The Best of Baguio Food with Erwan Heussaff

- In this episode, we're going
to show you some

of our favorite bites in the city,

from a whole pig snout

to blood sausage,
to Bakareta,

the perfect bowl of soup,
and other Igorot dishes.

I just want to smash this.

So tighten your belt buckles
and fasten your seatbelts

as we take a road trip
to Baguio.

But first, let's start
from the beginning.

Baguio's one
of the most famous cities

in the Philippines.

It's dubbed the
"Summer Capital of the Country"

and is a gateway into Benguet
and the Mountain Province.

It is by no means
off the beaten path.

I used to pass
through it mostly

to explore the Cordilleran
mountain range

and the breathtaking beauty
of the area.

But more recently,
I've lingered in the city

and found a side of it
that I never really saw before.

Amongst its fast development,
there's an unmistakable

rhythm here,
one that begs you

to slow down
and pay attention.

Even though it probably
looks very different

than it did 20 years ago,
there's a sense

of nostalgia in the air—

attention that pulls it
between the highly urbanized sensor

that it is and the groundness
of its history.

The food we will eat
and the people

you will meet today are probably
the best representation

of that.

Baguio's a really strange city.

It feels like it almost
shouldn't be where it is.

I mean,
you're in the Central Baguio,

it's really busy.

Lots of traffic nowadays,
lots of restaurants,

kind of feels like a city
that you'd find

anywhere else
in the Philippines.

What makes it really special
is that it's really built

on a mountain.

Once you go a bit further out
from the Baguio City Central,

you find places like this
that are literally built

on a cliff, and more
and more businesses

now are branching out
into these kind

of lesser known areas,
lesser densely populated areas

and you get beautiful views.

And finally, it starts
really feeling

like a special mountain town.

And it does have kind
of like this allure and magic

that is hard to find
anywhere else in the Philippines.

No wonder why so many people
beside it call this place home.

And yeah, it's a strange one.

You'll really want
to climb when you come

to the Philippines.

Okay. I'm getting out
of breath.

No one told me that
this is going to be

these many steps.

Even though it is
a major city in the Philippines,

you have a mix of Igorot
and Ilocano pride

in absolutely everything,

and that's why I feel people
can really feel like themselves,

and express themselves in Baguio.

That's why we have lots of artists,
lots of restaurants,

lots of cooks, really doing
what they feel is right

and kind of like finding
their own voices here

which creates
a really special atmosphere

for creative people.

And athletes.

Good Taste doesn't serve local food—
but in a way, it does.

It's a meeting place
of everyone who comes to Baguio

From tourists to locals,
it's a great place

to get a pulse of the area
and eat like

how we Filipinos enjoy to—

with big portions,
budget-friendly meals

that are ready to share.

Locals here call this
the food factory

and I can see why.

It's an absolutely massive restaurant
with long tables,

perfect for families.

And looking at the price
and the size of the meal,

it really is well-priced.

Like, you have
these massive plates

for 250 pesos.

So if you're a lot of people,
it comes down

to a couple of hundred,
even a hundred pesos per person.

So that's why it's always full,
massive queues outside

of just people waiting to be sat.

But even though maybe price
is a huge motivator,

these guys have been
on the scene for about 30 years.

So it's been a long, long time.

They're one of the main reasons
why so much produce

has moved through Baguio.

The owner, I believe,
passed away during COVID,

unfortunately, but he really left
his mark here

with two massive restaurants
that are always busy,

especially at peak times.

And I believe he also has
his own farm or market,

and that's why he kind
of moves a lot

of fresh vegetable items
on the menu.

All of these look
absolutely insane.

These portions are way bigger
than what I expected.

The patatim, just to give you
an example, is 500 pesos.

The buttered chicken—
we got the small—

this is 250 pesos.

That's insane.

I mean, it tastes
like the buttered chicken

that I grew up eating.

Okay. Siomai.

That's good.

And one of the reasons
why this place does really well,

it's open 24 hours.

Lumpia Shanghai.

I mean, it's comforting food, right?

It's what you're used to,
it's what you expect.

For the prices you're paying,
it's delicious, it's fresh,

it's freshly made.

It's quickly served.

