Saturday 10 May 2014

Resto Review: Strawberry Cafe, Sagada

While in Sagada, I can't help notice that there are lots of cafe and restaurants serving yoghurts. My husband's  not fond of yoghurts because he doesn't like it being a sour dessert. But one can't help but be curious about it so I just had to try at least once.

We ordered a serving of Strawberry Yoghurt (Php 70) at the Strawberry Cafe. The yoghurt itself was plain and was not that sour as expected from a yoghurt. Combining the fresh strawberry and the sweet strawberry jam on it neutralizes the yoghurt's sourness. I love it and I just wished their serving was bigger.

The Strawberry Cafe serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. Their pancakes are priced at Php 100 and their meals start at Php 120.

Resto Review: Pinikpikan Haus, Sagada

The Pinikpikan Haus is located just below Alibama Inn along the main road. The Pinikpikan Haus is the official restaurant of Travel Factor where our daily breakfast and lunch are served.

On our first day at Sagada, we were served Chicken Curry for lunch. The chicken meat was really tender but the sauce was quite bland that I'm not sure if it was really curry. I only assumed it to be curry because it was yellow.

On our 2nd day, we had Longganisa  for breakfast. Their longganisa were small but were tasty.

For lunch, we were served with Daing Bangus with vegetables. Thankfully the bangus was boneless and their vegetables were fresh and cooked just right. What's weird about our meal was it came with a single piece of liempo. hehehehe

And since we were really hungry on our 2nd day, we ordered their local specialty Pinikpikan (Php 130). I was expecting its soup to taste like tinola but it was not, it has a distinct taste that I can't describe. The soup really warms up our grumbling tummies. Their pinikpikan had several chicken meat and a piece of etag. Etag is smoked and salted slab of pork meat but it was not for me, I don't like its consistency. As for the chicken meat, it was tender but tasted bitter because of the blood clot on the chicken which is normal for pinikpikans.

Pinikpikan Haus serve breakfast, lunch and dinner with meals starting at Php130 - which is the usual price of meals of restaurants found along the main road. But on the plus side, every meal here comes with unlimited mountain rice. So if you are heavy on rice then this is the place for you.



Indigenous Handicrafts and Inn, Sagada

We stayed at Indigenous Handicrafts and Inn while we were in Sagada for 3 days.

Normally, Travel Factor assigns their participants to stay in Alibama Inn but since their official inn is full we were designated to the Indigenous Inn which in my opinion was much better accommodation.

Our room is located on the second floor. Our room was spacious, has three double sized beds and has its own bath room. Plus their bath has a hot shower which is very important especially with the cold weather in Sagada (I hear that most of the inns in Sagada don't have it). They also offer free Wifi and free brewed coffee in the morning which was delicious.

Sorry we were not able to get their contact information and rates but rest assured Sagada is filled with inns and lodges to choose from.

The Banaue Road Trip before Sagada

Planning to go to Sagada? There are two options to go there from Manila, one is via Baguio (which is faster because it's through the expressway) another one less traveled option is via the scenic route of Banaue. We chose the later and chartered a jeepney from Banaue going to Sagada.

The long ride is very well worth it. Enjoy the cool breeze, the fresh air and breathtaking scenery. Be in awe as you see the famous Banaue Rice Terraces for the first time.

Experience riding on top of the jeepney for an added adrenaline rush and really let the cold wind brush through your face. The view on top was amazing regardless of how painful our butt got after the trip.

But hey! it's all about the experience - at least you get to say that you were able to go on a road trip in Banaue topload-style!

Friday 9 May 2014

Resto Review: Hidden Valley Restaurant, Banaue

After 9 hours of travel from Manila, we finally arrived in Banaue at dawn. We were dropped off by the bus in front of Hidden Valley Restaurant. It was a little restaurant located along the high way and was near Dangwa and Ohayami Bus stations.

We still have at least 3 hours more travel time to reach Sagada so we want to have a heavy breakfast before we head out to our next destination.

We both ordered their Filipino Breakfast meal (Php 115) which was rice with fried egg and your choice of longganisa, daing bangus or bacon. Each meal already comes with coffee or tea. I also added one order of their Banana Pancakes (Php 65).

My husband had their breakfast meal with longganisa. Their longganisa had their own distinct taste to it, it was savory with a bit of sweetness and spiciness. I on the other hand ordered their meal with daing bangus. I was disappointed to find out that it was not boneless. And their daing lacks of saltiness.

Their banana pancakes were really thick, well I guess that's expected since it is filled by slices of bananas. Pancake itself was just ordinary for me nothing special it just had bananas.

Meals here are quite expensive but there are not that many options around either. You will have to ride a tricycle to their market for more choices.