Bangsilog for breakfast?

Richmond has numerous diners and dim sum parlors, but what if you want something different for your morning meal? We’ve got the scoop on breakfast alternatives that take you beyond bacon, eggs and shrimp dumplings.

Bangsilog breakfast plate, Kumare Restaurant & Bakery. | Photo: Carolyn B. Heller

Bangsilog and sweet buns — Kumare Restaurant & Bakery

By 10 a.m. the formica tables at this friendly Filipino restaurant (8130 Park Rd.) are laden with overflowing platters. Morning fare here includes four different breakfast combinations: Bangsilog, a crisp fried fish; Tapsilog, cured beef that tastes like juicy, slightly sweet beef jerky; Tocilog, cured sweetened pork; and Longsilog, traditional Filipino sausage. They’re all served with a fried egg, a tower of deliciously garlicky rice, and a salsa-like mix of fresh tomatoes and onions.

Tapsilog breakfast plate, Kumare Restaurant & Bakery. | Photo: Carolyn B. Heller

Breakfast isn’t limited to these combo plates, though. Sizzling pork Sisig topped with a fried egg, Mami (noodle soup with your choice of chicken or beef), and pastries like the Ube Ensaymada, a bun filled with sweet purple potato paste, are popular choices, too.

Ube Ensaymada, Kumare Restaurant & Bakery. | Photo: Carolyn B. Heller

China’s congee comforts — Kongee Dinesty

Simmering in the open kitchen at Kongee Dinesty (150-9020 Capstan Way) are giant pots of the creamy rice porridge known as congee. The city’s new congee specialist, in a strip mall off Garden City Road, serves 12 different congee Breakfast Sets, ranging from Preserved Egg with Salted Pork to Sampan, a mixed seafood version swimming with fish maw, cuttlefish and sliced beef.

Sampan Congree, Kongee Dinesty. | Photo: Carolyn B. Heller

With each hearty breakfast bowl, you choose a companion dish, perhaps sweet or savoury Chinese doughnuts designed for dunking, or soft rice noodle rolls seasoned with dried shrimp. A unique accompaniment is the Salty Pancake, a puffy pastry stuffed with deep red preserved bean curd — a crispy, salty and out-of-the-ordinary way to start your Richmond day.

Salty Pancake, Kongee Dinesty. | Photo: Carolyn B. Heller