Food Trippin' in Baguio

I love exploring places and food and what I learned about living in Baguio is that you will never run out of good, artsy places to go to enjoy good eats. 

Good Taste menu

When I was still based in Manila I occasionally visit Baguio for vacation because where else can you find all sorts of ukay-ukay (second-hand items) stuff and lots of coffee shops everywhere but here. It must be the weather that's why in every corner of Baguio, you will find coffee shops that not just serve coffee and bread but also rice meals, porridge, noodles, etc. at an affordable price. When I was a kid my dad brought me and my siblings to this local restaurant by the marketplace called Rainbow Cafe (Kayang Street Located at the public market). I had my first taste of their bestseller Rainbow Rice here which consist of Chopsuey rice with lots of fresh vegetables, a slice of lechon and steamed chicken. Oh boy, the serving was huge! It left me a happy tummy that I will never forget so I told myself that the city of pines has more to offer. If you miss homecooked meals, drop by anytime at the very popular Good Taste (Otek Street near Burnham Park). It is open 24/7 I remember my sister and I come here for breakfast in the wee hours of the morning after work. Rice meals are considerably cheap. Food is served with huge portions of fresh veggies. You will realize that fast food is nothing but junk if you come here often but make sure you are really hungry because you will really end up stuffed. I love their fried rice, chicken fillet, blue lemonade, and cream puff if you want something for dessert.

OMG at Oh My Gulay!

My sister and I are very much into artsy places but are also into healthy food so every once in while we drop by at Oh My Gulay (La Azotea, Session Road) to savor their tasty salads. I came across OMG as a tourist many years ago. I like to Google places to visit before I go on vacation and OMG is listed as one of the most interesting places to eat in Baguio. I always make sure that I have an itinerary to follow so everything's organized when I'm there and this definitely topped my list. If you're into nature-inspired art and organic food you will find this place really interesting and if you still haven't had enough of OMG, check out Ili Likha and Cafe Cueva (both in Assumption Road) too.

Ili-Likha with the resident ginger cat

Cafe Cueva

For chocolate lovers and cacao advocates, savor a cup of bitter-sweet rich hot chocolate at "Choco-Late de Batirol" (inside Camp John Hay). Make sure to try their "Turon De Langka and pair this up with any traditional blend of your choice. I had strawberry whilst my sister picked the cinnamon flavor and both are equally delicious. 

Choco-Late de Batirol's Turon de Langka a
nd strawberry traditional blend choco

Grumpy Joe's Combo A: Chicken, Spaghetti, 
Fries, and Pizza

Western food is everywhere too so why not try "Grumpy Joe" (Leonard Road). The place is not very spacious especially for a large group but the food tastes good and the price is quite reasonable.

Ozark's Dark Beer Cheesecake and Chicken BBQ sandwich

Whenever my siblings and I like to catch up, we go to random places so when a friend of mine at work recommended Ozark, (2 Bear's Trail, corner Bareng Drive) even if this is right in the middle of nowhere we took effort to find it. I was surprised when we got there because there is no one else but us. No reservations needed, a table and good food awaits. This is a perfect place to chit chat and relax. The day we came happened to be my niece's 19th birthday. so we decided to pig out and enjoy their South American food. You can sit comfortably while enjoying the soothing view of pine trees and school field. My (pulled) chicken BBQ sandwich is super tasty, served with generous portions of fries and Ozark iced tea. Also, never miss out to try their bestseller Dark Beer cheesecake.

Canto's Half Slab Lomo Back Ribs is heaven 

I'm not a fan of jam-packed places but if you're craving for lomo back ribs cooked at its finest, head over to Canto and you will never regret a thing. The place is crowded for the most part so don't take your chances and reserve a table for you and your family or friends to make sure that you will not end up disappointed. I just didn't like the noise especially if you will spend dinner there plus there's not much privacy I noticed that tables are too close to each other. 

Chaya

For Japanese food lovers, Chaya is a good place to dine but not for walk-in clients since they have limited tables. It's like a house converted into a fine dining resto. I'm not really into Japanese food but I did like their tasty Chicken Teriyaki salad and green tea ice cream sampler which is served free after your meal. To be honest and in my experience, don't attempt to come here without a car although the parking space is also very limited because it will take you forever to get a cab home especially in the afternoon too so I find it not very convenient.

