I am home and missing Baguio’s cold air. It wasn’t too cold during the day so you could still put on some shorts or a dress and top it with a shawl or sweater, and the nights were cool and got us putting on some pants and two to three layers to keep us warm. I don’t remember the last time I had to layer for warmth but I sure did miss it.
During our three day stay, we had consumables at the Country Club so we ate most of our meals there, but we tried to insert a meal outside the club so I could get a taste of something different.
Ketchup Food Community
The last time I was in Baguio was probably sometime before 2009. I usually go with my family and relatives and we have our usual Barrio Fiesta and home (villa) cooked meals. This time I went with friends, and they insisted I try this Ketchup Community. Of course I thought it was some restaurant that served a bunch of dishes with ketchup different ways or had some sort of specialty ketchup, but it’s actually a small community with four to six restaurants in it—none of them, relating to ketchup. The restaurants I remember are Happy Tummy, Rancho and Canto.
Canto is known for its ribs so that’s where we went, but because someone also recommended we try the sisig from Rancho, Anton ordered it and had it brought to Canto. The Ketchup Community is fairly small so you can sit in any of the restaurants and order from another. They’ll serve it to you where you’re seated.
Canto’s setup’s very simple and literally at a kanto, but it’s nothing like the street eateries you see in Manila. It’s clean, has really quick service and very minimal decors in it, but still looks pretty.
They have really small glasses so they leave pitchers on your table–a plus for me, since I think having to ask the waiter for water every single time is extra work for them. All restaurants should leave pitchers per table!
Most of us in the table ordered the Lomo Ribs (half slab). It came with a side salad of lettuce, tomatoes, olives, cheese and a vinaigrette, plus rice.
I ate my ribs with just the salad and was stuffed halfway through the meal. The ribs were more than enough for me, and the rice wasn’t even touched. It was good and so was the barbecue sauce on the ribs. I enjoyed it a lot though I wish it had a stronger smokey flavour to it because the sweetness of the dish kind of gets tiring after a while. Everyone else in our table loved it and felt they got what they paid for.
I actually just realized that in the menu you have the option to choose to get salad or mashed potatoes with gravy, but when we ordered we were not asked to choose from the two and were all served salad.
My friend ordered their Chili Burger which I was able to get a small bite from. I just got a bit of the beef in it and it was really good, with the burger overflowing of the chili con carne more than enough for one person. Another good dish to order when you’re here.
Anton wanted to try the sisig from Rancho so he ordered one as well and it was so so good. They serve it to you on a sizzling platter with egg and spice, just the way I like it. Since it was from another restaurant, Anton paid for it upon ordering and the dish was delivered to us in Canto.
Upon tasting the sisig for the first time, I felt it lacked soy sauce so Anton place more. They serve the sisig to you with the soy sauce so you can add more as you please, and after putting in just a bit, the flavour was perfect. I liked this so much I couldn’t not have it with a beer. So good.
After eating we headed straight to Baguio Craft Brewery, one of the more known drinking places in Baguio. They serve an assortment of beers and even food (which looked so good in the photos around the place, but I wasn’t able to try).
Baguio Craft Brewery
It was one of those Instagrammable places with barrels for cocktail tables, nice hanging light bulbs, wooden bar tables and stools, a collage of different wood for the bar wall, chalkboards and a row of knobs for the beer.
Before ordering you can request for a small shot of beer to taste. I got the Kraken which is sweet and very similar to Brew Kettle.
You order your drinks at the second floor and can chill here or on the rooftop where they also have seats and a guest singer every night. We sat in the rooftop area where we enjoyed our cold beers and the artist playing that night. Since we went on a Sunday, the bar was pretty empty and the songs played were more mellow. According to my friend who was there just the night before, the music was livelier and the place, packed. Seems to be a go-to for the Baguio locals on weekends.
In case you’d like to pay these places a visit:
Ketchup Food Community
Romulo Dr, Baguio, Benguet
Ben Palispis Highway, Baguio, Benguet
(074) 422 5043
Until next time #danielaeats!
To see more of #danielaeats, search the hashtag on Instagram or click on DANIELAEATS on the right most part of this page under categories.
daniela medalla 