There's really no question
why this place

would be an institution.

Chop suey is really good.

Vegetables are still nice
and crunchy.

There's an abundance
of vegetables that's

in the plate which is always
really nice to see.

And then, patatim, let's see
if it's really, really soft.

That's pretty insane.

All that gelatin.

Super fatty, gelatinous,
sweet, salty.

Everything you want it to be.

If you want to experience
Cordilleran cuisine

in an accessible
and well-curated way,

Farmer's Daughter
is a great way to visit.

It's located beside
the famous Tam-awan Village

away from the center
of the city.

The food is straightforward,
authentic, and presented

in a rustic,
yet attractive way.

Get some soup.

This looks really good.

This is like the whole snout.

Got some cartilage
in there.

You got some ears,
you got some fat,

a little bit of everything.

Really deep porky broth,
which is something

you don't often get
and a lot of the times,

it's deep, it's creamy,
it's kind of everything

that you want
a nice broth to be

especially when it's cold.

And that's why
I'm always really excited

to come to places like this
because it's nice

to be able to have
this kind of food

that you would not find
in Metro Manila.

Next, I'm going to move on
to my favorite

Igorot foods,
and that's Pinuneg.

I think blood sausages,
when you think

of your French Boudin,
your British black pudding,

your Korean blood sausage.

You don't really think
about Filipino blood sausages,

but it makes a lot of sense.
Pork, pork blood,

we have things like dinuguan
and everything.

Why not have a sausage
out of it?

And here, it's probably one
of my favorite ones.

The chef owner here
is actually

a very skilled butcher.

And you could tell
of his expertise there.

And it's not like
overwhelmingly bloody

or gamey.

Lots of spices there
so it really balances out

the whole flavor.

This is one of those dishes
I feel like is extremely underrated

in the Philippines.

Still within that meaty vibe.

I know you've probably heard
of Etag.

So it's a preserved
salted meat.

Its counterpart
or its other style of doing it

is Kinuday.

Here you smoke pork.

They also make a version
of chicken and beef, I think,

on their menu.

But traditionally,
I think it's pork.

And yeah, you can taste that.

There's a smoke right outside
actually.

You can taste
that has been seeping

in smoke for a long,
long time. It's really intense.

It really kind of takes
over your whole palette

which is why it's perfect
to order it

with lots of vegetables.

The menu is actually filled
with vegetables.

And I saw the pako salad
and I knew I had to have it.

Pako is probably one
of my favorite Filipino greens.

Very delicately dressed tomatoes.

I think salted egg.
Some cucumbers.

Nice and clean, refreshing.

Really well-balanced.

So good.

Ed's Bakareta is a place
you should stop and have a meal.

Not only does the owner
have an amazing success story—

from being in prison
to becoming a man of God.

We made a full documentary
about him that'll be out soon.

But his food is timeless
and truly Filipino.

The Bakareta is so good.

Like, I love how much pepper
there is in there.

If you're looking for coffee,
you don't really have

to look far.

There's a buzzing coffee scene
in Baguio,

serving up both locally roasted
and imported beans.

If you're up
for a caffeinated crawl,

check out Rebel Bakehouse,
HotCat, Hatch Coffee,

Peakcup, Igorot's Charm,
Leandro's, Kapetira,

Farm to Cup, or Nest Coffee.

- Luisa's Cafe started
around 1957

if I'm not mistaken.

It was started
by my grandfather

and grandmother
who migrated from China.

I would say Luisa's Cafe's
bestseller would be

the noodles
and our siopao.

The noodles as well,
we do it fresh

every single day.

It's a recipe
from my grandfather

way back in China.

- [Erwan] Luisa's is one
of the oldest restaurants

in the city.

It keeps a very simple
and made-fresh Chinese menu.

When the temperature drops,
it's the perfect place

for a copious bowl
of mami noodles.

There's a reason
that this restaurant

is still here.

Often frequented by locals
reminiscing on the old days.

I am so stuffed.

This is kind of like
the perfect either breakfast

or dinner place.

Luisa's is an institution
for all the right reasons.

It might seem strange
to have like this amazing

kind of Fil-Chi food here,
but it makes a lot of sense.

There was once kind
of like a very big thriving

Fil-Chi community.

