Wood Nymph 1

My hubby and I love Korean food and the best restaurant for us that serves K-food here in Baguio is Woodnymph.

They have 3 branches here in Baguio but the one I am featuring right now are the foods we ate and we always order at their SM Baguio Branch. 

Introduced by my cousin, Sarah who taught Korean students before, are my favorites since then until today. These are: 

Jeeyukbukom

It's made of thinly sliced pork belly, cabbage and carrots and some other vegetables cooked with Korean spices and sugar (it's kinda sweet). I love eating this.

I captured the elegant carrot flower they made as a decoration to the plate. 

And we usually have jeeyukbukom with: 

Sundobuchigee. It is a seafood soup with shells and clams with soft tofu and soft soft egg with spicy broth,.. as in Whoooooo spicy.. My hubby and I can't get enough of this even if our nose runs because of the heat

Aside from these two of course are the side dishes. We especially love the "honeyed" marble potatoes and kim chi. I love also the sweet and cool sprouts because it balances out the heat and spiciness of the foods.

Best to drink water with these viands and usually get a dessert of cool Melona ice cream bar. :) Yum! 

Grumpy Joe 2

We've been to Grumpy Joe quite a few times and I am happy to see that I have pics on the last time we ate there months ago with my hubby and cousin which I haven't posted.

I love their pasta there and so the three of us decided to get their marinara pasta:

Perper was delighted with the serving and the no. of seafoods in the pasta. It was tasty.

I ordered a cheeseburger to be shared with the three of us. This was our first time to try their burger and we were not disappointed. It isn't really that special but it's good compared to others. There was a side dish of coleslaw and ketchup and mayonnaise as condiments. It was served in a circular wooden board for that rustic appearance.

And, we had their Mexican pizza! There was ranch dressing on top of the nacho chips. It was good. Although I love their signature Grumpy Joe pizza or the pepperoni with jalapenos  better than this. See related post.

And for refreshments, we got: water! Served in mason jar.

We needed water because of this toxic waste! Hot! Toxic indeed ;)

It was a nice experience since we have bonded with a cousin but I loved the first one compared to this in terms of the food we chose to eat.

Mi Amor - Quesadillas!

Because I was inspired by the cookout I had with my colleagues, I prepared quesadillas during the send off party for a cousin.

I placed  green bell peppers and onions with cheese as the filling for the pita bread heating on top of a non stick pan. For the salsa, I grilled a bellpepper, peeled, sliced and cooked it on a saucepan with diced fresh tomatoes, basil (from the rooftop garden) and some seasonings.

The extra cheese I grated I added to the salsa.

Cutting it up in 4 pieces:

 Finished product:

Bonding Time over Food :)

According to the famed cook, Julia Child, 

"People who love to eat, are the best people"

And I need to add, ".. People who love to cook, are my bestfriends."

My colleagues and I  have a unique bond between us. It might be because we are almost of the same age and we have been together for 5 years or more. So, it's no surprise that our cooking adventure last July was both fun and entertaining. 

First off, a colleague had an idea of creating designs out of fruits inspired from the Internet. These fruits will be later served with vanilla ice cream which was spectacular,  I am proud to say that this was my creation with Trina, a colleague's young daughter:

Nice, yeah? Here are some of the other fruit designs:

This is an upside down tree on an upside down island

When we ran out of ideas, we just made the fruits look like this:

My friends already had their own menu to cook so Vanessa and I were their sous-chef (alalay :p in Tagalog). Cut, chop vegetables, wash dishes, wipe dishes, mix dips etc.

Here are some of what my friends prepared:

Baked Ziti,... so creamy and yummy :)

Baked chicken ala buffalo wings. The ranch dressing made by my colleague was so creamy and it fits the buffalo chicken... Don't mind the Hershey's chocolate syrup-- it's not involved in the dish.

We also had grilled liempo. We mixed in calamansi juice, onions and cayenne pepper. It was a hit!

And then there's the quesadilla of Meynard:

which turned out like this when it was sliced. There were 2 dips: guacamole and tomatoes and the ranch dressing of the buffalo wings. I preferred the salsa because the quesadillas already have cheese.. too much dairy!:

And finally, the centerpiece... Lani's lobsters which were boiled in water:

We were all very full, happy and content with this bonding moment..
See the evidence?

I learned a lot. In less than a week, I also tried cooking the quesadilla for a family gathering which was a hit..which I will blog later on.