The lovely walls of Hillside Station

After scouring books at Mt. Cloud better check out Hillstation (Casa Vallejo, Upper Session Road) too. This is cozy place serve vegetarian yet tasty sandwiches. For non-vegetable lovers they thought that vegan food lack flavor but that is no longer true since most vegan dishes nowadays aside from healthy are flavorful just like the "vegetarian panini" I ordered. I thought I was eating smoked beef and not eggplant because the taste is quite deceiving it's like not eating a vegan sandwich at all.

My Vegetarian Panini 

That's pretty much it for now. I'm still in the hunt for cool places to go and I will definitely keep looking. Any suggestions? 

When In Baguio

Tuesday. 08.31.10

I just got home earlier. Twin sissy and I spent our leave in Baguio. I did not bring my laptop with me so I am not able to update my blog for a week so but I'll try to remember what happened during my short yet relaxing vacation in the summer capital, Baguio City.

Sunday. 08.29.10

It's been raining a lot here in Baguio since we arrived yesterday afternoon via Dagupan bus. I slept soundly last night because mom's comforter is the best! Sissy and I have to wake up early not to miss the 7AM mass at the Pink Sisters Convent. Our brother drove us to church we arrived 15 minutes before the first mass starts. It's our first time at the Pink Sisters I must say that it's a lot solemn to hear mass there compared to Baguio Cathedral. This church isn't spacious enough to accommodate many people so it's not crowded at all. It's really quiet there I can hear what the priest is saying clearly during the mass. It started raining after the mass so we're unable to take pictures outside. Dad and brother went ahead so mom and the two of us head over to "Cafe by the Ruins" for breakfast. I thought I'd have something exquisite to drink so instead of having coffee I chose this "mint tea" something from the menu and had the shock of my life when the waiter served me a glassful of hot water with what I suppose is mint leaves and a small cup full of honey to taste. To be honest, I didn't like my tea at all it tastes like toothpaste dissolved in water or something it's a little weird for me. I ordered the beef sandwich that got me even more disappointed because the bread is very hard to chew and the filling isn't generous nor tasteful enough. Cafe by the Ruins looked pretty enticing from the outside but the food is no winner to me or maybe I'm just expecting too much? Whatever, I'm not a happy camper so to speak. The weather is still not very cooperative so we went home after buying Ukay shirts from a stall fronting Prime Hotel. Let's hope that tomorrow's a better day.

Monday. 08.31.10

National Heroes Day


Oh, It's a holiday and another rainy day. Our first itinerary for the day is supposedly a trip to Bencab Museum we forgot about it yesterday for but according to the website they're closed on Mondays. Nevertheless, sissy and I never lose hope we didn't stop scouring session road in search of authentic-artsy places. Few days before my leave I breezed through some food blogs on the Internet and when I come across this vegetarian resto/art gallery called Oh My Gulay, located at the top floor of La Azotea building along Session Road. We got excited when we take a peek inside OMG, it's an art jungle in the amidst the city. A cozy atmosphere greeted us. We got a little intimidated by the place at first because we arrived early we didn't see anyone taking pictures so we chose a spot where we can take pictures discreetly. It's lunch time so we told ourselves that we'll worry about taking pictures later we better check out what's on the menu first. For our main dish, it's twin sissy's pick she chose Lumpia Salad. This salad lingered on our tastebuds, the vinaigrette dressing is so good we loved it. Then comes dessert my pick is called super sosy. Don't be fooled it's not like sosyal (fancy) at all, it's just the name. The yummy crepe is made of mango and peach it's not too sweet, just perfect for our diet. 

The rain poured heavily after we had our fill and more customers started coming in so when we saw them taking pictures of the place we wasted no time and did the same thing. We had a real good OMG experience. It's still raining when we got home. We had spaghetti and double dutch ice cream for merienda. We thought we've had enough until dinner and will not eat anymore but mom cooked our favorite dish Tokwa't Baboy (tofu and pork) so we had no choice but to eat again, I'm so stuffed. 

I guess that pretty much is everything.