Some noodles,
pork fats, some chicharons,

some pork, some dumplings.

This looks like
a really beautiful bowl

of food.

I'm just going to sit down
and enjoy this.

Pork stomach. Okay.

Very clean.

And that lining,
gorgeous.

This is legit a really good bowl
of food.

And these noodles
are just so perfectly cooked

and it tastes so good.

I just want to smash this.

One of my favorite bites
of food so far in Baguio.

I mean, I also want
to eat the siopao,

'cause the soup is so good.

The pork is already
really nice and sweet.

Reminiscent of Chinese sausage.

It's so soft.

That's a really solid bite of food.

I mean, I see people talking
about a lot

of different restaurants,
but for me,

this should definitely make it
to the top of your list

if you're looking for something
really comforting

that has all those notes
that you're so used to and nostalgic

but just really well-made
and feels very Baguio.

And I heard this is like
a hotspot for a lot of journalists,

so we're going to go upstairs
and see if anyone wants

to talk to me and kind
of shed some light

as to why this is such
an institution.

- I would say the journalists...
this is where they hang out

because it's accessible
in a sense.

They're within
the business district.

One journalist will come,
they'll tell stories,

share their stories
to the next journalist,

and then that became a trend.

Even though way back
when I was not even born,

they were already here,
they were supporting

our business.

- [Erwan] So where
are we headed now?

- So we're going to Paulo's
at Katipunan Cafe.

But before that,
we'll just drop by Ili-Likha

for a while.

- Okay.

- Check out the works of Kigao,
the guy you met earlier.

- Yeah.

- Then, Ili is owned
by Kidlat Tahimik,

the National Artist for Film.

So it's kind of like...

I don't know
if you've been there before.

- No, never.

Actually, I've been to Baguio
but a lot of the times,

I feel like it's so busy
that you never really know

where to go, right?

'Cause the city
has changed tons, right?

I'm sure. And you've been
documenting it for how long now.

- Probably, what,
more than 30 years,

three decades.

Started off early college.

- I won't ask you
how old you are.

- Yeah.

(laughs)

- But would you feel like
the essence of Baguio

is still very much alive
and present through its food,

through the shops.

- It's probably more of your...

This is probably one
of your more cosmopolitan places

in the country.

- Yeah. I'm actually
pleasantly surprised

that a lot is still happening
around Session Road.

- Oh, Session Road.

- Yeah. 'Cause people like,
you know,

okay, yeah, Session Road,
it sounds like

a very touristic thing to do,

but it's true, a lot of kind
of like these institutions

are still very much
around here, right?

- So this is Ili-Likha.

- Oh, cool.

- That's the facade.

- Beautiful.

- Yeah.

- And so, this is kind
of like just an artist's haven, right?

- Yeah.

This is Tony.

- Hi! I'm Erwan.

- He's the resident floor
artist here.

- Ah, cool.

- This is where we enter.

- Ah, okay. Nice.

- So here, you'll see
restaurants, gear shops,

exhibitions.

- Some really mixed-use...

- Yeah.

Then, of course...

It's like a labyrinth.

- Very cool.

This really, for me,
represents kind of like

what Baguio is all about,
in terms of the converging

of cultures, of people,
of artists.

- Yeah!

There's another café there.

There's this vegetarian café.

- So dope.

- Yup.

So this is the theatre.

Sometimes, they have
film showings here.

- This is so cool.

I never even saw pictures
of this place.

Wow. This is really special.

- Yeah.

If you notice the wood,
these are the trees

that fell during...
when there were typhoons.

So every year, they repurpose it,
they ask for it from the...

Like that trunk over there,
that's a whole tree actually.

- That's so cool.

- And here, this is the part
of the city

where the gold trading
is normally done.

- Okay.

- So they actually buy
gold nuggets from the miners

around the area.

If you notice in the city's logo,
there are three gold coins.

- Yes.

- The three gold coins signify
the three major mining areas

in the province.

We still produce major gold reserves
for the country.

- I did not know that. Okay.

So if you notice, the Baguio
is the only city

that has a different layout
as against

the other municipalities,
cities in the country

where the traditional layout
was the church,

then the government center.

Here, it's the main street.

