarely write about food. The only other time, I think, was Thai Pad over a year ago. Given my limited diet and culinary preferences, I would have little subject matter and even less credibility as a food writer.

2. Among these limited culinary preferences of mine is a love for bread. People are amazed that I haven't had a grain of rice since December 31, 2007. The fact is, I grew up eating more bread more than rice, which made aunts and uncles exclaim, "Paulo! Are you Filipino or American!?" (I would have answered "European", but it wasn't among the options, haha.) In grade school I would devour a whole loaf of mayonnaise-smeared white bread; in college I would have around four huge pan de sals every breakfast; and these days, I'm stuffed way before the main courses arrive in Italianni's because of that heavenly focaccia.

3. The disappointing thing is, there aren't many places you can get quality bread meals in this city. In your everyday, to my mind there are two kinds: cheap fast food sandwiches which aren't good for you, and mega-overpriced sandwiches which claim to be good for you but taste like crap.

But today, I came across a place which I'm crazy enough about to dare to write a food article. It's called The Bread Bag Pandesal Bar, in the Ortigas Home Depot complex at the corner of Meralco Ave and Julia Vargas. What should have just been a quick lunch on a busy Saturday of chores turned out to be a happy discovery for me.

Like Pan de Manila, the place serves pugon-baked pan de sal. But, it takes Pan de Manila a bit further by serving meals. They have Pan de Plato, which is similar to rice topping except that you have a pan de sal instead of rice; pan de sal sandwiches; and soups in bread bowls. Their claim to fame is that they have the same recipes as Casa Marcos, a Spanish restaurant with branches in Gilmore and Morato until the year 2000.

I had never heard of Casa Marcos, but with the quality of The Bread Bag experience, who needs credentials?

Their food is delicious. It tastes fresh and home-cooked, not at all manufactured, and I love that the food they serve actually looks like the menu photos!

I started off my lunch with their soup of the day, cream of chicken and mushroom, in a bread bowl. Like I said, a fresh and homemade taste -- not bad for Php33, when you think about other soup in a bread bowl meals, which range from around Php100 in French Baker to Php175 in Soup Kitchen. While it's not as large as the Soup Kitchen bread bowl, it's a very pleasant starter.

Then I had my corned beef pan de sal sandwich, and it was heaven in a mix of tender tangy home-made corned beef, creamy scrambled egg (none of that McMuffin sunny-side-up shit), fresh juicy vegetables, and pesto-mayo sauce on a slightly toasted whole wheat pan de sal.

And though I had misgivings about the sandwich's filling-ness -- I had asked to see the pan de sals before ordering and felt it looked quite small -- I found that it was quite heavy. You end your meal completely satisfied with taste and portion. And value as well -- with prices ranging from Php77 to 99 for a sandwich with iced tea and kamote chips (healthier than potato chips, say the staff), it's much better value than either Oliver's or Subway.

Lastly, I also have to mention that I appreciated the staff. The lady at the counter patiently and smilingly answered my questions about the dishes on the menu (who had heard of "pan de plato" after all?).

So, go visit The Bread Bag. It's open from 6 AM (mmm, freshly baked pan de sal!) to 1 AM daily. And though it's a bit out of the way, it's well worth the detour. I'll be back with James next week to try out more of their menu items (pan de sal a la cubana, anyone?). And I'm looking forward to them opening more branches soon.