Arts & Culture

Here’s where you’ll find the best Eggs Benedict in Cebu

A charmingly quaint café in the heart of the city is where you’ll want to have breakfast all day.

Alyssa Lao, for as long as I’ve known her, has been very picky about how her Eggs Benedict are done. “The egg has to be cooked perfectly so that it’s just runny enough,” she’d told me once, after I recommended another brunch spot’s version of the dish that she hadn’t been impressed with. “There also has to be the perfect ratio of the hollandaise with the rest of the dish. It’s all the little parts of it that come together.”

Birdseed Breakfast Club’s Eggs Benedict (Photography by Nath Ybañez/Originally published in Zee Lifestyle, April 2016)

The cozy interiors of Birdseed. (Photography by Nath Ybañez/Originally published in Zee Lifestyle, April 2016)

It’s easy understand, then, why Birdseed Breakfast Club + Café‘s Eggs Benedict is pretty good stuff. Drizzled with a generous serving of hollandaise, the yolk is rich and thick when it breaks open, spilling over the homemade bacon, wilted spinach and toasted English muffin.

Having opened earlier this year, Birdseed has been tempting diners with its hearty breakfast favorites throughout the day, and many have been giving in. The items on Birdseed’s menus are hearty enough meals for any time of the day, and explore flavors that some dinner outlets may be afraid to tread.

Kimchi silog. (Photography by Nath Ybañez/Originally published in Zee Lifestyle, April 2016)

The Chicken Log is bacon-wrapped chicken breast, stuffed with Japanese mushrooms, cashew, red pepper and spinach—a filling but incredibly tasty combination that works well with the brown rice pilaf its served with. The Beef Brisket and Kimchi Silog brings spiciness by way of the kimchi fried rice with toasted sesame, while the US beef brisket itself is slow-cooked and is so tender that it’s easily pulled apart with a fork.

The eggs at Birdseed, of course, are masterpieces in themselves. They’re sous vide at 63 degrees, so each one spills perfectly into your rice for what seems like optimal yolk flavor. It’s even more perfect with the Mom’s Beef Tapa Silog. The restaurant’s best seller—and for good reason—the dish features tender and flavorful slices of the Filipino breakfast staple, a family recipe that Alyssa says her mom keeps strictly under wraps. “I have no idea how to make it actually,” she admits, sharing that her mother makes all the tapa herself.

Third-wave artisanal coffee. (Photography by Nath Ybañez/Originally published in Zee Lifestyle, April 2016)

For something sweet, have the waffles. (Photography by Nath Ybañez/Originally published in Zee Lifestyle, April 2016)

For something sweet, Birdseed’s chocolate waffles is the way to go. (Photography by Nath Ybañez/Originally published in Zee Lifestyle, April 2016)

Breakfast isn’t complete without a cup of coffee, and Birdseed serves up drinks that are strictly third-wave, meaning high-quality artisanal coffee. With beans from Plain Sight Coffee for their espresso blend and EDSA Beverage Design Studio for their drops, the restaurant has all the usual coffee-based drinks but follow a strict standard for how it’s made. Their cold brew, created via a fancy-looking three-level contraption at the bar, takes 32 hours to make by steeping coffee grounds in room temperature or cold water.

Wrap up the meal with the Chocolate Waffles, where not only is the treat topped with Chantilly cream, shaved chocolate and toasted cashews—it’s also stuffed with chocolate ganache. If every day started like this, then there’d be no problem about getting up early. Birdseed Breakfast Club + Café makes me especially thankful that Alyssa Lao is such a breakfast snob.

Axis Entertainment Avenue
Escario Street, Cebu City
6332. 254 9463 | Facebook

photography Nath Ybañez

Up Next

Here’s a dessert place you should totally try when in Cebu

Don't Miss

You should definitely leave Room for Dessert for this place

9 Comments

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Arts & Culture

What is Sappia? The Rice Myth Goddess of Bohol Who Helped Feed the People During a Great Famine

by Emma Gomez

The story began when the people of Bohol started to experience hunger and famine. All the livestocks were inedible and the fields were dried out leaving only weeds planted on the ground. The people prayed to the goddess of mercy, Sappia, to ask for food.

Sappia, the rice myth goddess of Bohol

Sappia, from the heavens, heard the cries of the people. She saw the dense population of weeds and offered to help them. Sappia thought of nourishing the weeds to be edible and healthy for the people of Bohol. Straightaway, she sprinkled the weed with milk from her bossom. She emptied each breast until blood came out. Before she left, she whispered to the weeds that they may be nourished and be able to feed the people.

When harvest season came, the people of Bohol quickly gathered the nourished weeds. They observed that the ones sprinkled with milk were white, while the other were red. They called the new plant rice and they replanted these in honor of Sappia, and for the people to devour.

Arts & Culture

Kimsoy’s Canvas of a Lifetime in Full Display

by Diana Gillo

There is nothing more fascinating than seeing an artist’s lifetime of work in one room. Such is the experience in Jose “Kimsoy” Yap’s third solo exhibit entitled “Kimsoy: Episodes of Mastery,” at Galerie Raphael Cebu. This serves as the truest form of homage to his enduring journey, showcasing works that span over decades.

The exhibit speaks greatly of Kimsoy’s evolution as an artist, with his shifting mediums and remarkable variety of subjects. His creations range from heartfelt portraits of individuals he encountered along his journey to detailed landscapes inspired by the different walks of his life. The room’s layout carries the weight of his years of craft with one wall lined with pastels, another with watercolors, and another with oil painting.

As the River Flows Onward by Kimsoy Yap 2020 | Oil on canvas | 82×48 inches

The exhibit transcends beyond just the commemoration of Kimsoy’s masterful periods. It wanders more into a sense of intimacy reflecting Kimsoy’s life’s journey—from his roots as a young boy in Negros Oriental, through his pursuit of greater artistic mastery in New York, to his prominence in Cebu’s art scene. All his work freehanded, created both with his left and right hand, depicts the ways in which we all leave traces of ourselves in our work and in the world.

A Friend of Mine 1979 | watercolor on paper | 24×18 inches

In a Relaxed Mood 1977 | water color on paper | 16×19.5 inches

The opening ceremony featured Ambassador Jose Mari Cariño, alongside special guests Ivy Ang Gabas, Paolo Li, Angbetic Tan, Laurie Bouquiren of the Visayas Art Fair, and Valerie Go of Galerie Raphael Cebu. The exhibit is open until March 21, 2025.

Arts & Culture

Art Fair Philippines 2025: A Celebration of Creativity

by Emcee Go

Art Fair Philippines 2025 transformed the Ayala Triangle Gardens in Makati City into a dynamic showcase of contemporary and modern art. From February 21 to 23, art enthusiasts and collectors were treated to an eclectic mix of visual masterpieces, interactive installations, and thought-provoking exhibits.

This year’s fair features an impressive lineup of local and international galleries, including renowned names like Leon Gallery, Metro Gallery, Orange Project, J Studio and from Cebu, Qube Gallery.