There's a main street and that's
where everything happens.

- And everything is built
around that.

- Yeah.

- Aside from Ili-Likha,
you can also visit

the Bencab Museum,
the Tam-awan Village,

Arca's Yard, or Museo Cordillera
for your creative fix.

But we were after
more local food

and our guide wanted
to show me a place

that he considered
represented the side

of Baguio that is
an important part of the city.

- We go up here.

- Oh, up here.

- [JJ] Yeah.
That's the Katipunan.

They used to have a store there,
but it's closed right now,

so we go up here.

- [Erwan] What is
this place called?

- [JJ] Katipunan.

- [Erwan] Ah!
So it is Katipunan.

- [Paolo] Welcome!

Welcome to Katipunan.

- So I like in this space,
it feels like a secret,

which is like you need
to know like

where this is
to be able to come here.

- Actually, this is known
before...

But until now,
we just don't know

why it's still a secret
to most.

But actually, this area
is known to be a meeting place

of pocket miners.

And then also,
the vegetable dealers.

- [Erwan] And you've been
in this location

for how many years?

- [Paolo] Actually, my mother
started here since 1970s.

- Oh wow.

- This is what you could consider
Igorot's food,

Cordilleran dishes?

- Actually, we could consider that
as an Igorot menu serving

because we don't usually
add some...

- [JJ] Overly spicy stuff.

- [Paolo] What we just do
is boil them,

and then just...

What do you call that one?

Stir-fry.

And then just garnish.
That's all.

With the chili.

- [Erwan] Nice! Okay.
So this feels like

something that more people
should kind of come know

about it and know of, right?

And I feel like this kind
of food is what people

are now looking for.

- Probably early 70s
to the 80s,

restaurants like this
were by madasi.

But now,
they're the only restaurant

that serves this kind
of food here

in this particular area
in the city.

- So how did you find
this place, for example?

- When you're out drinking
the whole night,

so you end up
in the morning,

nursing a hangover...

So the first thing
you want to do is drink,

or like look for a place
where they serve half-broth.

This is the favorite.

- I'm loving this,
by the way. Yeah.

Really good.

- So we normally have "sungo"
or the pig's snout

and that's it.

- [Erwan] And this is
just boiled until like

it's really tender, right?

- [Paolo] All you have to do
is just slice

and then serve yourself.

- [Erwan] So you cut up
a piece.

- [JJ] That's how it goes.

- [Paolo] That's it.

- You got that right.

- Yeah. That sauce
really combines it.

Pork also.

Or beef?

This is the cheeks, right?

- [Paolo] We call it
"ping ping tibaka."

- [Erwan] Ping ping tibaka.
So the cheeks of the cow.

Yeah. Which are really tender,
really fatty.

- [JJ] And this is the lengua,
the pig's tongue.

- That's really tasty.

- [JJ] Tinuno.

- [Erwan] Tinuno.
It's a grilled pork.

Now I feel like the food is...

I mean, it's like
what you said—

very simply seasoned,
but so tasty,

and very different
from anything you'll find

in Manila.

Like forget about it.
You can't find a whole pig snout

in any Manila restaurant.

I feel like that's
what it makes it special, right?

It's nice to see places
that still kind

of stand behind their culture
and behind the food

that you guys grew up eating.

It feels like how maybe...

maybe this is how Baguio was...

Maybe all of Baguio
was like this in the 70s, right?

- And a lot earlier actually,
'cause before the miners go

to the mine site,
this is where...

this is the transport hub.

So they get to be
picked up here

or they get
to be dropped off here

after they get paid.

- Okay.

- So that's why you have
these places here

serve this kind of food
because these are the kind

of food that powers them
for the day.

- Yeah. This will.

Your protein, your fat,
you've got everything you need.

And then, obviously,
the rice, right?

- You should check out
the rice servings, it's really...

- Big.
- Yeah.

We didn't show you
the modern eateries,

international food restaurants,
all the coffee shops

and bakeries around the city.

There are a lot of them
and most of them

are worth the visit.

I wanted to take you around
to places that I feel represent

this mountain city well—

gems that I hope will stay open
for decades to come,

serving an important slice
of culture

for those willing to seek it.