This holy week, travelers may look to heavenly food in Baguio

BEST Asian cooking by Alvin Emuang at Chef’s Home

(First of two parts)

Holy Week is here. While this means fasting for most, it means feasting for some who take advantage of the long holiday. Besides, there is always Easter Sunday to celebrate the risen Lord.

Once again, Baguio will experience bumper-to-bumper traffic. But to make your trip worth it—if you decide to head north—here are few great restaurants to check out with family and friends:

Chef’s Home

This hole in the wall is my favorite restaurant in Baguio. They serve Southeast Asian cuisine of Malaysian, Thai, Indonesian and Filipino influences.

The first time I ate here a few years ago, it was literally a garage operation with just a flimsy curtain separating the kitchen from the diners. I was bewildered at how such flavorful dishes could come out of that puny kitchen. But somehow, Malaysian Chef Alvin Emuang always managed.

I first fell in love with their tom yum soup, which was absolutely authentic—just like how you would have it in Chiang Mai. The experience was the same with the beef rendang and nasi goreng. I learned that this is because Chef Alvin has friends from the various hotels he has served around Asia, such as Novotel Resort in Phuket, Thailand. And because the spices are shipped in from abroad, it is as if the dishes themselves are being served in those countries.

Make sure to also order the chili crab and roti, although wife Gina, who manages the restaurant, is especially proud of the Lapu Lapu with tamarind sauce. If you are feeling experimental, Chef Alvin has a dish where pork is rolled in coffee and cilantro sauce.

Fortunately, they have already upgraded the place to be a rather cozy setting that can seat 42 pax, so you won’t have to worry about fighting for space in the tiny garage.

Chef’s Home. 13 Outlook Drive cor. Romulo Drive. Tel. 0916-4445756. Open this Holy Week for lunch 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and dinner 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wheelchair accessible.

Le Chef at the Manor

Billy King is alive. Yes he is.

For the millennials, Chef Billy was a pioneer of French haute cuisine in Manila, as executive chef of Prince Albert at Hotel Intercon and, later, when he opened Le Souffle with Chefs Andreas Katzer and Jesse Sincioco, There was French Corner in Alabang for a while, and The Alpha also made noise, but the King’s existence is now really centered on Baguio.

Le Chef has continental cuisine: steaks, sea bass, foie gras—the usual menu. But what distinguishes it is the consistency applied by the kitchen. I once overheard a foreign guest compliment King, saying, “I don’t eat much so I’ve had the French onion soup everyday for the past three days and I must say, it has been perfect every time.”

So if what you are after is a reliable continental meal, Le Chef is for you. It’s a little traditional, but you can count on being satisfied.

The Manor, Camp John Hay. Tel. (074)4240931 to 43. Open daily from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. Wheelchair accessible.

Mama’s Table

Billy King is not the only one saying Bonjour! in Baguio (although King is Irish). Chef Vicky Tinio-Clemente makes a mean French degustation at the Tinio ancestral home as well. The venue is literally their home, though, so it is necessary to make reservations—she needs a minimum of six pax (or pay the equivalent of) to confirm a reservation.

The elegant house in fact can accommodate over 20 heads. The Tinios are quite a big clan and, to this day, it is where the family gathers.

You are welcomed with appetizers elegantly spread out on a table by the fireplace. This includes chicken liver pate, a variety of cheeses, chicharon that may be dipped in a smoked bangus spread, to be enjoyed with small talk and appertif. You are also encouraged to step outside as the chef gets your first course ready—take a quick stroll on their garden and enjoy the crisp air and magnificent view.

Then you are called to partake of an eight-course degustation with items such as Truffled Custard with caramelized onions or Shrimp and Fish Cake with coriander and mint.

Make sure you allot not just three but five hours for this meal because the degustation is loooong. And if Chef Vicky likes you, she may get chatty and the meal may take even longer (that could be a good thing). But whether it’s three hours or five hours, expect the full throttle. It will feel like Babette’s Feast!

Mama’s Table. 888-A Ambuklao Road, La Trinidad, Benguet. Tel. (074)4421794, 0915-6438775. Reservations required. E-mail: [email protected]

Hill Station

I took a quick poll on Facebook to find out my friends’ favorite restaurant in Baguio and Hill Station won.

The kitchen is run by Mitos Yñiguez, a lady whose cooking is as vivacious as her personality. There’s no real description to the food here as her influences are from all over: Spanish, predominantly, but also South African, Mid-Eastern and Mediterranean.

For example, while Mitos’ paella and callos are universally appreciated, you can also try Portugese flavors with her Picado, a version of beef salpicao; Moroccan spices with Hill Station’s ribeye; or have a taste of Africa with her South African Steak and Prawn Peri-Peri; or hit Cambodia with her Coriander and Garlic Chicken; Mexico with her slow-cooked cocido; or our very own Filipinas with her duck adobo.

If you like hearty cooking, this is the place to go. You will definitely leave in good spirits.

Hill Station. Casa Vallejo, Upper Session Road. Tel. (074)4239100. Open daily for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Wheelchair accessible.

Ketchup Food Community

The Ketchup Community can be found across the horseback riding area in Wright Park. It’s uber casual and the food would go well with cold beer. It’s also nice to hang out here at night because of the al fresco atmosphere.

The system here is like Streetlife (if you remember it from the late 1990s), Baguio-style. The compound is inhabited by several restaurants. But they live up to the “community” aspect of their name: You can sit at one restaurant and cross-order from the others.

Within the compound, there is Canto, Rancho Norte, Happy Tummy, Cafe Circolo, and Rumah Sate. I am particularly fond of Rancho Norte, which serves different kinds of tapa: usa (deer), kabayo (horse), and baboy ramo (wild boar). Don’t worry—no dog on the menu! Also, these may sound too exotic for the faint of heart, but the meat is so soft, and cured just perfectly so it is not too salty.

Ketchup Community. Romulo Drive, Barangay Lualhati (near Wright Park). More details on their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ketchup-The-Food-Community/188561991243684

O Mai Khan

Two great foodies I know—Dino Datu, editor in chief of Cook Magazine, and Jemps Gallegos, who writes about parenting in Inquirer—swear by this Mongolian restaurant, which has been around since the 1980s. For Chef Dino, the main draw is the Mongolian barbecue that is eat-all-you-can for only P230. While the resto could be more generous with the meat for the barbecue, the veggies are alluringly fresh—this is Baguio, after all. The ambiance may not be exceptional, but the food is not only comforting but addictive, the kind you come back for on every trip.

Ozark

This place was first recommended to me by Vicky Tinio, describing it as Southern-style home cooking. Food writer Katrina Vallejo Lagman especially appreciates their biscuits. “Not just for the satisfying American Southern soul food—the best biscuits in the country—but also as a place to spend time with a view of tall pine trees … (a sight) now becoming rarer and rarer in Baguio.”

It’s not exactly a destination restaurant but more for the convenience of the boutique hotel it serves, although Ozark has been growing a cult following. I also personally found it to be a long drive to get to this restaurant up a hill in a village, but the owners and patrons were quick to clarify online that it’s not that far: “It is still within the city limits of Baguio City. If you follow Waze’s map, it should take you right to our door. Cab fare from SM Baguio is approximately P70.”

Ozark Diner. 2 Bear’s Trail cor. Bareng Dr., Baguio City (0947)4450873 ozarkbaguiocity.com

AMERICAN diner food from Ozark

(To be continued)

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