Star Cafe: Four Snouts

A gaping hole where Mountain Studio once stood.

(Photo by PP)

Mountain Studio is gone -- another Baguio institution, gone. In the face of impending change, it's always good to eat comfort food, or to go back to something constant and familiar. We did both. As the demolition of the Mountain Studio building on the corner of Session Road and Upper Mabini carried on in the afternoon rain of May, we seestars repaired next door to Star Cafe for lechon rice.

The old Star Cafe.

(Photo of photo hanging in the new Star Cafe by FP)

Star Cafe still has that old Baguio charm to it, thanks to the presence of icons such as this Benguet cowboy. (Of course NOT the butterfly! Silly.)

(Photo by FP)

While waiting for our orders to come we couldn't help but wonder at the resilience of Star Cafe. It has survived the demolition of its original home, overcome the fengshui-related challenges of moving across Session Road, and withstood visits from the likes of Imelda Marcos and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Perhaps this is why Star Cafe is recognized as one of Baguio's "Builders."

Fritson admires the Baguio Builders Award of Star Cafe.

(Photo by FP)

There is no need to mince words over Star Cafe's lechon rice. It's stellar. We are in complete agreement with our dear friend, Martin Masadao.

Four snouts!
(Photos by: FP and PP)

The rice was steaming hot. The vegetables (celery, petchay, mustasa and tomato) were not overcooked. They were fresh and crisp, swimming in a light yet tasty sauce, and cradling five sizable pieces of crunchy, meaty, scrumptious, deep-fried baboy. It may not be as large a serving as you get in other lechon rice joints but for the taste alone it's well worth your P90. Beer is P47. Calamansi juice (with the standard question, Hot or cold?) is P37.

(Photo by FP)

All of this with the smug yet warm service of Star Cafe's mysteriously well-preserved waiters. We were automatically given calamansi, vinegar with chili peppers, and soy sauce just before our lechon rice arrived and this kind of service always makes for plus points in our books.

(Photo by FP)

Fritson thinks it's highly probable that Star Cafe's lechon rice is the Elixir of Youth. The waiters are still the same waiters from across the street some thirty odd years ago -- perhaps longer -- and they haven't aged one single bit!

What does Sab-atan mean?

Find out here. The Nashman is otentic. We loves him, yes we do.

Sab-atan II, Two Snouts

Sab-atan II, Dangwa Bus Station, Baguio City.
(Everybody knows that Dangwa is across the public market and predates the Center Mall, right?)

Sab-atan in the rain. Sigh, wishful thinking. (Photo by FP)

HRO Karl Willem and PA/PR Gromit graced our Sab-atan lunch with their presence, escorted by their ever-loyal chronicler, the Nashman. For Fritson and us girls, the fine company of the dawgs and the Nashman were the highlight of the meal.

Fritson with the Dawgs (Photo by FP)

We got 8 chewy pieces of lechon kawali on a bed of vegetable scraps (some of which were brown around the edges), sitting in a gelatinous cornstarchy sauce.

Lechon with gulay and Rice (Photo by FP)

Bonus pieces of pork in the vegetables (Photo by FP)

The rice toppings came with free soup in a lovely melanin -- er, MELAMINE bowl. The soup was so saturated with instant boullion cubes, we were reminded of suspension antibiotics. Nevertheless, we have to say the food was edible.

In a word: appetizing. (Photo by PP)

We found the prices for the rice toppings to be reasonable in Sab-atan II, ranging from 85-95PHP. The lechon rice is 85PHP. (But you get more for 65PHP in Cathy's.) A pale pilsen is 40PHP. Extra rice is 20PHP, and fried rice is 25PHP.

Lechon Ampalaya Rice (Photo by: FP)

Sab-atan II's ampalaya lechon rice was a lot better than the regular lechon rice, and a fair deal at 85PHP. No matter how delicious a restaurant's lechon rice variations are, however, we reserve our ratings in each place for 'D'Original Thing.

(Photo by FP)

Fritson sadly proclaimed that pork had seen better days and our guests of honor agreed. We decided to give Sab-atan II's lechon rice 1 snout + the benefit of the doubt-snout = 2 snouts. (Maybe the cook was just having a bad day?)

Fritson and the Dawgs rate Sab-atan II (Photo by FP)

So what's to like at Sab-atan II? The joint is just dripping with o-ten-tic kordi koboy ambience, and we are suckers for that sort of thing.

