CEBU, Philippines - The last time I’ve been to Baguio was roughly four to five years ago. When I came back just last week, it was as if I had never left it in the first place. Baguio is one of those charming places you could picture yourself settling down in—eating s’mores in the middle of the night while cozying up on your tartan-upholstered couch in front of a crackling fireplace with the glass windows slightly frosted.
Baguio is not just home to vast expanses of pine trees. It’s not just a melting pot of Ifugao and Ibaloi culture. Baguio, more than anything is home to good food. And when you think of good food in the City of Pines, you think about two places: Café by the Ruins and the Forest House.
Café by the Ruins
The story behind Café by the Ruins is about as interesting as it’s eccentric. Where once lay a rustic garden theatre laden with blossoms in the deepest reds and magentas, the home of the first civil Governor of Benguet, Phelps Whitmarsh took its place. It was here that the wife of the governor—who was Ibaloi—grew a garden teeming with blooms and strawberries. The house was eventually reduced to rubbles during the Second World War.
In its stead is a sprawling café cum art gallery lit up with misshapen lanterns and accented with native curios that bring about a remarkable charm into the place. The walls, made up of wooden blinds drawn from indigenous materials are laden with paintings, many of which capture the Ibaloi and Ifugao ways of life.
Café by the Ruins offers an authentically native culinary mix from mountain rice to civet cat coffee to fresh carabao milk and cheeses, making it the perfect place to warm up on a chilly night. Meant for the artsy crowd, Café by the Ruins is one of those little nooks perfect for some uninterrupted me-time either over a poetry reading session, or simply to bask in silence with a bowl of strawberries and cream or a good cup of Arabica coffee and some sesame seed cookies on the side.
Forest House
Christmas in October is for real when you drop by Forest House, a cozy wooden lodge nestled amidst the backdrop of pine trees and a chilly Baguio night. Beyond its name, Forest House is a home to any wayward tourist looking for nice, heavy meal after a long day of discovering every nook and cranny there is in the City of Pines.
With its intimate, homey interiors of hardwood walls, faux evergreen wreathes and bright red clusters of berries nestled atop a fireplace, Forest House embraces you with a warmth like no other.
Skip the fast food joints if good old, heavy slow food is what you are pining for. Feast on Bagnet, an Ilocano signature dish of crispy pork belly cuts and papaya chutneys, or go heavy on luscious portions of lamb. Spend the rest of the evening cosily settled on one of the couches right at the back with a cup of bottomless Forest House coffee as you simmer in the nostalgia that being serenaded with old love songs bring.
Forest House is all about the ambience, the fellowship, and the home-cooked food. And yes, you can bet Santa Clause will drop by this place for some milk, cookies, and good food all year round.
Whether you’re in it for the bagnet or for other authentic Ilocano dishes and perhaps a round of international fares as well, Café by the Ruins and the Forest House are two places that’ll make you burp contentedly at the end of a great meal at the end of a busy day traipsing around. With all the sight seeing and shopping, you definitely deserve a dish that’s delish—or as they say in Ilocano, naimas. Mangan!—Eat! (The food photos were taken from the websites of the respective cafes.)