Countryside Eatery: A Gem of an Eatery at the Side of Country Club

With my aunt and uncle coming to Baguio for a golf tournament, my aunt mentioned an eatery found beside Baguio Country Club that’s making waves for serving good (and later, as I’ll find out – authentic) Filipino food.  Passing by the country club to get to Camp John Hay (walking my furry companions), I only made a note of stores lining the wall of BCC.  Indeed, great things are found in the oddest places and the Countryside Eatery (also known as Rimando’s) is evidence of this.

The horses, the waiting shed that hide the gem of an eatery

You would have to get out of your ride to see where Countryside Eatery can be found.  Yes, small stores (a la vendors in elementary school ^^,) are lined up against the BCC wall, but you’re not there yet.  Go past the waiting shed, down the stairs, and at the back of another eatery (Ober Da Bakod), you’ll find a gem of an establishment for Filipino food.

As the sign says. =)

When Race and I went on the quest for Countryside Eatery foods, we got to eat at Ober Da Bakod.  Budget meals (mainly for the BCC workers) that were good, but not good enough.  =b When I asked my sister about the exact location of the eatery, she said she didn’t notice another eatery in that vicinity.  ‘I just followed uncle’, she said in her defense.  With the family putting their two cents in about the situation, my brother said we should’ve done some recon first before sitting to eat at a specific place.  Spoken like a true…err, gamer. =))

The opposite of seasoning. The food at the Countryside Eatery was flavorful…use this to tone the flavors down. (“,)

Moving on to today, we went past the stores against BCC’s wall, past the waiting shed, down the stairs, and down further to Countryside Eatery.  It was a shack-like structure from where the happy sound of diners floated to meet our ears.  We went in and joined the party (so to speak *hihi of BCC workers, students, golfers and their caddies, professionals, etc.).

Now, THAT’s Pinapaitan =D

So ecstatic to finally be at the establishment that’s been written about in national papers (that’s how my aunt and uncle heard about them.  Clippings of the articles about Rimando’s were framed and displayed on the wall), we said yes to everything the attendant at the counter said.  Pinapaitan, he said; yes, we replied.  There’s caldereta; again, to that we said, yes.  Kilawen/kilawin?  When did we turn into yes men?  Before we left for our al fresco table (the place was packed, man, packed!), we also got pinakbet (let’s eat our veggies, too (“,)).

Pinakbet – eat your vegetables! ^^,

As soon as we sat down, one of the staff followed us with cups of soup.  Wee, the cup soup garnished with leeks. \m/  And what a tangy cup of soup it was! – not just salty but bulalo-ey.  Even with the hot day, every sip was a welcome one (so welcome, I asked for another cup =D).  What eatery meal would this be without the saucer of calamansi and chilies?  These were delivered to our table along with our plates and soup bowls.  As if on cue, when we finished our starter soup, the pinapaitan and rice arrived.  I was quick to spoon this up into the soup bowls.

Bulalo soup for starters/appetizer (“,)

Oh yes, THAT’s pinapaitan.  It was relentless with its bitter flavor.  (There’s no confusing sinanglao with that, definitely =b.)  Race loved it.  A few minutes in and our pinakbet, kilawen and caldereta were placed on the table.  THAT’s kilawen, too; raw meat left to ‘cook’ in vinegar.  (I guess this is the closest I can get to rare/medium rare meat and I lived through it. =D)

Kilawen – raw meat ‘cooked’ in vinegar, whooo

As for the caldereta, it still didn’t taste like the one my uncle made but it was still delicious.  The taste of the tomatoes wasn’t lost in the softening of the goat meat.  (One qualm, Xine’s qualm *heee:  There were no potatoes in the caldereta…or was that just with the batch they spooned into our serving platter.  *hhhmm)

The Countryside Eatery goat caldereta – so sorry, I got a photo of it too zoomed in. Close kami/we’re close. =))

For all the meat in this meal, it was a comfort to have pinakbet to fall back on when the animal protein got overwhelming.  We didn’t really mix this in with our rice but ate it like a salad, plain…a soupy salad.  (Another dish that tricked me into eating bitter gourd, but the bitterness wasn’t that intense.  Or maybe the pinapaitan worked my tongue good. *harhar)

Through the threshold of the Countryside Eatery…the lunch crowd was dying down.

X marks Countryside Eatery at the side of country club (they have a sense of humor, the owners (“,)) a.k.a. Rimando’s for good food (authentic Filipino dishes – pinapaitan not to be confused with sinanglao; real kilawen, and so on) in Baguio.

Food:    They serve a wide variety of dishes; bangus, crabs (when my uncle and aunt went with my sister), dinakdakan, sinigang, soooo many dishes.  We’ll have to come back another time to sample the other stuff.  (“,)

Service: 

Ambiance:  Party in the shack, yeah! =))

Price:  P650 for all that with extra rice and soda.  We had so much left over for dinner today and probably even breakfast tomorrow. =D

Countryside Eatery

Country Club Road

Baguio City, Philippines