Spruce It Up with A Little Sage

We came, we ate and we were conquered.

Come in to the world of Sage …

As per the recommendation of Ms. Elakatrina, I rallied up my foodie loved ones and had lunch at Sage.  (Thank you so much for sharing this with me, Ms. Elakatrina! (“,)  Gooo, afoodionados)  From the façade itself, I already saw a ton of improvement with the place.  You see, this eating place, used to be 86 Grill. (I’m so glad that was eighty-sixed. Get it? =b)  Walking up the small staircase, going through the threshold, I saw how wonderful everything was now.  It’s improvement on steroids!

86 Grill … before Sage Restaurant. Behind Race you could see how the entrance looked before and on the other photo, it’s a section of the dining area.

Passing by Military Cut Off frequently, I could sort of see what’s changed from the wide windows of the establishment facing the street.  Nothing could have prepared me for the actual sight, however.  The walls were repainted to a pastel but also grayish hue of green, the posts were covered with a wood paneling in white with cute cage light fixtures affixed to them, the diner booths were reupholstered (oh, maybe they were replaced entirely), there was a nice counter with a glass cooler full of meal enders … everything, stunning. (86 Grill rose up from the ashes of … err, the grill? … and transformed into Sage.)

Spruced up! The dining scene at Sage

When I got a hold of the menu, I saw that that had improved (still on steroids), too.  Not just pulutan, all day breakfast and alcoholic beverages but sandwiches, salads, Mexican dishes, entrees, pasta, desserts and beverages nondrinkers would certainly appreciate.  It was a challenge to select what to have for lunch.  Good thing I cheated (with just a little peekie-weekie) at the Sage Facebook page, so I had an idea about the creamy bulalo steak.  (I live for … and probably will soon die because of … marrow. *heeharhar)

The menu, new and improved with Sage. *click to enlarge photo

The beauty of having an eatcentric posse is you can cover a lot of ground.  Race got the barbecued spareribs, my nieces got Irish porkchops and chicken ballotine, my sister got the house’s version of puttanesca and my brother got fish and chips.  For drinks, it was fruit punch for me, rocky road shake for Race, cotton candy and blue lemonade iced craze for my nieces, and shakes (mango and strawberry) for my sibs.

While waiting for our food, we drowned a bit of our hunger in the service water.

Service water … isn’t it amazing how little details added here and there can make something extraordinary? \m/ If you want the flavors of the fruit and the mint to get in the water, you have to give them a bit of a squeeze with your fork.

On to our food.

… which was brought out like the parade of food I witnessed at a wedding (Shout out to Ronelyn who’s enjoying wedded bliss at the moment), at a bit longer intervals in between plates and without someone commentating in the background about how amazing the Hotel Supreme parade of food was. *in a booming circus ringmaster like tone

Sage puttanesca.

A delicious plate of pasta, just what pasta ought to be. The serving was a bit small though so this would work as a good snack … or you can always have seconds. =D It’s highly encouraged at Sage resto (according to their framed “quotes” on the wall).

Creamy bulalo steak.

That’s a big hunk of meat.  I loved how the lean was marbled with fat.  It was tender and truly beefy.  When my plate came to the table, I thought I didn’t get some marrow on my piece of meat.  I moved the veggies away and voila, there the crevice of milky fat goodness was. It wasn’t as big as I wanted it like when you get the tube looking part of the leg bone but at least there was marrow, right? Oh, joy.  Excuse me while I ensure I fish out every bit of it. =)

Barbecued spareribs.  Fall off the bone lean.  Nicely flavored.  The helping of meat was big enough for Race to get another cup of rice.

Libations at Sage.  

Served with amusing paper straws. Love you, Sage owners for being environmentally responsible. ^^, Fruity shakes that are too sweet on the first sip. Let it rest a little but make sure you take your straw out of the liquid.  It might get soggy and wouldn’t do as good of a job as a straw.  The iced craze stuff worked just like snow cones.  Eat it like halo halo, mixing the ice up with the spoon and when it melts, it’s sip through the straw it goes. (Cotton candy was a sugar rush-y type of iced craze. The blue lemonade bested this in that the dash of sourness that the lemon had provided for a good contrast for the sweet. Interesting presentation for these, they were in giant cups.  As for my fruit punch, there was nothing to it. It’s fruit punch minus the alcoholic content. Now, let’s raise our glasses and take a sip!

Chicken ballotine.  I got a fork full of everyone’s dishes. This one was just all right, tastes like chicken. *hee

Irish porkchops. There was just one chop on this plate but that was no biggie, because the piece was large enough for my niece to give up half way through it. Passed it on to her mom who just had a small serving of pasta. For my forkful … tastes like pork. =b

Fish and chips.  (“,)

This was the plate that made my tongue tingle. It was so delicious that my brother wanted to get another order to go.  Not fishy/malansa dory with crispy thin chips and a zingy tartar dipping sauce. Another dish of small portions… again, seconds are encouraged. (and maybe a cup or two of rice for the bottomless pits that are men’s tummies *guffaw guffaw)  (“,)

Having a spruced up lunch with my foodie loved ones

Once again, we got the salad starters late.  We did it like at Chef Vicky’s where the salad was a digestif. *hihi

Mango kani salad.

A good plate of kani salad, though not as good as the one at Chaya‘s, makes me wonder now what they put in their mix.  Anyhoo, this was salad that I liked too.  So much so that I zoned in on it after giving everyone some.  I forgot about my creamy bulalo until I cleaned all the mango, crab stick strips, kim and greens out of this plate.  I ❤ veggies!

Let’s take a moment of silence before we talk about the Sage desserts.

…

Meal enders for sharing. (Note however that these are small slices of dessert. At P75, it’s still value for money)

Ricotta cheesecake (the one with the strawberry on it) was my favorite. Soft, spongy, crumbly and cheesy.  Smores cake (the scorched meringue looking one on the right) was my brother’s pick.  Make sure to get all layers in one bite since the bottom is a bit dry on its own. It needs the gooey-ish chocolate center to bring it to life.  And …I didn’t get the name cake with melon cubes on top. *snickers   A cooling dessert, perfect for hot days. It’s like a cross between gelatin and panna cotta (not that firm but not that soft either).  Maybe it’s closer to being a melon flan. Hmm.  Bottom line, these all brought our meal to a close wonderfully.

Siblings playing around at Sage. “Orange you glad” … si Sir Omeng kasi! =)) Thank you so much, Sir!

X marks Sage for good food in Baguio.  (Adding it to my favorite restos category, too. You were right, Ms. Elakatrina! *giggles)  Spruce it up with a paint job, spruce it up with cute little details, spruce it up with a fantastic offering of food.

Spruce your meal up with a little sage … or how about, a lot at Sage. ^^,

Food:  

Service: 

Ambiance:  We’ve got to admit from 86 Grill to this? They deserve the perfect five for juiced up improvement.

Price: 

WHERE TO EAT IN BAGUIO CITY

Sage

#95 Military Cut Off

Baguio City, Philippines

https://www.facebook.com/sagebaguio?ref=ts&fref=ts