Baguio Greatest Hits for Good Food

Featuring another Baguio food establishment that needs no introduction.  As for commentary, I’ve got lots to share about this place so …

5. Mandarin Restaurant

It’s been bugging me a lot seeing the Baguio restaurant list, running through the names of places where to eat in Baguio, and there, right beside Mandarin Resto is a “CHECK!” and a “no pictures” notation.  I’ve been to Mandarin a few times but in those days, the digi cam wasn’t readily available yet (or it was,  but I didn’t have the moolah to get my own =b).

So when Race was thinking about a tofu themed meal and I was stumped where to go (yes, I have those days too; san tayo, san tayo? Mai-aw-awan moves *hihi), Mandarin, a Chinese joint seemed the most logical choice.  Off to town, to Session Road, up the first flight of stairs in the NetGear building (Shout out to Sir Lambert! (“,))  (Note to self: Must see what that building’s real name is) … and into the restaurant that is one of the  City of Pines’ greatest hits for good food, we went.

The first items in our meal. Lots of calamansi, aw, thankies, Mandarin! Our drinks, coffee and guyabano shake. The latter was so good, I had to have another glass … also because … wait for it ….

Of this:

Looks like a regular dipping saucer of soy sauce, chili oil and calamansi juice, right? Wrong. If there’s olive oil and coconut oil, this must be the oil that comes from chilis. USE WITH EXTREME CAUTION! =D

Race put some of this on his rice and yowzah!!!, he went.  He warned me to get only a drop saying, it’s the most potent chili oil he’s ever seasoned his food with.  I dipped my spoon into the saucer, mixed the oil in my soup and sipped some of the broth. SOUND THE ALARM! FiRE, FIRE! Whoa, call-the-fire-department hot!  I imagine I looked like one of the Looney Tunes cartoon characters with face going red, steam blowing out from both ears and breathing fire in a few seconds.

The dining area.

It had me reaching for my fruit slush and drinking it almost all the way through to relieve the burning sensation. (I also wanted to go like Despicable Me minion, dusting my tongue off with my fingers, breaking the chili oil saucer on the floor and running around like crazy. Sorry guys, I’m such a minion fan. My brother says, it seems I’ve been injected with the minion antidote, too. *heehaha … or should I say, “ohh lala, eh, piattos?” )

*click to enlarge photo of Mandarin Restaurant’s menu

One of the things I love about going to old and established restaurants like this is the service, another one for the books. Our attendant spoke to us in English that indicated she was “old Baguio” with the intonation and all.  (Love it, reminds me of my grandma(s). ^^,)  She got our orders without writing them down and repeated it back to us from memory.

  for you Maam! Wee!

Next up, the other plates/bowls in our meal.

One of the chef’s suggestions per menu: Mustard soup with century eggs and chicken ^^,

Lots of stuff in this soup, besides the mustard leaves (which have a bitter taste to them), pieces of century egg and chicken. It’s got ham and other veggies too … just in case, you get icky-ed out of the century egg which I became after a few spoons with it. *hee

Shanghai rice, doubles up as an entree. (“,)

Like I said, fried rice like this is always a winner. \m/ We wouldn’t have need for the other dishes if we started with this.  However, the small sized serving might just be good for one, if you’re famished, that is.

Tenderloin with champignon =)

Race chose tenderloin with champignon because of the name. (A-ha! I’m not the only one drawn to dishes because of their names =D)  He asked me what that was and I had an inkling but I couldn’t really recall, so I told him to get it just so he would stop wondering.  As the dish was being delivered to our table, I remembered champinones at Dulcinea.  Right! Mushrooms! Tangy, this particular viand and the onion rings were still fresh so it kept its spiciness … as well as the smell.  Oh my breath. *takes sip from glass of soursop shake, problem solved.

Stuffed beancurd

We didn’t forget about the tofu, and stuffed bean curd sounded intriguing.  It’s like siomai but instead of a molo wrapper, the ground meat is inserted in tofu cubes.  A bland dish which a microscopic droplet of the chili oil/soy sauce/kalamansi seasoning transformed into fire beancurd. =))

In this photo, I’m about to remember why Mandarin Resto is one of Baguio’s greatest hits for good food. \m/

X marks Mandarin Restaurant, Home of Great Chinese Cuisine  for good food in Baguio.  But you already knew that … it’s one of Baguio’s greatest hits for restaurants. =)

Mandarin Restaurant

Session Road

Baguio City, Philippines