Tatoosh Posted January 9, 2012 Posted January 9, 2012 (edited) For many natives in Luzon, Baguio City is prime tourist spot. Once the summer capitol of the Philippines, now it's much changed: congested, polluted, but bustling with young students at its many schools & universities. The weather, however, is still the beautiful, cool, rainy stuff of legend. So if you visit, here are some suggestions for eateries. Baguio City is something of the salad bowl of the country so a visit to public market is fun, both for the abundant vegetable stalls and mountain wood carvings. And lots of strawberries during late December through March, but beware - some farmers are not careful and amoebiasis has been known. Cooked strawberries, no problemo. Baguio's Best Strawberries (jam), done by a Swiss expat, are simply superb and my regular topping on my ice cream or PB&J sandwich.This list is far from complete. Many places I have not been. Others I can't remember their names or locations, so I won't include in this post. But all mentioned here I have eaten at at least once and usually multiple times. My standards tend to be generally higher but I do not demand (nor expect) gourmet level excellence, just basic competence in the kitchen, an occasionally attentive waitstaff and edible quality ingredients. YMMVHigh End:The Manor - international cuisine - has a sometimes great Sunday brunch, but over 800 plus pesos, worth it when they are on their game, not when they swing and miss. Regular meals are good to very good. Good to very good service too. Location: Camp John HayMario's - international & Italian - high end restaurant, good brunch on Sunday at 500 pesos. Excellent to good regular meals. Excellent service. They do a flambe dessert that will impress your wife or date. Location: Upper Session Road (past SM Mall and on the way to Camp John Hay)High Point - International & Filipino - very stylish but be ready to dodge the mosquitoes. Reasonably priced, a bit of trip to get to though, food is variable from good to very good. Service is good generally, though I've seen the waitstaff disappear for periods, apparently forgetting they had customers. Location: Kennon Road, a few kilometers down.Middlin' Price:Brod PIt - Filipino & International cusine - A mixed bag of offerings, many which are good to very good. Chicken cordon bleu, usually very good but sometimes it comes out cold and must be reheated. A few modified Thai dishes as well. Service is good. Location: Corfu Village (tell the driver near Red Lion).Old Spaghetti Factory - Italian - offerings are variable from good to so-so. Pizza is very thin crust, think flour tortilla. Spaghetti is generally good. Service is usually good but I've had one report of it being quite poor. The chicken & mushroom in white sauce is okay if not great and I regularly order it. Their mocha float is excellent. Location: SM Mall 2nd floorOther SM Mall Eateries: Gerry's, Daves Tea House, & Others. Generally good, rarely poor, chain eateries aimed at the masses. Pricing moderate to slightly higher. Some so-so dishes but if you are at the mall and want something besides McD or KFC, these are good choices. They are chain restaurants. Pizza hounds: Yellow Cab, Shakey's, and Pizza Hut. Hot dogs: Big City on the lower ground floor usually carries Nathan's All-Beef hotdogs and Johnsonville Brauts. The real thing, so high on my list of munchie stops. Red Lion - Filipino & American - More of a watering hole than a dining destination. Food is okay to so-so but generally safe. Brod Pit next door is a better choice. The 50's Diner you pass while walking in the entrance is reviewed below (far far below). Service is basically the neighborhood bar sort, excellent. A good place to start from and get information. Location: Corfu village but most taxi drivers will know Red Lion better, if they don't then tell them Brod Pit, which is next door. Just off of Leonard Wood drive.Good Taste - Filipino - The most popular Filipino restaurant in town, I think. Cafeteria style, big, noisy, and generally good food moderately priced. Location: Beside Center Mall off of Magsaysay. Don't go in the evening, unless you are driving, beware limited parking. The area "toughens" up at night. Daytime is fine. Rose Bowl - Chinese & Filipino - Most Popular Chinese restaurant in Baguio City, generally good to very good food, recently moved to newer upscale building with better parking. Service: Good. Location: North Drive (not far from SM Mall)Mr Ching's - Chinese & Filipino - A not very well kept secret, one of the local's favorites with good to very good food to be had here for not too much money. Mr Ching's rice is excellent. Sweet and Sour pork, S&S meatballs, all very good. I heard about this place shortly after moving to Baguio City, but didn't visit for years. My loss, now it is a regular stop for me and a favorite of my family.Red Orange - International, Italian, Filipino - generally good to very good, pizza on weekends but very thin crust. Nice ambiance and usually good parking. Good to excellent service. Two Locations: Original (reviewed) South Drive, New Session & Mabini. Cafe by the Ruins - Filipino - Good quality, rather upscale with a focus on local ingredients. Interesting ambiance and a bit of culinary history for the city. Parking is so-so at best and usually poor, but taxis are very easy to catch. Worth a visit. Location: Shuntug Road below City Hall.Pinoy Hotpot aka Barrio Fiesta - Filipino - generally good/very good to occasionally great. Grilled ribs (pork) are usually superb, seafood usually good, their leche flan some of the best in the city. Service is usually good to very good. Location: below SM Mall on Upper Session Road. Close to the newly renovated and opened Hill Station restaurant. Note: A fair amount of steps involved, but the concrete native statues are super photo opportunities. Very popular for my family, but expats are seen only occasionally here. Good parking normally.Ugly Ugly - Don't Go:50's Diner. I've eaten there a few times. It was barely tolerable to utterly inedible. Two locations and due to cheap prices very popular. Food unfit for canine consumption. Service: so-so to good. Locations: Original - beside Red Lion in Corfu Village, New - on Military Cut Off Road. Edited January 9, 2012 by Jollygoodfellow -added bit from other post 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jollygoodfellow Posted January 9, 2012 Posted January 9, 2012 Thanks for a good post and informationThere has been a few posts before asking information about Baguio City but no seemed to come from there except for when The Mason lived there.A few questions if you could answer.What is the Expat population there these days?Are there any Expat type bars?Housing Rentals ? Prices? :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jollygoodfellow Posted January 9, 2012 Posted January 9, 2012 Thanks for answering the above post,I have split the topic which can be found here, http://philippines-expats.com/index.php?/topic/11316-living-in-baguio/page__pid__55886#entry55886 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tatoosh Posted January 9, 2012 Author Posted January 9, 2012 Thanks for answering the above post,I have split the topic which can be found here, http://www.philippin...5886#entry55886 Thanks, and I appreciate moving the Pinoy Hotpot review into my initial review. Tatoosh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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