Happy 2024! It’s been a while since my last post. Life has gotten quite busy and interesting. I’ve been looking through my phone’s gallery to look back at the year that was (2023). I realized how much food content I haven’t shared here.

In a bid to archive the memories quickly, this will be a rapid-fire post of some places I’ve tried and haven’t posted for the 2nd half of 2023. Let’s go!

Chimichanga by: Jaime’s Family Feast

Our first food place takes us to the highlands of Baguio. This place is right across the famous Burnham Park, so I suggest having a meal here when you’re in the area. We’ve been here multiple times and it has become a mainstay whenever we visit.

As their name suggests, they mainly serve Mexican food, but there is also Filipino cuisine on the menu. We ordered their Steak Chimichanga, Cheese Quesadilla, and Jalapeno Cheese Rolls.

The Jalapeno Cheese Rolls came first, as they were our appetizers. The dip they came with was drizzled with hot sauce which I really liked although it could have been spicier. The pepper inside the rolls helped with that missing heat, though. The rolls themselves were crispy and not oily. The mix of the pepper and cheese set the mood for our meal. I was left craving for more.

Their Steak Chimichanga came with some chips and salad on the side, as well as three kinds of dip. The fried burrito itself is very hefty and bigger than I expected. Upon slicing it open, I saw some solid pieces of steak as well as bits of corn.

The beef was juicy, tender, and flavorful. Though delicious on its own, the big serving size can make every serving repetitive. This is why I suggest eating every bite with a different kind of dip. I especially liked the green dip which was very spicy. Don’t forget to squeeze the lime to help cut through the savory flavor!

As for the Cheese Quesadilla, the photo shows how full it is. The cheese was still oozing hot when served, but cooled down when it was already time to eat. It came with the three dips as well and this time, I preferred the less spicy ones.

I’m a cheese lover and this side dish satisfied my craving. Every bite was heaven and also served as a break from the flavor bomb that was the Chimichanga. This is definitely my favorite order of the night.

The food here is a bit pricey, but they make up for it in serving size. You will surely come out of this place feeling full. The staff is also incredibly friendly and the ambiance is festive, neat, and clean.

It’s a good place to have a meal with the family or a large group of friends. The food does take a while to be served so remember to bring some patience and chismis. We will surely come back because I have yet to try their well-acclaimed Birria Tacos.

Chimichanga by: Jaime’s Family Feast
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12:00NN to 8:30PM
Open Everyday
M.H. Del Pilar St. cor. Kisad Road
Baguio City

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Cafe Kafagway

This VERY hidden gem is also in Baguio, although it’s almost impossible to get to if you don’t own a car or use a taxi. Despite its difficult location, it’s worth the visit because of the food and ambiance. This café is reached via a long downhill stair walk from a subdivision road. Yes, that means you’ll have to climb back up once you finish your visit.

Imagine walking into a secret garden with just a few tables for dining. The sounds of nature can be heard and you are surrounded by foliage. The ambiance is very peaceful, as there are very few customers around. We arrived here for a quick breakfast and it was only us and the staff.

Our first order was the Grilled Liempo with Honey Sriracha. This was recommended as their bestseller so we had to try it. The pork as so juicy and tender. The pieces were thick and grilled to perfection. The honey sriracha sauce complemented the savoriness very well and made every spoonful of rice worth it.

I enjoyed every bite as slowly as I could because I didn’t want to finish eating this meal. Even now as I’m writing this post after a few months, I’m still craving for this dish. This was well worth the trip alone.

Photo from Cafe Kafagway Facebook Page

Still craving for more food, we ordered an additional plate of Honey Cured Bacon Omelette. My friend ordered this and it looked so good I had to get a serving for myself. I’m happy to report that it tastes even better than it looks.

We actually had to wait a bit because the café ran out of bacon so they had to buy some more from their local source. We contemplated asking them for this source because the bacon was divine. Just like the liempo, it was thick-cut and absolutely juicy. The saltiness of the bacon blended with the scrambled egg to create an symphony of flavor in my mouth.

This is also another dish that I would recommend to anyone who made the journey all the way here. Just looking at the photos makes my mouth water.

For the side and dessert, I had their Affogato. I love both vanilla ice cream and Benguet coffee, so having these two combined was a treat. The ice cream was not very sweet and the espresso was strong without being bitter. It was a good blend. My only complaint was that the serving size could have been bigger, but that’s my complaint for a lot of food.

The serving size of the meals can be a bit small for the price, but I have to admit that the taste makes up for it. It’s definitely worth coming back to, even if it takes a lot of twists and turns, ups and downs inside the tight, Baguio roads.

Cafe Kafagway
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10:00AM to 7:00PM
Wednesdays to Sundays
25 Parisas Compound, Lodge Pole Pine Rd,
Bakakeng Norte,
Baguio City

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Som Tam Thai Restaurant

This is the final restaurant in Baguio (for this post) and also my favorite out of the three. This Thai restaurant was recommended by a friend and thankfully, I listened. We went here after an event as well, so this was a tasty reward for a tough day’s work.