Anyway, looking forward to another cook off. home :)

Barney's Burger

We chanced upon Barney's Burger at Porta Vaga Mall after attending mass at the Baguio Cathedral. It is located in a small area near the steps connecting the mall to Puso ng Baguio.

At first we were intrigued because  it was packed  although it was a small place of 4  tables. However, there were 3-5 people lining up for takeout/takeaway so we opted to taste their burger ....and, we were not disappointed.

We had the bacon cheeseburger, fries and lemonade. The burger was juicy and tasted "flame grilled"  ( I did not observe if they were using coals) and I like their fries because it's "real" potatoes.

If you happen to pass by Barney's Burger-- give it a try.. it's a cheaper alternative to Army Navy with almost the same or better taste. :)

Vigan! Heritage Site and Bistro Amarillo

Had the blessing of time and opportunity last May to visit one of the places in my bucket list...Vigan!

First stop was the Vigan Heritage Site which is composed of old houses in the Spanish times complete with preserved cobblestone/brick road. 

It is no wonder that it is one of the few Unesco Heritage Sites in the Philippines. We met plenty  of honeymooners/couples and barkadas strolling around the site and some were gracious enough to take pictures of me and hubby. So we had a picture of the two of us in typical tourist areas of the site:

We had some pictures with the calesas but we preferred strolling since the area is a short walk so that we can browse the shops. Our enemy was the heat.

There was one interesting incident wherein we were looking for a restroom and then there was this store in a corner with a sign for use of comfort room. We went there paid Php5.00 each and  used a converted old pugon to a restroom. We were a bit embarrassed to ask permission to take pictures of the restroom so we didn't. But it was an interesting restroom.

Anyway, since we were at the Heritage site around 11 AM, we were already very hungry by 12:30.. we wanted to go to Lilong and Lilang located at the Hidden Garden which I researched in the Net but we were hungry and I was an irritated growling tiger by then because of the heat, we went to a nearby cafe called Bistro Amarillo. It was a bit small compared to other cafes but it was comfy and had the old world Spanish charm. I couldn't help but take pictures of the ceiling and flooring -- which I wanted to make as inspirations for future homes/constructions someday:

The ceiling:

and the flooring:

 What we ate was -- Binagoongang Bagnet 

and Pakbet with Bagnet (gasp! cholesterol overload):

 We had green  mango shakes for drinks and dessert 

There was so much bagnet that we had half of it for takeaway for dinner that night.

I forgot the prices but these were reasonable and the food was delicious. I would recommend visitors to Vigan to eat in this place. :)

Sage Part2

This post was supposed to be done the previous year but then well, I am a busy :p person so here it is.

This was our date with hubby... we had taco. The contents were yummy but the shell was deep fried layers of what seemed like thin dough... it would have been better if they used corn tacos.

We also had their beef sub... it was yum-o but the chips were commercial v-cut chips..we were kinda hoping they'd have their own potato chips 

 And for drinks, we got their strawberry shake..refreshing!

I really love the colors in that foodie place :) 

One Saturday Dinner

I was going over  pictures taken in my cellphone and I saw this... Hubby and I rarely go for take out deliveries for our dates but there was one occasion we did one cold February 2014 Saturday evening:

Onion rings and Pizza (half Pizza Carbonara and hal Bacon Cheeseburger) from Don Henrico's while watching a movie. Yum and Nice but not good for the waist line.... hehehe!

Ungrumpy at Grumpy Joe's

I first encountered Grump Joe's from a friend's post at FB. So when I got the chance to eat there with hubby, we grabbed the opportunity. It was 6:00 pm on a Sunday but we were already second in line waiting to have a table. The place is a bit small but it I guess, there are really many patrons. Most of them are young ones like us... hahahah! Usually, students and yuppies who go for affordable, reasonable yet yummy foods.

And we were not disappointed. The place can give many pasta, burger and pizza joints a run for their money. 

We opted for the best sellers so that we could get a feel of the resto's strengths.

For drinks we got malunggay calamansi juice for me, and Oliver had the same but with syrup and whipped cream... they are bottled using garapons:

Guess which had the best taste? The one with cream and syrup, of course. :p

We also had creamy pesto and seafood pasta--truly a winner:

 There were 6 shrimps and some squids and tahong... yeah, I counted them..hahahah!.. Most of the time, restaurants give 2 for marinara or seafood pesto.. you are lucky if you get 3 for a price of Php 190.00. We had 6. 

We tried also their yummy lasagna...

