Baguio Eats I : Batirol, Forest House, Ketchup

First family trip with our new baby Tala! It's been quite some time since I've last been to Baguio and I was glad for the opportunity to bring the kids :)  It's really quite a handful but we managed beautifully, I must say. Even had the time for a pizza dinner date with Rob :) 

There are three restos I try to visit when in Baguio: Forest House, Café by the Ruins, and Chocolate de Batirol. This time around, just got to visit Forest House and Batirol. I always love Batirol's chocolate and this time it was no different. Had their chocolate with strawberry -- perfect for the cool weather :)

CHOCOLATE DE BATIROL

Chocolate de Batirol

Hot Chocolate with Strawberry

We were pretty disappointed with Forest House this time though. Although my Salpicao was flavorful and soft to the bite, Rob's Pork Chops was not well-seasoned. Fish fillet was just okay too. To top it off, although we knew that the resto was quite pricey, we kinda felt that the food we had wasn't worth it.

FOREST HOUSE

Salpicao

Fish Fillet

Pork Chop with Maple Glazed Sauce

One of the new places we tried was Canto at the Ketchup Food Community. Ketchup houses around 5 food establishments with different offerings -- Filipino, Indo-Malay, Thai, and American cuisines. It's quite a cool concept.

KETCHUP FOOD COMMUNITY

Happy Tummy

Rancho Norte

Green Pepper

Rumah Sate

CANTO AT KETCHUP FOOD COMMUNITY

We really enjoyed Canto. Very laid-back, value-for-money, and yummy! I really enjoyed everything we ordered; pizza, burgers, and the beef meal just hit the spot :) Next time, will definitely go for Ribs!

Canto

Almond Lychee Gulaman, P20 

Veggy Pizza, P150

Canto Burger, P130

Beef Kalbi, P130

Serenitea

There's a Serenitea near me! A branch just recently opened in Greenfields Ortigas, in the vicinity of Y Tree  :)  The place looks really pretty, perfect for that after-work hang time with friends : great company + good conversation + yummy tea drinks :)

High Ceiling with Pretty Lights

Multi-colored Steps to the 2nd Floor

2nd Floor Space

This is a really pretty corner :)

View of the 1st floor

Y Tree & Bon Appetea

I know I already have quite a number of entries on Milk Tea shops around the metro, but can I help it if they keep on popping up everywhere? My current favorite is Chatime, due to the extensive menu, and I really like their Oolong and Roasted Milk Teas. However, I was able to recently try out Bon Appetea and Y Tree.

I chanced upon Bon Appetea in Aguirre Ave., Sucat. I was craving for basic milk tea on a hot afternoon and the store was the first one we passed. I really liked their interiors -- very colorful and interactive. Their main board had a lot of post-it notes from their customers, and it seems that they tried to refrain from having generic seats/ tables, but differentiated each booth. This really adds personality to the place :) Drinks were generally okay though. Nothing spectacular. Chatime's Oolong Milk Tea still takes the cake.

Y Tree is a newly-opened milk tea place in the Greenfield Area, Ortigas. The interiors and ambiance is very relaxing, making use of white and green earthy hues to communicate a green environment. Not a bad place to sit down with friends after work :)  They also offer a Rock, Salt and Cheese drink; but we went for Passion Fruit Yakult and Honeydew Milk Tea. I particularly liked Passion Fruit Yakult since it's sour (although the sour taste becomes more tolerable as you drink it). Their Hantien Jelly was quite interesting; tastes a bit like Nata but with a slightly rounded edge, a texture that's quite surprising and different :)  Y Tree also offers simple pasta and sandwiches, plus dessert. 

Jamba Juice

For the first time, I tried Jamba Juice! The craze over Jamba Juice was so crazy that I didn't brave the long lines and the crowd volume during my past visits to the Fort. But lo and behold, Jamba Juice was not THAT crowded last night and I finally decided to check what all the fuss is about.

The interiors were bright and inviting, and I can see how it could be a cool tambay place for the kids. They also offer some food items such as wraps and flat bread. 

