The Coffee Library in Baguio, Vietnamese coffee and cuisine come to the highlands

Your Happyfoodies trudged to the northern highlands for the days leading up to the new year with an overnight stop in Baguio.  By chance, we got billeted in a hotel on the quieter street parallel to the always-busy (also noisy) Session Road and chanced upon the barely month-old The Coffee Library on the ground floor of the Rex Hall Student Residences along General Luna Street.  Needless to say, it was a serendipitous find.  Yes, it is eye-catching, with tasteful touches of ethnic crafts, mix of red brick and warm wood, even vintage “padyak” (foot pedal-powered) sewing machines converted into tables, but how was the food, you may ask.

There’s Chew Love in Tacloban City

Adding a dash of lively colors in the once Typhoon Yolanda stricken city of Tacloban is Chew Love. I chuck a soft laugh when I heard my tricycle driver say “Ang cute pala dito ah! (This place looks cute ah!)” when he finally found the place. Borne out from the ashes of the devastation of Tacloban, entrepreneur, Coke Young-Go, found opportunity from the rubble. Chew love is a product of pouring in her creative interest from fashion, food and photography. It’s hard not to miss this restaurant with its lovely European/Country inspired theme that’s a sure head turner.

BonBanhmi, a slice of Vietnam in Makati

One of life’s hidden blessings is living a short walk away from nice eating places.   It doesn’t always have to be fancy, swanky places or franchises of big chains.   Personally, we at Happyfoodies are big fans of small establishments, hole-in-the-walls and mom-and-pop operations whose offerings defy their size and relative obscurity.  Stumbling upon BonBanhmi along Mayapis in Makati is a good example, a small nondescript shop operated from the house.  If it weren’t for the small sign, it’s fairly easy to miss.  The giveaway sight is the usual display counter.  For an eating area, it has a converted garage furnished with monobloc tables and chairs.  But if the place is simple, the food is anything but.

Feeling at home at Bawai’s

It’s way off the main road and open only for lunch and dinner three days of the week.  But the gathering buzz on Bawai’s is proof that good news  do travel fast.   To paraphrase Kevin Costner in “Field of Dreams”, if you cook good food, they will come.   And visitors do hie off all the way here to dine.  We visited one hot Sunday afternoon as part of a small contingent of Summit Ridge’s Tagaytay weekend getaway.

Angeles City Foodtripping: Finding a piece of Vietnam in Banh Mi Saigon

Angeles City - Banh Mi Saigon Banh Mi II Angeles City may be a chartered city independent of Pampanga since the 60s but it still shares the Kapampangan flair for cooking up delicious fare and perhaps more importantly, a contagious appetite for joyful eating. It’s a tall order to live down its naughty, steamy reputation but the city has another side that can satisfy the other senses. By that we mean the nose and the taste buds. Your Happyfoodies tagged along for a food trip of Angeles City and what we found pleasantly surprised us.

Aquaknox: reloaded

Aquaknox - Facade The facade looks so much more welcoming with the clear floor-to-ceiling glass covered this time with bamboo slats in lieu of heavy drapes. Stepping inside, the interior is light and airy. The last time Happyfoodies was here was two years ago. A lot can happen in that span, in fact, a few of the restaurants we reviewed has sadly come and gone. Happily, Aquaknox has stayed on, reinventing itself along the way.

Proudly powered by WordPress | Theme: Orton Blog by Crimson Themes.