When you hear of "Pan de Amerikana", you'll guess that it's a bakery. Well that's true. But their main branch in Marikina is so much more than just a bakery. It's a cozy restaurant too. My high school classmate's brother is one of the owners of this unique establishment.
First off, the pandesal alone is one big reason why people buy here on a daily basis. They tag their pandesal as 1950's pandesal. They bake their own wheat pandesal and the size is enormous for it's very affordable price of P4.00 per piece. It's best eaten hot which they always have a fresh new batch newly baked from their chimney-like cement oven... just the way bread was baked in the olden days.
I'd suggest you'd buy your take-out pandesal after dining for a whole Pan de Amerikana experience. The restaurant is semi self-service. You order your food at the entrance where the counter is, proceed inside and find a place to seat, and they'll serve it in a few minutes.
While you're waiting, you can play. Yes , play! The uniqueness of this restaurant is that chess enthusiasts will go gaga over this restaurant. All the tables have chessboards imprinted and embedded on every table and chess pieces are available at the front where you can play a friendly game of chess at the convenience in your own table. Would you like to add difficulty to your game ? A lifesize chess board can be found at the far end of the restaurant. These huge pieces require you to physically pick each one up when moving them. There's a huge stop clock at the side too. If you want a wider perspective, there's an elevated platform you could get up on to see the entire chess board. They also have some wooden sungka gamesets and darts if you'd like to play alone.
The place is also reminiscent of a tranquil sanctuary with a pond full of fishes, a bridge, memorabilia, a gorgeous landscape, lots of beautiful and hanging plants, miniature windmills, a transparent waterfall wall and a balcony for children to play and see the exterior as if the restaurant were a fortress. There's also a stage with a huge flatscreen TV and extra huge high-powered fans for proper ventilation. The entire restaurant also offers free wifi.
On one side of the main interior are pictures of Filipino celebrities of the '60's and '70's with some "then and now" pictures of them side by side. A display board at the entrance shows pictures of several famous people who have visited Pan de Amerikana. There are also a lot of vintage statues and antiques scattered throughout the restaurant.
The food on their menu is mostly Filipino with the myriad variations of the "log" family (tapsilog, longsilog etc). They also have eat all you can buffets during certain days of the week. Of course, you can order fresh pandesal with filling straight from their oven. They also offer some "kakanins" like palitao and kutsinta.
Overall, this place is a must see and visit Marikina attraction. The ambiance is one that will take your mind off the busy metro and relax and unwind feeling the calmness of the restaurants surroundings.
You can have breakfast as early as 6am. As for dinner though, you better go early since they close at 6pm. Pan de Amerikana is located at 92 Ordonez St. You can reach them at 475-2398 or 0917 530-8824 or visit their website at http://pandeamerikana.multiply.com/
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