Good Food in Baguio 2

A lot of local restaurants in Baguio with their bestselling goodies have ceased to exist in the past few years. Some recent ones are Star Cafe and their huge cinammon bread, authentic Chinese food in Mandarin Restaurant ( i love their almond lychee dessert) and the famous streamline cake by Session's Delight. Much to the dismay of Baguio residents, these restaurants which we have grown to love have closed for different reasons. There are still some which remain and two of which we just recently discovered.

Let's start within the city center going out to the borders of the city limits.

1. Ebai's Cafe and Pastry

Location: Upper Session Road, beside Zola and Cathedral
Personally, I love their apple walnut cake. This is best matched with a cup of hot steaming brewed coffee. This probably is one of the best ways to start the a cold day in Baguio. Aside from the pastries, they also serve breakfast and meryenda.

2. Solibao Restaurant

Location: Upper Session Road and in Burnham Park
One of the best place to get puto bumbong all year round. Its mostly served as a dessert and is most delectable when eaten hot with melted butter and muscovado to add sweetness. They have other delicious meals like sinigang, liempo, gising-gising and other Filipino food. Solibao is a constant favorite because of the convenient location and of course, their good food.

Solibao's famous puto bumbong

Liempo

Spicy gising-gising

fish sinigang

pinakbet

 3. Uncle & Auntie Half-Half Eatery

Location: Along Marcos Highway, besides Mamita's Restaurant

Moving outward the city center, this place is not exactly a restaurant but a lot of people eat here because of their half-half viand. Its made up of half pork and half beef in a bowl of pinapaitan soup. Its quite affordable ranging from 90 to 120, with rice and free bulalo soup included.

Pinakbet, beefereta and their famous half-half

4. Marosan's Restaurant

Location: Long-long beside the Puguis Communal Forest

Marosan's is a common name both in Baguio and in La Trinidad. We found this place by accident when we were taking the circumferential road from La Trinidad to Baguio. The place at the time was still having some renovations but just like the other Marosan's they also serve alcohol aside from food. We were there around 4pm and there was a live band playing. We also had a chance to talk to the owner, Sir Johnny and he gave us a free tour of the place. They had a view deck where you can see a large area of La Trinidad. Beneath the restaurant was "resort-like" structures complete with a pool and cottages. It is still under renovation but it is a great place to relax and have some peace and quiet under the pine trees where birds and butterflies abound.

This is the second part of my Good Food blog in Baguio. Here's the first in case you missed it. :)

Foodtrip in UPLB 2

The semester has just ended and finally got some time to write again. Here's another round of UPLB good eats in and out of the campus.

1. Dalcielo

Location: Beside Searca Dorm and Hotel inside UPLB Campus and in Lopez Avenue, beside Vanity Lounge, Los Banos

 In terms of flavor, Dalcielo has it spot on. Every food they serve have a distinct taste, all of them delicious! Their grilled fish was cooked to perfection with the right herbs especially with the vegetables. The crispy dinuguan was also very tasty, the first time I tasted dinuguan with chicharon. Binagoongang Liempo was amazing, tender and juicy covered with just the right amount of bagoong. The salmon had a bit of a tangy taste, but it was also very soft. It added a good mix to all of the salty viands we had. And don't ever leave without having dessert. Their pistachio sansrival is an instant favorite.  

2. Eat-sumo Terihaus

Location: Lopez Avenue, above Serendipitea.

Craving for some Japanese food, Eat-sumo has some to offer. I really like their salad mixture of cucumber, mango, apple and mayo. 

3. Faustina's (2)

I mentioned Faustina's in the first UPLB Foodtrip post, but I had to try some of their dishes again. And it didn't disappoint.

4. Cafe San Antonio

Location: Brgy. Maahas, Los Banos

It was one of the cafe's I have heard so much about. I wanted to try their famed coffee and unfortunately, it was too hot to get hot coffee so I tried their cold capuccino instead. I couldn't appreciate the coffee since I can taste better when hot without the ice. I still have lots to discover about their cuisine but their pasta wasn't so bad. 

5. University Cafeteria

Location: Beside UPLB Post office, behind the Phy-Sci building

It has a great location and they have everyday specials which they change everyday. I particularly like their salad dressing and their quesadillas are quite different. They even have adobo flavored quesadillas which I will have to try on my next visit.

6. Coffee Blends

Location: Lopez Avenue, Los Banos

This is a place to hangout at night since they open at 6pm and close at 12 midnight. They offer the usual hot and cold coffee and pasta too. They also have the cheapest cheesecake I have seen so far. 