I tried the Classic Smoothie, Banana Berry - bananas, blueberries, apple-strawberry juice, raspberry sherbet, & frozen yogurt. This drink is apparently equivalent to 2.5 fruit servings. 

My verdict? The drink was really good. Fresh fruits were used, it wasn't sweet, and there's a bit of sourness that I really like. It also helped that this summer's really hot and a nice, cold drink is always welcome.

 However, there are other cheaper alternatives to a healthy, fresh fruit smoothie such as Fruit Magic. Of course, you cannot discount that fact that Jamba Juice offers more expensive fruits such as blueberries. Take that away, though, and settle for more home-grown fruits, I'd say you can get the same goodness at a lower price.

More of the Milk Tea Craze

And the tea craze continues. They're all over the place! I love milk tea, but it's quite tiring to see all the new shops popping up offering milk tea. I really don't know why I still instinctively try a new one whenever I get the chance, even when I already have my 'favorites.' 

I recently passed by Milkyway Tea, which unfortunately replaced  Ya Kun Kaya. I'm sad to see a nearby Ya Kun Kaya go. I tried the basic milk tea, Milkyway Classic with Pearl and since I wanted a sour drink, tried the Lemon Yakult. Sadly, not one of the drinks made a strong and lasting impression. I did notice however, that they also offered Yogurt ice cream and smoothies. Talk about combining the yogurt ice cream and milk tea craze in one shop. They also have this thing called the Moffle (Mochi Waffle) -- wonder how that would taste? 

And with the increasing number of milk tea shops, it's no wonder that food stalls have joined the bandwagon. I recently spotted a food stall called Tea Ninja which offers 3 drink sizes (S, M, and L), making it more affordable for the average joe to enjoy milk tea. I tried thair Roasted Oolong Milk Tea with Grass Jelly, which surprisingly, wasn't bad at all. I even enjoyed it more than Milkyway's... Probably because my expectation was also quite low. Prices range from P40 - P70. I wouldn't be surprised if a few more similar stalls pop up -- don't be surprised if you see one near you.

Raintree

There's another tea place in town! You won't miss this brightly-lit restaurant along White Plains :) What I like about Raintree Teapresso Blends though, is their tea variety.

They have Smooteas, Hot blends, Dessert Blends (Red Velvet, Blueberry Cheesecake, Chocolate Truffle drinks are just some samples), Fruit-Tea infusions (you have a choice of tea to mix with their fruit), Pearl Milk Tea, and Pearl Milk Tea Floats (with vanilla ice cream on top!).

They also have cakes and pastries, and I tried this interesting, somewhat brownie piece called Nutella Rocks. I was expecting a rich, Nutella taste, but it turns out to be a dark chocolate, nutty brownie. It was quite good despite the fact that I was expecting something else.

The different drink offerings made it quite difficult to choose, there were about a dozen very interesting Pearl Milk Tea options, from the regular Wintermelon, to Moroccan Mint to Belgian Chocolate. But in the end we decided on Raintree Specialtea and Sencha Kyoto.

As usual, we kept it at 50% sugar. Among the two, I really enjoyed the Specialtea which had a roasted, smooth blend. Sencha Kyoto was also good, but would've better with 75% sugar.

16 oz, P85 and 22 oz, P95

Here's a copy of their menu:

Cal 0932.842.8927 for orders & pick up.

I'd really love to try out the different flavors soon!

More Tea Craze

Tried two more Milk Tea shops a couple of days ago :)

First stop is ShareTea. This tea place also has its version of Happy Lemon's Rock, Salt, Cheese line. However, comparing the two, I prefer Happy Lemon since ShareTea is really cheesy. I know there are some, though, that would prefer a healthy serving of cheese on their drink :)

Second stop was Infinitea. I was really supposed to go to Moonleaf, but they were closed (it was after all, Christmas day then), and the nearest open tea shop was Infinitea. This time, I tried a juice-based tea drink, hoping for a contender to Serenitea. Blackberry was not available, and Grape Black Tea supposedly had a similar taste. Regardless, Serenitea's juice-based drinks still get my vote :) I also tried their Hazelnut Milk Tea, not bad :)