Something a little different this morning, breakfast at the Central Park Reef hotel. It’s the newest and finest lodging establishment in Barretto, probably worthy of at least a 4-star rating. The hotel has actually been open for a few months now, but the rooftop restaurant/bar/pool was not completed and ready for customers until last weekend.
The breakfast itself was a bit disappointing. Service was average at best and the food took an inordinately long time to arrive from the kitchen. I had a ham and cheese omelet and it was lukewarm when I got it. I’m going to chalk it up to growing pains/learning curve and give them another try before passing final judgment. But the ambiance was really quite special.
What else? Well, Facebook memories reminded me that four years ago I was enjoying spending time in Cambodia.
Where does the time go? I’ve drunk a lot of beers since then, that’s for sure.
It’s kind of funny, but my Grammarly app doesn’t like the title to this post. It underlined “Up on” in red and suggests I change it to “Upon”. Fuck that!
I had intended to title this post “Up on the roof”, but I checked and saw that I had used that heading way back in 2005. That post was about the view from the rooftop of my apartment building in Hannam-dong, Seoul. Oddly enough I had totally forgotten ever spending time on my roof back then. Damn, maybe my brain’s capacity for memory has maxed out. Good thing I have the LTG archives around!
Well, I’ll be damned. I was going to post the video of that Christmas classic song “Up on the Rooftop” here as a fuck you to Grammarly. Turns out the actual title is “Up on the Housetop”. I honestly don’t recall ever singing it that way, but as I’ve said before, you can’t trust my memory these days.
This will have to do:
A good Fifties diner will offer a decent spread of mid-tier food. The essence of the menu ought to be the hot and cold sandwiches, anything from a burger to a turkey club (with lots of bacon). Breakfast items ought to be the classics and old favorites, e.g., pancakes, eggs, sausages, bacon, waffles, etc. Salads should be Amurrican mainstays like chef and Caesar. Dessert should definitely include a slew of pies ranging from apple to chocolate. Appetizers should be generously sized and not too off-the-wall—things like cheese fries, modest nachos, or even Southern treats like fried pickles. Being by the ocean, this diner ought to have a decent American-style seafood menu: whitefish (baked or fried), fried clams, oysters (fresh, fried, whatever), and shrimp (steamed or fried, preferably seasoned with Old Bay). Maybe also something crab-themed. Soups should be classics like tomato, New England and/or Manhattan clam chowder, chicken noodle, and maybe even minestrone. “Healthy” or frou-frou menu items ought to be kept to a minimum—a small, dark corner for PC vegetarians and dieters who are determined not to enjoy themselves.
Too bad the breakfast wasn’t all that impressive on your first pass, but it may turn out that the resto is good at certain dishes and poor at others. My own experience with the local Ho Lee Chow up the street from my office has been along those lines: HLC has terrible General Tso’s, but their mushu pork is amazing, and their hot-and-sour soup is totally American-Chinese (or Chinese-American) in style. Good luck as you continue to explore this diner’s menu! I look forward to seeing pics of some of their better dishes.
Looks Tsunami proofed as well. Why is there no one in that pool?
It’s more likely a 58-60
Kev, yeah I should have looked at the entire menu to see what’s on offer. There is a place in Manila called The Filling Station with an old-timey American menu like you describe. Next time I’ll check it out and report back. I’d be surprised though if they do based on the breakfast offerings.
Dan, there were a couple of people in the water in the first photo. I’m guessing 0830 on a Wednesday morning is not prime time for pool activity.
Rascal, yeah I think you are right. I was too lazy to look it up, but that’s definitely not a ’53.
Are those humans? I thought they were rocky islets in the ocean claimed by China.
Funny! Don’t put any ideas into China’s head…