There were a lot of us having dinner so we ordered quite a lot of food. Thankfully, they served it all promptly and it was all very mouthwatering.

For appetizers, we had the Poh Pia Moo or Fried Spring Rolls. These were larger than expected and even when sliced, they required multiple bites to finish. They were hot, crispy, and when dipped into the accompanying chili sauce, absolutely scrumptious. It reminded me of the lumpia shanghai in parties but with togue (bean sprouts) added in.

We also had the Yam Som-O or Pomelo Salad. This dish had a couple of pieces of whole shrimp which were plump and juicy. The pomelo was fresh and topped with shredded chicken and coconut. Bringing it all together was chili jam with lime.

The many flavors blended well in my mouth and the occasional spicy kick was a welcome addition. Despite being an appetizer, I kept coming back to this for a flavor reset after several spoonfuls of the main dishes.

Our main dish was Pad Thai or Stir-fried Noodles. We were so impressed with the fried egg “patty” on top. We thought it was meat at first. After cracking and mixing it with the saucy noodles, the chewy texture and the crispiness made every bite very pleasant.

The flavor was strong but not overwhelming. The shrimp was juicy and squeezing the lime slice brought out new dimensions. The serving size was also big enough for people to share.

We also had the Tom Yum Gai or Chicken Soup. This tasted like spicy sinigang with an added cilantro kick. It was served piping hot and very spicy. It’s offered either mild or spicy and we thought we could handle the “spicy”. No we couldn’t, but we still enjoyed eating this. One order was enough for our entire group of six people.

One of us ordered the Krapow Moo or Stir-fried Pork with Basil. This was also very flavorful, although the pork was a bit tough for my taste. This one had a more subdued spice that I was able to handle. I couldn’t really taste the basil though.

For dessert, we couldn’t not order the Mango Sticky Rice. Being so full from all the previous dishes, we shared a single order. I believe that the tastiest mango sticky rice can only be found on the streets of Bangkok, but this was still good. The mango was fortunately sweet and the coconut milk dip made it taste even better.

We were all satisfied with our dining experience here. We left with our bellies full and still had some leftovers to bring home. This is definitely the go-to place when you’re craving Thai food in Baguio. And if you haven’t had this type of cuisine yet, this is a really good place to start.

Som Tam Thai Restaurant
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10:30AM to 7:00PM
Open Everyday
ECCO 4 Building #144 Military Cut Off,
Baguio City

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Thai Dara

The final place on this post is not in Baguio, but it is also a Thai restaurant. My brother and mama have been singing praises for this restaurant as they’ve eaten here lots of times before. I finally got the chance to dine with them one evening.

We arrived here and were pleased to see that it was almost fully occupied. That’s a good sign when a restaurant is packed with customers. I liked the simple and clean décor of the place.

We had the Bangkok Spring Rolls for the appetizer. These were properly crisped and I declared them to be healthy as they only had vegetable fillings inside. The sweet and sour sauce was definitely the champion of this dish. It’s has a tangier taste than any similar sauce I’ve tasted before. It definitely stood out.

Up next were the Dynamite Wings. These were chicken wings with their in-house tangy sauce. I liked how the sauce masked the spiciness that even my brother and mama who are sensitive to spicy things were able to enjoy them. Fried chicken wings are always a win in my book.

A Thai restaurant visit is not complete without Pad Thai. We ordered some and this was also on the top of my list for the best Pad Thai I’ve had. The serving size was not as big as the one in Som Tam, but the flavor was in the same league.

The shrimp was juicy and plump and the noodles have just the right amount of bite. I like how there isn’t a lot of togue. Overall, a very nice plate of Thai noodles.

Finally, my favorite dish of all, the Crying Tiger. This absolutely delicious and tender grilled pork belly is something I still dream of when my body is craving for pork. I love all kinds of pork belly dishes and this Thai version is something magical.

There’s just something about how they prepared this that makes it stand out from similar dishes. And that dipping sauce is heavenly. Just looking at all the tiny ingredients that went into it can already tell you how flavor-packed it is.

This is the dish that sealed the deal for me. I would gladly come back here just to order the Crying Tiger and nothing else. I’m already planning to ask my family to come back here. It’s a good thing that it’s relatively near where we live.

And to cap off the night, we ordered the Mango Sticky Rice for dessert. Personally, I don’t really get the appeal of eating rice for dessert, so I usually only get a single spoonful every time this is ordered.

The mango here was a bit sour, but the rice was nice and chewy. Again, Bangkok streets are still the best place to find really delicious Mango Sticky Rice.

Thai Dara
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11:00AM to 2:00PM
Open Everyday
23 East Capitol Drive,
Kapitolyo,
Pasig City

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And that’s it for this round of restaurants. I’ll be doing more of these because I still have some backlogs, so please stay tuned. 2023 has been filled with a lot of delicious food and I’m glad I’m not a hard palate to please.

If you have a recommended place, do let me know so I can tackle it this 2024. Thanks for reading and always be safe!

-jgzn

P.S. Thank you, Shane for the extra photos! 😗