Student Fare, Bakakeng: Cafe de Illustradoz and Food Ville

Bakakeng today (yes, I’m fixated on the location at the moment *hihi) is a far cry from the Bakakeng of my memories.  It was one that had an outskirts type of feel to it that was changed with the arrival of a school and its students.  Now, it seems like everything you’ll ever need here is attainable with the barangay residents transforming their garages, front lawns or backyards into businesses.

(This so reminds me of how my best friend, Myrtle used to say how she loved the prospect of relocating to where I lived. On the ‘university belt’, it seemed like barangays with its eateries, convenience stores, laundry shops, PC rooms, etc., could be a city on its own, she said. Big hugs, Myrtle and the kiddies! (“,))

When you need to eat and you need food fast, delicious and easy on the (student) budget (in the Bakakeng vicinity), you have a handful of choices now. Featuring two of Cholo’s recommendations (Thankies, Cholo!): Cafe de Illustradoz and Food Ville.

Cafe de Illustradoz

(Cool name for an eatery, I love the thought that went into it. Nice going, “Illustradoz”! \m/

Imagine too, if they expand their market and have like a Filipiniana, Rizal-time themed restaurant in Baguio; oh, how interesting that would be!)

A little house (patio to kitchen in a small floor space) establishment

Keep your eyes peeled for this place.  It’s easy to miss since it doesn’t have a screaming color scheme that would easily get people’s attention. (Ilustrado colors – makaluma/old *hee.)

The scene and the menu *click photo to enlarge

Anyway, the Filipiniana-ness ends with the food store’s name since they have the regular (sort of, I’ll tell you what the ‘sort of’ is about, in a moment) offering for students; short orders, snacks and drinks.

Buffalo wing =)

It’s plural on the menu but we just got one wing (priced at P45, it didn’t matter to X+1).  For this plate, a choice of regular or spicy or regular and spicy mixed sauce was offered.  It was an okay plate, good enough I think to fuel the bodies of the youth (who are in the process of being ilustrad-ified =b Sorry, guys, I’m just so amused).

Old fashioned potatoes and churros con tsokolate =D

I was thinking the potatoes would be old fashioned enough to give me a taste of the 1800-1900s.  A bowl of fried potatoes ‘juicy’ with frying oil … just like what we cooked up in our house =)) it was old fashioned enough, it seemed, to take me back to my childhood years.

The churros was equally glistened with the oil it was fried in with a choco dip that brought up more recollections of youthful days like how I used to make my Milo/Ovaltine  (when no grownup was looking *sneak sneak) with 10 tablespoons (thereabouts) in a (SMALL) cup of water.  If not in water, the Milo/Ovaltine was used as a filler for one sweet sandwich. (Hhmmm, might just have that sandwich today. ^^,)

Sago’t gulaman

Nothing special about these glasses of refreshments, it’s regular sago’t gulaman.  It made me crave more for the snowcone that wasn’t available then.  I haven’t had ice scramble/snow cream in ages (if that’s what they meant at the Illustradoz Cafe and not the American, colored syrup on shaved ice version).

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FoodVille

Having covered one place for student fare in Bakakeng, we walked one establishment up to FoodVille.

Hello, yellow (sign)!

FoodVille is a wee village (fits in the first floor of a house) of sources for grub; noodles (‘young’ noodles =b), street food, Ilocos empanada and dishes whose names escaped me until after my ilustrad-ifying days (Still not over the name *giggles) – see menu below.

The dining area

Beautiful wall art, especially the black floral vine on white.  They’re funny, too; re: restroom sign.

The menu. With one Chix A-hoy best seller that is posted in another part of the counter.

Chicken cacciatore, Monte Cristo sandwich, southern fried chicken with bechamel sauce … anong saveh/what did (it) say? *guffaw guffaw guffaw

Chicken cacciatore (“,)

Chicken cacciatore, you rocked my pasta loving world! A (mini) towering plate of macaroni with zingy juicy tomato and herbs sauce and croutons with delicate shavings of cheese, I’m going back to the Ville for more of this.

Balanban lechon liempo ^^,

As for Race’s lechon liempo meal, he loved it so much he was sad not to have enough tummy space for extra rice to eat every little scrumptious piece of pork with.  (Because he ate MY buffalo wing meal. *heehaha) When we return, I guess he’s going to have this again, too. (And maybe a plate of the best seller as well, just curious what the hype is all about. =D)

Vanilla macadamia frappe \m/

Vanilla macadamia frappe was the perfect refreshment for the beautiful sunny afternoon when we went student fare questing in Bakakeng. Truly nutty vanilla, smooth and cold, it sustained Race and me till we finished climbing that StairMaster (My gosh, Cholo, what you have to climb! *I bow to you.) back to Cakes by Yda where our eatsplore mobile was parked.

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X marks Cafe de Illustradoz and Foodville for good, affordable food in Baguio.

Cafe de Illustrados and FoodVille

Ciudad Grande, Phase 1, Bakakeng  [They’re on the same (side of the) street, just an ice cream shop between them.]

Baguio City, Philippines