Jen's Fastfood: 3 Snouts!

After a long hiatus and period of silence Fritson and the seestars have returned to the lechon rice circuit. The seestars and Fritson have been busy with Mt Cloud Bookshop since its opening last year. Fritson's main preoccupation during all those litsonless months was pondering the mysteries of the universe and familiarizing himself with the food section of the bookshop and all the porcine characters that he could find. Fritson is not a speed reader (or eater for that matter). He likes to digest things slowly.

Fritson in front of Jen's Fastfood (Photo by: PP)

Exactly a year after Fritson and the seestars took Birthday Girl to Jen's Fastfood for a lechon rice adventure, it was decided that they should return for a spot check.

3 Snouts in 2010! (Photos by: PP and FP)

This time the guest was Silly Knees. The overall rating for Jen's Fastfood is 3 snouts for two years in a row! The longitudinal account that follows contains elements from two visits almost exactly a year apart.

3 Snouts in 2011! (Photos by: FP and PP)

Jen's Fastfood is right beside Cathy's Fastfood on Diego Silang Street. The structure is similar to that of Cathy's because the kitchen is downstairs and one must climb a short flight of stairs to got to the dining area. This dining area is small, yet well-lit with mirrors and photographs of the food on the walls. We don't advice sitting by the window, however, because it's a stinking cats' den. For some mysterious reason, sitting one table away from the window is good enough.

SK and the interiors of Jen's Fast Food (Photo by FP)

Dining area from the other side. Those stairs lead to a cozy 2 table nook. (Photo by FP)

Jen's Fast Food is O-ten-tic. (Photo by FP)

In 2010, Birthday Girl ordered Shanghai Rice with Lechon Kawali (90php). This meal was also quite yummy! Fritson inspects it in the photo below.

Fritson Floating For Shanghai Rice (Photo by FP)

The lechon rice was delicious as usual. The nine pieces of lechon were crunchy (albeit, slightly overcooked) and arranged separate from the vegetables. The soup and the sauce of the vegetable siding were your usual fare but the vegetables in themselves were quite exceptional. The pechay, cabbage, Baguio beans and carrots (cut into little flowers) were prepared perfectly and were still crisp and obviously quite fresh.

Jen's Lechon Rice in 2010 and Fritson with Lechon Rice in 2011 (Photos by FP and PP)

Our favorite condiments of soy, calamansi and sili were automatically served when we ordered our food. The soy was of the slightly sweet Chinese variety but it still worked well with calamansi and the pounded sili provided.

Soup, Calamansi and the wonderful ground Sili (Photos by PP)

Extra rice is 15php and if you order a calamansi juice, you are provided with a glass of water, a bowl of sugar and some calamansi to squeeze yourself!

Fritson Ready To Squeeze Calamansi Juice (Photo by: PP)

Other rice toppings are also available at Jen's Fastfood. The prices range from 80-90Php. Their special Jen's Rice (90Php) has two options, you are given the choice of pork asado or lechon kawali with the usual fried chicken, fried egg and vegetable siding. Jen's Fastfood also offers congee with different condiments at 58php. Beer was not on the menu but coffee (brewed or instant) was listed with a range of 15-28php.

Jen's Fast Food Menu in 2010 and 2011 (Photos by: FP and PP)

Another menu item worthy of our attention was the cream puff, a combination of just the right amount air, crunchy caramelized sugar, and light pastry and cream.

Fritson Stalks The Glorious Cream Puff

Although we enjoyed our meal thoroughly, P, who had just come in on her bicycle, found the size of the serving inadequate. Jen's is not the place for you if you have just been from a workout and need to replace all those calories you burned. But then again, Jen's is the perfect place to fill your tummy without over-stuffing yourself for less than 100php.

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!

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)

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)

Cathy's Fastfood: 3 Pig Snouts!

Cathy’s Fastfood, 24 Diego Silang Street, Baguio City.

3 Pig Snouts! (Photo by: RS)

We can’t help but get sentimental about Cathy’s Fastfood as we mentioned in the previous post.

It is located on Diego Silang Street. For those people like me that aren’t always familiar with street names, Diego Silang is the street where the ukay ukay sells high-end bags. It’s the street behind Jollibee Session Rd if you’re coming from Harrison road, and the street behind Mcdo Session if you’re coming from Mabini or lower Session Road.

Upon entering, we found ourselves next to the cashier and curiously peering into the kitchen that is located at the bottom of the staircase. The walls used to be covered with vintage posters and old ads of Coca Cola but are now bare revealing the old wood panels. To the left of the entrance, there is a seating area with a good street view. Our favorite spot is on the second level and in the corner above the lower dining area. This is the best place to people-watch because you have a view of the whole upper dining room as well as the lower dining room. The mix of people in Cathy’s cover a wide range, cowboys coming home, students cramming over lunch, drunks having a last drink before heading home or families celebrating a birthday or baptism. The lovely mix of people provides a great ambiance and also good conversation material. Now, let’s get down to business.

Fritson checking out the menu and prices. (Photo by: FP)

The prices of the rice meal range from 80-65 PHP. Upon entering we already knew that we were going to order Lechon Rice! But friends, Gino, Marian, Shanti and Fritson looked over the menu first to see the other options. Gino opted for a Cathy’s rice, standard in most places that sell lechon rice. This dish changes name depending on the establishment but has basically the same things in it -- EVERYTHING. Cathy’s rice has a fried egg, fried chicken, fried beef, a few pieces of lechon and a lot of vegetables. Marian opted for the chicken mushroom rice, a simple dish that is practically self-explanatory. Shanti decided on the classic lechon rice and we were hungry and set to order.

Da Guests! Nope, they're not rating! They're just excited. (Photo by: FP)

We explored the drinks list and the condiments while waiting for our food to arrive. It’s the usual soft drinks and canned juices but they do have fresh (plus points!) calamansi juice that you can order either hot or cold. The beer, Pale Pilsen and Red Horse (the only 2 we really care about) cost 35PHP and 40PHP respectively. Good price for beer! If you ask nicely the waitress will give you soy, a platito, calamansi and a bottle of vinegar with more sili than vinegar in it. The mixing of these condiments are usually done by one person and the order in which they are mixed varies.

Fritson inspects the meal (Photo by: FP)

The arrival of our meal caused a visible and audible wave of excitement. The steaming cup of rice surrounded by a moat of vegetables, sauce, and lechon was a quest we were all ready to conquer. The lechon rice had five pieces of pork and two kinds of vegetables, namely carrots and petchay. Free beef soup with onion leeks also comes with the meal. We scrutinized the crunchiness of the meat, the fat content, the parts of the vegetables used, the quality of sauce. Gino and Marian discussed their chicken as well but the lechon was the main topic and Fritson kept note of our comments and helped us remember them later on. Our total bill for 5 people’s drinks and meals was 430 PHP.

LECHON! (Photo by: FP)

We gave Cathy’s Fastfood three snouts! The meat wasn’t that crunchy because it was drowned in the sauce and the vegetables were made up mostly of the white tips of the petchay. It was still quite tasty, the serving size was huge and besides, Cathy’s definitely still holds the crown for sentiment, for being the establishment where we were first initiated into the pleasures of lechon rice.