Student Fare: Marosan’s Restaurant, ‘Greenhouse’, Reg’s Binalot and Macsbox

When you need to eat and you need food fast, delicious and easy on the (student) budget, you have four main choices. There’s Marosan’s/RJ/Lenroc, the ‘Greenhouse’, Reg’s Binalot and Macsbox.

Marosan’s Restaurant

Marosan’s a.k.a. Lenroc a.k.a. RJ has been in business for the longest time. When I was in college that’s where my friends and I used to go. (No pictures of course, I wasn’t a foodie yet and also, compact and affordably priced digicams were nonexistent then.) You can go to the Marosan’s establishment a little ways from the SLU main gate or you can go to the one along Bonifacio Street which is closer from the Otto Hahn gate.

Beef Tomato *nomnomnom

This must be where my love for fried rice started (the entrée double sort of meal). You’ve got calamansi juice and soy sauce so you can season your fried rice to taste and you can also rely on their complimentary cups of flavorful soup. (I loved fishing for the onion leeks in those cups. When my college friends and I used to eat there, I always picked the cup with the most leeks in it. Shout out to Ricky, John, Carl, Rocky, Adrian and Laudemer! Miss you, guys! (“,))

Up to this day, I still eat at Marosan’s (mostly the one located near the SLU main gate). They serve a mean beef tomato there that’s just a great entrée for plain rice – or even fried rice. The servings are big enough so you get the most out of your money. This is great news especially if you’re a student; you’re mostly trying to make ends meet with the allowance your parents give you. Simple, delicious food for cheap, that’s Marosan’s food. For P75 you can order up the house special that has pork chop, fried chicken, vegetables, egg and rice. (Reminds me of the story of Jack’s Restaurant house specialty. “Kini Manong Jack lang diyay.” *snicker snicker) Wash it down with soda or just plain water, wow, what a great meal!

Marosan’s Rice (“,)

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Ambiance:  for the Bonifacio branch and for the establishment near Otto Hahn gate.  Again, if you’re getting good food,  so who cares what the place looks like. =b
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Marosan’s Restaurant

Bonifacio Street

Rimando Road

Baguio City, Philippines

Macsbox

Speaking of fried rice mixes, the Macsbox establishment comes to mind. Just like chao fan a la Chowking, you have a board full of ways for flavorful (entrée type) rice. For P50, you have your rice in a box. However, with the size of the box, you might want to get more than one. If you’re absolutely famished, put a little more effort in and walk a few steps to Marosan’s to get your fill. (“,) Still, I like what Macsbox has to offer its customers. If you find yourself in front of SLU, try their KKK – Thai fried rice which is mainly, bagoong rice. Yum!

Rice in A Box

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Macsbox

Bonifacio Street

Baguio City, Philippines

Reg’s Binalot

Further away from SLU and getting closer to the neighborhood and student apartments on T. Alonzo Street, you’re going to find Reg’s Binalot. Just as their name suggests, they serve the food wrapped or ‘binalot’ in banana leaves. I’ve had lots of Reg’s Binalot food for takeout and just recently did we actually eat there. The food was way better when it’s eaten right in the eatery =D. (It’s not moistened up from the vapor that couldn’t escape the banana leaves.)  Opening the ‘binalot’, you have rice, whatever viand you ordered, slices of tomato and half a salted egg – a filling enough student meal.

Pork Sisig, Pork Steak & Flan

For dessert, we had their leche flan which I thought was just going to be a small serving but they gave us the whole flan dish. Weeee!  The flan wasn’t made with pure egg yolks but with so many people starving in the world, what right have we to complain that it had egg whites in it. It was good enough with hints of orange zest with every spoonful.

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Reg’s Binalot

T. Alonzo Street

Legarda Road

Baguio City Philippines

The ‘Greenhouse’

Moving closer to town, on Mabini Street, The Greenhouse is one of the student favorites. The establishment doesn’t have a name per se but because it’s painted green, people just got around to calling it the greenhouse. Here, their most popular dish is the pork steak (like the Philippine beef steak only with pork =b). Trying that dish out a few years ago, I understand why it’s a student fave. The sauce was so flavorful; you can eat loads of rice with this. With just a half order of pork steak and cups full of rice, the kids will be up and at ‘em to learn their lessons.

Pork (Saucy) Steak (“,)

Having lunch at the greenhouse today, Race and I were in and out in 20 minutes. There were lots of people in the eatery but they had lots of space for their customers. We decided to occupy a table outside. Everything is well coordinated here, Race was still at the counter ordering food but the attendants were already bringing these orders to our table. Nice! Unlike at Marosan’s, you had to take your pick from the menu and wait for it to be prepared. What you see is what you get at the greenhouse.

(Soupy) Monggo

As usual, I got the pork steak (half order is enough =D). We also got half an order of monggo (mung bean stew) and one order of dinakdakan. The monggo was a little soupier than I wanted it but it was monggo. (Nothing beats the Soledad’s version though.) The dinakdakan was also pretty soupy. It didn’t have the crunchy pig ears. Instead, it had slices of pork. I don’t know if they used real brains or mayonnaise for this dish but wow, it tasted so dinakdakan-y. (Whoa, almost like my uncle’s 0.o but again, soupy – which was sort of nice, you could drizzle the sauce over your rice. More carbs – I can just hear Karla saying this – more energy, mas happy. \m/)

(Soupy) Dinakdakan =D

When we finished with our meal, (again, just 20 minutes later) the attendant who was overseeing the dining area outside got our payment and gave us our change. I love how the process at the greenhouse was like clockwork. The years of experience dealing with hungry students who had to run back to school for class didn’t go to waste.

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Service: , 7 even so plus  for lighting fast service.  “Ka-chow”!!!
Ambiance:  outside. If you want a view of drying laundry, this is where you sit. =b Also, the floor there isn’t level, gave me pins and needles sitting out there.  inside.
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The Greenhouse

Mabini Street

[UPDATE 06/22/2016: Moved to the little food court in the basement of Jollibee Assumption. (Thanks muchie for this valuable info bite, hiiragijujika!)]

Baguio City Philippines

X marks Marosan’s/RJ/Lenroc Restaurants, The Greenhouse, Reg’s Binalot and Macsbox for good, affordable, filling food in Baguio.  (“,)