P with o-ten-tic koboy in the background (Photo by FP)

ETHNOGRAPHIC NOTE: To tell people not to worry, you are koboy, is to raise their expectations of you and your threshold for pain, dugyot-ness, alcohol, and your ability to work hard and laugh harder. The higher your tolerance for pain, alcohol, filth, and back-breaking work of the rustic mountain living kind, the better. The lower your threshold for laughter and fun, so much the better. To be called koboy in these mountains, especially in Benguet, is to be given a compliment of the highest order. It's almost like knighthood but better because you don't have to wash up and dress for the part.

Fritson and the Dawgs. Note Miner and Koboy meeting in the background (Photo by:PP)

Instead of sating your hankering for lechon rice here, you're better off soaking up the ambience in Sab-atan II while sipping a satisfying cup of Benguet brew and tucking into a wonderfully creamy, almost-too-decadent-to-be-koboy slice of egg pie. Now THAT is good stuff!

(Photo by PP)

We are Fa-mi-ly!

We received an email from one of our most-loved foster mothers on the other side of the globe that immediately had us ooh-ing and aah-ing and awww-ing over a loveydovey story about a depressed tigress in a California zoo who accepts and suckles piglets as replacements for her premature cubs. Oh so purrfect for this porcine blog! For we sisters were born in tiger years and we love pigs! That is, we love to eat pigs but this tiger doesn't.


But on searching further for images and information so we could give credit where credit is due, we learned that (YES, THE PHOTOS ARE REAL!) the photos were taken in Sriracha Tiger Zoo in Thailand. The Sriracha Tiger Zoo apparently specializes in interspecies love, because the tigress who adopted the piglets was herself suckled by a sow when she was a cub.


But like all good stories, this one has a dark side. Sigh. Interspecies love isn't everything it's made up to be. (We still really love the photos though. Guilty admission. *nervous giggles*)

Pig Love

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY, EVERYBODY! HUGS!!! SNORT!

WE LOVE PIGS.

"The climax of pig love is incorporation of the pig as flesh into the flesh of the human host and of the pig as spirit into the spirit of the ancestors."

From Harris, M. (1974) 'Pig lovers and pig haters,' in Cows, Pigs, Wars, and Witches: The riddles of culture. New York: Vintage Books.


FRITSON LOVES BEING A PIG.

Ayuyang Bar and Feliz Restaurant: 3 Snouts

Ayuyang Bar and Feliz Restaurant, 26 Governor Pack Road, Baguio City.

3 Snouts! (Photos by: FP and PP)

Most commonly enjoyed with wonderful live music and beers on cold nights, Ayuyang Bar and Feliz Restaurant possess a wonderful daytime secret. It was a meeting there that led to the discovery of their lechon rice and of course we could not let their version escape the attention of our triumvirate.

Ayuyang is located at the bottom of Baden Powel Inn, right next to the old bus station on Governor Pack Road. A flight of stairs beside the entrance of the inn will lead you down toward the garden and to the restaurant’s entrance. The first thing you see upon entering the restaurant is a fish tank and beyond that the kitchen. (Ornamental fish. Not edible.) As you move further in you’ll find yourself beside the bar and facing the two dining areas. It’s nice to sit by the windows looking out toward Burnham Park. The place is very quiet during the daytime and is a great place to spend the afternoon. Now let’s get started on the food.

Fritson inspects the menu (Photo by: PP)

The price range is from 115-78PHP for rice meals. We originally planned to order our usual but we got so excited at the sight of Binagoongang Baboy (pork cooked with okra, sitaw, eggplant and bagoong -- a fermented fish sauce, in case you didn't know) that we almost forgot that we were there for lechon rice. Fortunately, our friend Shanti came along and willingly ordered a lechon rice. The lechon rice was 95PHP and the binagoongang baboy was 85PHP.

Fritson luuuuvs the heavenly iced tea. (Photo by: FP)

While waiting for our meals we sipped at the delicious Iced Tea (P55). The condiments of soy, calamansi and chilies were automatically set on the table but in our hunger we forgot to fix that up and just gobbled up our meal with out the usual condiments.

Making sure the right condiments are served. (Photo by: PP)

Both the lechon rice and the binagoongang baboy arrived sizzling on a hot plate and the rice was served on a separate plate. We immediately tucked into our meal and discussed the quality of Ayuyang Bar and Feliz Restaurant’s lechon rice and binagoongang baboy.

Binagoongang Baboy (Photo by FP)

We’ll leave the Binagoongang Baboy for another review. This is just a teaser. (Any excuse to go back and have it again!) But it was very delicious!

