This New Brunch Haven Is More Than Just Wildflour's Little Sibling

Little Flour Café
G/F World Plaza, 4th Avenue corner 31st Street, Bonifacio Global City
Contact: 777-7383
Open daily from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.

IMAGE Marikit Singson

(SPOT.ph) Alive and bustling from day to night, it’s no surprise that Bonifacio Global City does not lack all-day breakfast places. Still, additions to the colorful lineup are always welcome—in fact, you might just find a new favorite in Little Flour Café.

IMAGE Marikit Singson

If the name sounds familiar, it’s because they’re the sibling concept of tried-and-tested breakfast haven Wildflour Café + Bakery. But unlike Wildflour, Little Flour is all about brunch, offering their menu of hearty breakfast fare until closing hours.

IMAGE Marikit Singson

IMAGE Marikit Singson

The vibe, too, at Little Flour is a little softer and homier. Also designed by architect Lara Fernandez-Barrios, the space still has the brick walls that have become a signature of all concepts under the Wildflour group. The furniture is deliberately mismatched, with plush sofas and antique chairs. Look up and you’ll find an eye-catching art installation of more vintage chairs hanging from the ceiling.

“Admittedly, Wildflour can be a little intimidating,” says head sous chef BJ Mantuano. “So we wanted to be more fun [at Little Flour]. We have mismatched chairs and tables. Everything also feels more open.”

IMAGE Marikit Singson

IMAGE Marikit Singson

“The dishes themselves are a combination of best-sellers from Wildflour and our other concepts, like Pink’s Hot Dogs,” adds director for corporate planning and finance Jao Gamboa. “But we’ve also created new dishes here. It’s like marrying the best of Wildflour with our Filipino-inspired dishes.”

New at Little Flour are the rice bowls, which are based on the ones served at L.A.-based Filipino food stall Sari Sari Store, also by Wildflour owners Walter Manzke and Margarita Lorenzana-Manzke. It's the café’s way of catering to BGC’s always on-the-go office crowd. “We wanted our kitchen to run much faster here than at Wildflour,” says Chef BJ.

Sisig Rice Bowl

They may come out of the kitchen quicker, but the rice bowls at Little Flour are still of the same high caliber as Wildflour’s best-sellers. The Sisig Rice Bowl (P250/half, P420/full), is traditional Pinoy sisig on top of white and brown rice, but also much more flavorful than what you’ll expect from the average. The savory chunks of braised pork cheek blend with the fiery heat of pickled chilis, with a subtle sweet-sour tang of calamansi to round things out.

Lechon Manok

The Lechon Manok (P380) looks simpler by comparison, with two pieces of roast chicken on top of white and brown rice, with a fried egg and pickled vegetables. Chef BJ shares “It’s actually more like chicken barbecue than lechon manok,” but you won’t care for semantics once you have the juicy chunks of chicken and their lip-smacking sweet-savory glaze in your mouth.

Blueberry Pancakes

If you’re in the mood for more traditional breakfast fare, Little Flour carries lots of options. The Blueberry Pancakes (P320/two pieces) are their take on Wildflour’s ricotta pancakes, adding chunks of blueberry to pancakes that are incredibly fluffy and almost melt-in-your-mouth creamy. You’ll want to slice into these while they're still warm, with melted butter and generous drizzles of maple syrup.

Breakfast Burger

For something more filling, have the Breakfast Burger (P420), based on the burger served at Pink’s Hot Dogs. It’s no surprise that the buns are soft-in-the-center with a nice crisp crust, and their buttery flavor is the perfect foil to smoky chorizo patty, with a tangy coleslaw adding cooler flavors. The strongly seasoned crispy potatoes on the side will wake up your palate, too.

Coconut Pie

Cassava Cake

You'll find Wildflour’s cult favorite Coconut Pie (P220/slice, P1,760/whole) at Little Flour, but it could just be knocked off its pedestal by the excellent Cassava Cake (P160/slice, P1,280/whole). More like cheesecake than kakanin because of its velvety smooth texture, a slice of this is perfect with the house-made coconut jam, for a winning sweet-salty combo.

Ube lovers will love the moist Ube Bomboloni (P110), a Little Flour café exclusive

You can now get Cold Brew (P170) and juices (P260) in take-out bottles

With a name like Little Flour, it’s inevitable that people will see the link between them and older sibling Wildflour, a fact the team embraces. But that doesn’t mean they don’t want to step out of that shadow, either. “We still want people to make that connection like 'oh this kind of feels like Wildflour,'” says Chef BJ. “But we also don't want people to say ‘what the hell's the difference between Wildflour and Little Flour?’ We want to be different, but not too different.” Even after just two weeks of operations, it looks like this little sibling is well on its way to becoming a star in its own right, too.

Photos by Marikit Singson