For something hurried and taken for granted on weekdays, breakfast becomes a form of indulgence during vacations. Maybe it’s the view, getting to inhale your coffee before sipping it, or just the unhurried atmosphere of it all that beckons you to take your time. Whatever the reason, though, breakfast certainly deserves to be eaten slowly, especially if the meal you ordered for one is actually good for three and not to mention really, really delicious.
Luckily, there are special spots for indulgent breakfasts, and there’s one in Boracay we’re loving right now.
The Sunny Side Cafe in Station 3 is a cozy, contemporary all-day breakfast joint on the quieter side of White Beach with ginormous, rave-worthy comfort food – from fluffy pancakes to grilled cheese sandwiches – that make breakfast an extra special affair.
It’s the brainchild of restaurateur Nowie Potenciano (who also owns Mochiko) and wife, Executive Chef Natalia Moran, who also designed the restaurant themselves. They officially opened the restaurant in August 2014 to bring something new to Boracay.
“The recent trend in Boracay has been the opening of more and more fast food chains. We wanted to buck that trend and open a restaurant that offers food that you will fly to Boracay for. We also observed that there is always a bakery and breakfast place in other counties that people gravitate to no matter what the location is, from Bali to Luang Prabang to Siem Reap and so on. We wanted to create a comforting center like that in Boracay.”
The restaurant’s yellow and white exteriors and interiors will comfort and cheer you up as soon as you see it; the buzz of the brunch crowd and the smell of bacon and coffee leaving you excited about what’s to come.
To get started, pick seats by the window near the door and get a menu pronto because the place gets packed pretty quickly. Once seated, ask for a cup of their Flat White to wake you up and order a meal before you get hungry from seeing all the big plates being served on the next table.
We highly recommend their Bacon and Cheese Pancakes – chunks of homemade bacon tossed in a batter, making stacks of light, fluffy pancakes that nearly consume the entire plate. They’re topped with whipped butter, more bacon, a caramelized orange and finally, dusted off with some parmesan cheese and walnuts. It’s a dish meant for sharing (you have to because the serving is big or you can just order half of the whole dish) and for those who like their breakfast with a mix of savory and sweet.
If you’re craving for rice, their Chorizo and Eggs is the way to go. The chorizo is ground to bits, formed into patties, seared and served with two eggs, rice and vegetables.
For the ultimate comfort food, get their Bacon and Mango Grilled Cheese Sandwich: two humungous sandwiches housing cheese, homemade mango jam, bacon strips and more cheese served beside tangy basil and tomato soup. The slices of bread are so sinfully buttery, they will leave your fingers extra smooth after a meal with just crumbs left on the cutting board. It’s really no surprise that it’s one of the bestsellers at Sunny Side Cafe.
Other dishes to try in the future include their Malagos Champorado, using the world-famous Malagos chocolates, and the Avocado-Bacon Smash, an odd but salivating combo of avocado, bacon, feta cheese and poached egg on a slab of brioche.
The dishes are simple comfort food prepared well and with extreme attention to detail, which makes all the difference.
“We make a lot of things from scratch, such as our bacon, all our bread, our chorizos and more. I think customers will immediately see and taste that this makes a big difference. We’re also the only specialty coffee shop on the island, so we became quickly known as having the best coffee in Boracay that’s at par with what you can find abroad,” Nowie says.
Unfortunately, the Sunny Side Cafe is only available in Boracay – at least for now.
“Our vision for the Sunny Side Cafe was to create something that’s just for Boracay, so at this point in time, we have no plans of opening in Manila,” Nowie says.
The only up side to this is that you’ll definitely have something to look forward to the next time you hop on a plane to one of the best beaches in the world.
Photos by Ian Benetua and Jess Jacutan.
The Sunny Side Cafe
Station 3, White Beach, Malay, Aklan, Philippines
+63 36 288-2874
https://www.thesunnysideboracay.com/
