happyfoodies.com – Philippines Food Blog

Rooftop Restaurant Wood Fired Pizza

Heading to a tropical destination such as Camiguin, one almost automatically imagine being served seafood at every meal. But for visitors who long for something familiar, there’s a big surprise waiting in the capital, Mambajao.

The island has attracted its share of foreign investors and one of them, an American, has found his way to opening a spanking-new restaurant-cum-hotel-cum-bar. The place is Rooftop, located at the busy thoroughfare of Mambajao proper. The stocked bar and rather sleek-looking restaurant weren’t open yet at the time we dropped by but the brightly-lit restaurant was already serving very good pizzas and pastas.

Roof Top Upper Floor Interiors

The place

Lagal[og] said: The place stands like a beacon after 6pm when almost all the shops around the area are already closed, with its bright neon signages and lights. The ground floor looks like your ordinary bakery/fastfood outlet but upstairs, it’s a different story – wooden floors, warmly-lit interiors and tables & chairs that extend up to the veranda overlooking the street. The cool breeze and the mountain view of Hibok-Hibok add to a very relaxing dining atmosphere. It’s really worth traveling here all the way from Benoni (about an hour’s trip via habal/public motorcycle).

Ironwulf said: The two floors of the restaurant seem separate with different looks. The ground is more like a bakeshop while the upper floor is more like a bar. It’s on the balcony of the upper floor where it’s best to dine.  It’s right where you have a nice view of Mambajao town and also the skyline.

Spaghetti Americano with Bread and Butter

The food

Lagal[og] said: I was rather surprised they serve homemade pizzas here. The dough is obviously not the commercial variety. The crust is cooked just right and the toppings are on the generous side.

Ironwulf said: On the pizza, we had a choice of 3 toppings. We had Mushroom, Pepperoni, and Sausage. It took a few minutes to be served since they had to prepare and bake it. The crust had uneven crispness which is good since it’s really like home-made. No surface layers were left to waste since the toppings fill the surface from edge to edge.

Lagal[og] said: I rather liked the Spaghetti Americano. It’s oozing with tomato sauce and tastes close to Italian-style. I wonder how it sits with the locals though who may be more inclined to the sweet-party style spaghetti. Then again, it’s a wonderful idea to have that choice. The Parmesan topping is also very generous.

Ironwulf said: Spaghetti Americano is Italian style which is more sour than sweet that I’m sure would suit to a lot of foreigners in the island. It’s not really the best I’ve tasted but it’s a nice comfort food when you are craving for some pasta in the Camiguin island. The butter that comes with the bread is worth mentioning as it of premium variety, not the cheap kind.

Rooftop Restaurant
Rizal Street, Poblacion,
Mambajao, Camiguin • (088) 3870511 to 13
• www.camiguinrooftophotel.com