That's only part two. There are new places to still discover and only less than a year to explore. :)

Road Trip to the Ilocos Region

Another famous tourist destination in the North is the Ilocos Region, specifically Vigan, Paoay, Laoag and Pagudpud (and all the places in between). Here is the summary of the two trips we had back in 2010 and in 2012. Route: Baguio to Pagudpud. Of course, the earlier we start, the more places we can go.

Ilocos Sur

1. Candon City

The first stop on our roadtrip to the Ilocos Region is Candon. It is known for being the “Tobacco Capital of the Philippines” and kalamay (sticky rice). We only had a quick stop to eat breakfast at McDonalds and a brief look at nearby stores. There are souvenirs like chichacorn and kalamay sold here. It didn’t hurt to buy a few souvenirs just in case we won’t have time to do so later in the trip.

2. Vigan City 

One of the attraction-filled cities in the Ilocos region. Within the city alone, there are already a number of interesting places to visit:

Heritage Village – walking within the area takes you back as you get a feel of the olden days of the Spanish era. There are however, numerous souvenir stores but are nestled in the old structures somehow preserving the old houses. You can also ride a kalesa (horse carriage) to take you around as an added option. Even the Mcdonalds fastfood building was structured to look like one of those old houses.

Around the area you can also find the famous Ilocos empanada(distinctly made with egg and its crispy cover) and sinanglaw. Other products abound such as chichacorn products (in many flavors), malagkit, kalamay, longganisa and bagnet.

Also near the heritage site are other tourist spots: (optionally riding a kalesa)

Vigan Cathedral – Considerably one of the oldest churches in the Philippines built during the Spanish era but was reconstructed.

Pottery- forgot the name, but it was pretty much the only pottery nearby.

Hidden Garden – Didn’t see anything remarkable (my bias comes from being garden-rich-Baguio-born) although they say the restaurant serves good food.

Padre Burgos House Museum - Lots of antiques and preserved history.

Plaza Salcedo Dancing Fountain – At night, it is a very entertaining show of lights, water and hip music. It’s really as if the fountain was groovin’.

3. Bantay Belfry

This structure provides a great view of Vigan and is also known as where the Panday movie was shot. Nearby is the St. Agustine’s Church. We also get to walk on the very battle grounds of Diego Silang. (10 minutes outside Vigan)

4. Chavit Singson’s Baluarte 

Definitely, lots to see inside the zoo. I particularly liked the uncaged birds and the photogenic tigers because we get to touch them with the trainer’s guidance. It was devastating to see the animals on our second trip because they looked dehydrated and unhealthy especially the dwarf horses. (10 minutes outside Vigan)

Ilocos Norte

5. Paoay Church

Before entering Laoag City, we stopped by Paoay to see the centuries-old baroque-style St. Augustine church of Paoay. And so far it is still the biggest church I’ve seen. Big is not enough to describe it. It is definitely somewhere enormous to gigantic. From what I’ve read, it took almost a century to complete the church.

6. Marcos Mausoleum

We also had a side-trip to see the Marcos’ corpse well-maintained in one of the home of the Marcoses. I couldn't take a picture though but they were able to preserve his body almost like he was made of wax.

7. Laoag Sinking Bell Tower 

We haven’t had time to view it up close but you could tell it really is sinking

8. Cape Borjeador 

Astounding view from this place. You can see part of the South China Sea and the lighthouse itself is more than a century old.

9. Bangui Windmills 

These structures are hard to miss because of their towering size. They are used as energy farms of course from the wind. It was already raining by the time we were on the way to Pagudpud but we can’t resist taking photos near them.

10. Pagudpud

 We had a small taste of the beach because of the sudden strong rain. Unfortunately, we didn’t have a great time at this last stop. Which means it is a place to revisit in the future.

Food! (aside from Empanada and Sinanglaw)

11. Saramsam

Quite a favorite stopover, on both trips we had to eat at this famous Ilocano restaurant known for their unusual pizza flavors. Viands as pizza flavors? Who would have thought you could have dinuguan or pinakbet or even longganisa as a pizza topping. Plus, they also have unusual names such poque-poque (mainly eggplant as the ingredient). This place is a must try!

pinakbet pizza

famous poque-poque

Dinuguan/ Dinardaraan pizza

One of the longest road trip I had but definitely gained a lot of cultural insight and it was quite satisfying both for the eyes and the stomach. :)