Fritson levitates as he checks on the quality of the pork. (Photo by PP)

Ayuyang’s version of lechon rice is interesting because it’s different from most lechon rice around Baguio. Aside from the presentation, the dish contains red bell peppers, carrots, Baguio beans, petchay and cabbage with 5 big pieces of lechon soaking in a sweet lechon sauce. The lechon was crunchy but some parts were a tad overcooked making them difficult to chew. The service was a bit slow but it was well worth the wait!

YUM! (Photo by: FP)

Over all we award Ayuyang Bar and Feliz Restaurant with 3 snouts! (Oh no, we're not biased by the restaurant's name AT ALL!) Total bill was 430PHP for 3 starving people. We say the prices are very reasonable for what we got. Extra rice costs 22PHP, garlic rice is 25PHP. They also had a few special preparations of rice for slightly higher prices. Beer is 40PHP for a Pale Pilsen and 50PHP for a Red Horse. Brewed coffee checks in at 25PHP. Sweet sweek, sweek! Signing out until the next blog!

Fritson with piglet sis Freeta (Photo by PP, styling by FP)

The Return of Fritson

Buhiiiiiii!!!

Written by Fritson

Fritson. Photo by: FP

Greetings, lovers of lechon rice! I have been quite busy over the many months since our last lechon rice report and those two seestars have been even busier! Snort!

The seestars and I are still on the quest, searching for the BEST lechon rice ever but many projects have cropped up here and there. I’ve made new friends, watched the girls scarf down their food, met their friends, and whispered ideas in their heads. Before we pig up from where we left off, let me now take the time to tell you about what we’ve been up to since September 8, 2009.

I spent most of September contemplating the essence of lechon rice. My meditations led me to faraway swine universities - I mean universes! I shall not discuss these adventures here due to the language barrier and heavy technicalities. Sweek, sweek! I will later introduce to you my friend Theo (short for Theory) whom I met in those far off universes.

Fritson and Theo. Photo by: LL

I spent October glued to the TV watching the news of the frightening floods brought about by Typhoon Ondoy and followed closely by the devastation delivered by Typhoon Pepeng on the Cordilleras. I whispered my ideas into the seestars ears and with the help of many friends we did what we could to help. My friends and I set up a soup kitchen out of the Café by the Ruins, producing as much food as possible for the evacuees of Typhoon Pepeng. People from all over Baguio and beyond sent us donations and help! The amount of help that poured in was quite overwhelming and filled our hearts to overflowing. Despite being the mastermind of the whole thing, I was impressed by the magic that came out of that kitchen!

Imagine, they were able to produce meals for some 25 in-house volunteers, 700+ evacuees and snacks for 200 on-site volunteers for about ten days! They were able to feed hundreds of people with just 5 kg pork and even the chickens and fish would be proud to find that their comrades were used well. Buuhiiiiiii indeed! Many of my favorite foods such as sayote, monggo and kalabasa were served in as many different ways as possible! Grunz!

Cafe by the Ruins staff preparing soup kitchen food. Photo by: LL

Of course the time came when we realized we could not keep on feeding the evacuees because they were also anxious to get on with their lives. Still wanting to help, the group had a brain storming session and thought it would be a good idea to give away piglets to families that had lost their homes and livelihood. Can you imagine my joy when this was suggested? Squeeeeeee!!! My fellow pigs would find great homes and they would be helping the people of Tublay in so many ways. I was quite confident that these people would put my brethren to good use after all, the people of the Cordillera know and value pigs!

Our team made an agreement with Tubtub the Tublay pig that each family that received a pig would give a contribution to an emergency fund once the pig was sold, eaten or bred. It was quite exciting! Popo, Tubtub's human friend, went all the way to Ilocos to find the darling piglets that would find their homes in Tublay.

Tubtub is a bit camera shy. Photo by: FP

Finally on December 22, I ventured out to Tublay with the seestars and our friends Theo, Lia and Andene. We were accompanied by some representatives of Child and Family Services, Inc., Philippines to distribute the piglets.
 It was great to see the people of Tublay happily taking my brethren into their arms!

Photo 1: P handing piglet's to residents of Sto. Niño, Tublay as our friend Popo looks on. Photo by: FP

Photo 2: Another Tublay resident receives his piglet with joy. Photo by: FP

And so that has been my adventure since our last encounter. I now hand over the keyboard to the seestars and we will all wait for the continuation of this blog! :) Oinks, seestars! It’s time for some lechon rice!