Ketchup Community of Restaurants

Right in front of Wright Park in Baguio City is the Ketchup Community. This is a community of five restaurants specializing in dishes ranging from Filipino exotic food, to Thai, Mediterranean, Indo Malay, and American dishes. I tried the pork ribs (P200 or US $4.87) at Canto. The best selling point of the ribs is its tender meat. The taste was just okay. Based on my experience with Canto, expect reasonably priced not so great food at the Ketchup Community.

Baguio's Star

Star Cafe one of Baguio city's oldest Chinese Pinoy restaurants along Session Road continues to be a favorite among locals and tourists. Hungry for a simple comfort food, the waiter recommended that I try their Star rice. This rice dish is actually chopsuey rice with a sunny side up egg topping.

At P110 (US$2.60), it was a great meal. It was served hot and the "chopsuey" of baguio vegetables was generous, and the special sauce that came with it flavorful! The dish was real STAR!

Baguio Bounty Salad

The pride of one of Baguio's most celebrated restaurants Cafe by the Ruins is its Baguio Bounty Salad. This is a lettuce salad with watercress, shrimps, chicken and assorted fruits which includes strawberries, bananas, and mangoes and bathed in strawberry vinaigrette dressing.

While the salad is good it falls short of expectations. Priced at P300(US$7.30), serving is generous and can be shared by four people if you are ordering other dishes. Italiani's Sicilian Chicken Salad which is also a vegetable salad with fruits and chicken taste a lot better but cost P425 (US$10.36) good for two persons.

Baguio in Bloom

February is when Baguio holds its month long flower festival, the Panagbenga. Highlight of the festival is parade of floats made of flowers similar to what they have at Pasadena's Rose parade. Since I am not fond of festivals because of the big crowds I have never actually witnessed Baguio's famous flower festival.

However, in January this year when I was in Baguio, the flowers were already in bloom. It is really a refreshing and colorful sight of flowers of various varieties and colors. Flowers abound at the amphitheater in Camp John Hay and at Burnham Park.

Fresh Organic Produce in Baguio

An alternative to going to the Baguio market for vegetables and fruits is to shop instead at the organic fresh produce market at the popular Cafe by the Ruins. I find this as the more convenient and hassle free way of getting fresh lettuce, strawberries, beans, broccoli, etc. The place is clean and crowd free, and does not require haggling skills for the best prices.

The produce are reasonably priced and there is not much difference from the Baguio market prices. This organic produce market is at the Cafe by the Ruins every Wednesday and Saturday from 8am to 12 noon.

Baguio's Delicious Strawberry Shortcake

My niece was raving about a really delicious strawberry shortcake that she discovered in Baguio City. So it was on my "must" list of desserts to try during my recent Baguio vacation.

This best selling cake from Viscos along Session Road lived up to the high recommendations of my niece. The cake was generously topped with fresh strawberries and the cake itself had a nice strawberry taste. It was really yummy and good, and was the best dessert that I tried in this trip.

The strawberry cake comes in three sizes, small (P345 or US$8) medium (P540 or US$13) and large (P850 or US$20). It can also be ordered per slice (P75 or US$1.75).