Truly delisyoso... and the best of all their pizza:

We had the Pepperoni Pizza (Left) and Grumpy Joe (right) pizza.. you can choose 2 flavors just like Don Henrico's. Their Pepperoni Pizza has jalapeno peppers in it and anchovies... It was spicy but I loved it better than their Grumpy Joe.

I just noted some similarities between the Grumpy Joe pizza and Don Henrico's pizza and also their lasagna's with that of the latter.. I don't know if they inteded to copy the flavors but they are similar in taste but in presentation and prices, these are different. 

Ultimately, we enjoyed our dinner and the long lines of people waiting to be seated are proofs that Grumpy Joe offers good or rather, great tasting food.

Cooking Adventures 1 - Pesto Pasta

Lucky us we have a good supply of walnuts. That's why last week, when I spotted fresh basil leaves at the Baguio hangar market, I bought some, boiled some pasta, chopped garlic and walnuts together in our chopper with olive oil, mixed it with the noodles and parmesan cheese and voila! My first pesto pasta!

It looks like pancit canton said my brother but all agreed - hubby, papa and brother that it was panalo!

Served with garlic bread and roasted chicken courtesy of Chic-Boy it was  a yummy Saturday night dinner :)

Fresh Picks

For the past and coming days, hubby and I have the opportunity to shop for our own food and cook them the way we want it. I took advantage of cooking recipes I have been doing during my pre-married life, recipes I learned from my own mother and grandmother and also those that I watch from the Food Network or TLC.

We also went back to juicing. And tonight, we had lettuce, carrots, cucumbers and lemons prepared. I always soak them for at least 30 minutes in water and vinegar to remove impurities and pesticides especially if I cannot avail of organic veggies.

I always make sure that there is lemon in all our juicings because of its great health benefits even if it is a bit expensive. Here they are - all juiced and ready for stirring:

Distributed in our glasses:

Strawberry prices went down from Php 200 to Php 120 pesos a kilogram so we decided to eat them for dessert during lunch and dinner. 

All sliced into manageable bites and drizzled with condensed milk:

Healthy and Yum-o! at the same time :)

Spanish tapas at Te Quiero

This entry is way past overdue since my food experience happened on one unexpected night when hubby and I had to send a parcel to Victory Liner Baguio Bus Station one May evening this year. We got stuck there since it suddenly rained. We brought our scooter with us and it's no fun at all to ride when the rain is pouring on you while you are riding with some lightning and thunderstorm taking place.

Thus, we had to stay there for a while. It was dinner time so we scoured the place. We opted not to eat pizza and donuts and decided instead to eat at  Te Quiero Tapas Bar at the Victory Bus. It was a good thing we bought enough cash to cover our meals because it was a buffet Friday. And the buffet costs Php 350.00 each. So even if we were way underdressed - Oliver with his jogging pants and work shirt and me also with my oversized jeans, tshirt and tsinelas - we braved the "kasosyalan" of some of the clients and ate.

Dining there provided us an opportunity to know what tapas are. According to About.com, tapas are snacks, canapés or finger food that originated in Spain which can be practically anything from a chunk of tuna, cocktail onion and an olive skewered on a long toothpick, to piping hot meat with sauce served in a miniature clay dish - or anything in between. 

The pictures do not really justify the colors of the food since I captured these using  my lowly cellphone but I just wanted to share what we ate:

The plate here contains chicken skewer, potatoes, a sausage, mussels, salsa salad and the one in the spoon is a deviled egg-- so yummy.

In this plate, we have some macaroni and I forgot what was on the right -- this was 6 months ago..hehehhe!!! I remember the taste of the macaroni though-- it tasted a bit cheesy. Masarap. :)

This is another view of the chicken skewers with their dynamite lumpia -- spring roll of sili and cheese.. appetizing:

We also had their salad with vinaigrette dressing. I loved this very much:

This is their roast chicken which was a bit ordinary for me.

Their sausage was spicy! We loved its taste.

  Trying to control our fat intake, we tasted their lechon --masarap!!!

This is the buffet and dining area of the resto:

I like the taste of spice and vinegar that''s why I appreciated what we had at Te Quiero buffet.  I give it the buffet  7.5/10 for the buffet but I was expecting more viands and maybe dessert or a free sweet drink afterwards. I cannot vouch for their other foods on the menu that was not served in the buffet. Although there were great reviews on them.

Te Quiero is located at the Second Floor of Victory Bus Station Baguio at the side of Microtel Baguio.