Calajo Foodhouse: Of Good Food and Warm Welcomes
Opening day, they had a line up to CID Bookstore, going up to their establishment in F. Lopez Building so Race and I thought about putting the Calajo experience off for a different day. Two days later, I …
found myself about to indulge in their giant siopao I heard about from Sir Don of The Wedding Company last year.
Snacktime at Calajo Baguio Branch
Served with a bowl almost full to the brim with sauce, this steamed bun was a pretty good steamed bun as it had a generous stuffing of tasty meat, chorizo, and egg. Not unless you’re a siopao lover though, I would recommend that you share this with your foodie loved ones. A quarter piece was good enough for me. A few bites more and the taste quickly made me umay. *hee
X+1 with the giant siopao =)
Enter, a couple of dynamite sticks to give us something else to tickle our tastebuds with. You might be surprised to read here that I ate half the serving on that plate. Yeh! It wasn’t a difficult feat with this sort for they cared enough to take out some of the seeds from the chilies. (Much appreciated, you guys!) I was left with crunchy, cheesy bites with just a little kick of the sili flavor. Wee!
Dynamite sticks
While Race kept talking about trying the polpog, I eyed the drink selection with gusto. Like health buff smoothies with vegetables like tomatoes and celery blended in, I was so enticed to order some. The nutty apple mix with walnut pieces for my better half was a glass of deliciousness with a striking crunch from the nuts here and there. My drink with tomatoes, apple juice and grapes, completely surprised me because it didn’t taste like I was drinking tomato sauce/ketchup. It was quite contrary in its sweetness with a hint of ensalada taste once I swallowed the liquid that had a dash of balsamic vinegar. (I know right? What brilliant mixology skills!)
Nutty apple (white one). Tomato rush (reddish one) and banana celery (green one), shakes with veggies that really taste good! \m/
For their containers, I wanted a milkshake (in a tiny glass barrel that looks like what our popular barrel man hides in *teehee) and iced tea (in an amusing bottle). But I felt like I was about to explode with the heaviness of the buns … ah, excuse me, buN – singular. I still got an Oreo vanilla milk shake, however, so I had something to concentrate on while Race drank his coffee. Polpog and rice became definitely out of the question this visit for both of us.
Birthday Lunchies
Lunch with the family. =D
With so much on the Calajo menu left to try, I was back with my family to celebrate my brother‘s birthday five days afterward. (Whoa, it’s been a year already!) Browsing through the menu, the milkshakes and iced tea are what caught my nieces’ eyes, too. “Oh, I want that if it really comes in that jar/bottle!”
Bird’s nest soup, Calajo fried rice for three, polpog. ^^,
Per our attendant’s recommendation, I picked the bird’s nest soup which we thoroughly enjoyed. My sister noticed that there was no yolk used in this egg drop soup and we thought Calajo very wise if they kept the yolk for their other baked goodies and used just the whites here. The sprinkling of chicharon pieces was also a nice touch.
Just like Good Taste, this resto serves fried rice good for three. Three cheers for gratifying double role dishes! And even with Race MIA, I got a plate of the mildly flavored (compared to the fried rice) grilled pork dish, polpog. That’s transference for you. =D
Fish and chips
I didn’t think our server would bring all our orders to the table in one go so I ordered a basket of fish and chips. The potato crisps, I loved (but of course) and the fish, while we thought was all right, had us looking for some sort of dip. Tartar sauce, maybe? (Various dips like soy sauce and vinegar and chilies can be found beside the cake display case.) A lemon squeeze, perhaps?
Milkshakes – Oreo vanilla, vanilla, rootbeer and strawberry in glass barrelman barrels. =b
There was a complete line up of the milk shake selection that day so we grabbed the opportunity to get one of each. (I wanted rootbeer shake for snack time but it wasn’t available then.) Vanilla, strawberry, Oreo vanilla, root beer float, they all tasted the way they should. The rootbeer float, just the two ingredients thoroughly mixed together. I got myself an iced tea but sadly, the bottles were indisposed (so many diners, the bottles all got used). For my brother’s banana celery drink, we’re all doing the a-okay finger emoji. That was another fabulous concoction. More praises to the drink mixer.
Sizzling tofu with kangkong (“,)
Our favorite of the lunch spread: Tofu on steroids … the steroids being the river spinach and the sauce. =)) I was so glad I ordered two blocks of that but it could’ve also been insufficient for us, tofu lovers combined.
On the other side of the flavor spectrum was the breaded chicken with mushroom gravy. Although, it tasted fine on its own, it paled in comparison to our tofu viand. I even forgot that the gravy is mushroom so so far when it comes to gravy of this kind, I still like JB‘s burger steak sauce better (fake-ish though that might be).
Breaded chicken with mushroom gravy
(Shyeew, we sure picked out a lot of stuff; finally, we’re almost at the end. =) )
Dessert Selection
What’s a birthday without cake? We got one slice in the simple blueberry chiffon cake, one slice of apple pie and a slice that’s a cross between pie and cake in the pretty blueberry swirl which is blueberry jelly cheesecake Calajo style. Utterly crumbly, the streusel like crusts of the pies made us think of pulvoron.
Blueberry swirl pie and apple pie and blueberry chiffon cake
That same sweet crust of the blueberry swirl eaten in alternate spoonfuls with YOLO yogurt, made all these easily go down our esophagi. While everyone I’ve talked to (and based on what I’ve read online … yes, I still read around and do research on my restaurant prospects, too) raved about this yoghurt, I find that I would still have to have a couple more helpings to acquire a taste for Calajo’s version. (The blueberry ripple on top wasn’t enough for me.) ^^, I imagine, in the future, I wouldn’t be eating it pure but instead heaping tons and tons of fruity ripple on it just to counteract its healthy sourness. *heehahaha
Yogurt with a little dollop of blueberry sauce and topped with cereal.
A safe choice for one of my nieces, buko pandan was perfect. As for the creamy almond lychee, we liked it so much, we ordered another shot glass of it. Yum, so many pieces of lychee!
Buko pandan and almond lychee
Take-home Bread
Ube pao.
At your visit to Calajo, don’t forget to check the display beside the cash register. It’s there that we saw these cute violet bread rolls, ube pao. In its center is a squirt of purple yam jam that lends some moisture to the otherwise dryish Grimace colored bread.
Move over, banana bread; this carrot squash loaf is awesome! \m/
Carrot squash bread
X marks Calajo Food House for good food in Baguio. Warm welcomes to us from Calajo and vice versa. (“,) Welcome to Baguio, Calajo restaurant! … a worthy replacement for my beloved Mandarin Restaurant. (Again) Thank you so much for “coming to me“! *hihi
Just like the cow shaped sizzling plate says, “I ❤ Calajo”, too!
Food: 
Service: 
for our attendant at our snacktime visit. Well done, Sir! 
for the one who took charge of our table for the most part of the birthday lunchage.
Ambiance: Love what they’ve done with the place!
Price:
Calajo menu. *click for a larger view
Calajo Foodhouse
B-213, F. Lopez Building
Session Road
Baguio City, Philippines
facebook.com/CalajoFood?fref=ts
423 2431
0920 945 8559
The Calajo dining area.
Almost halfway through 2015, have a great June, everyone!
***Shout out to Ms. MJ F.! It was nice corresponding with you through PM.
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for our attendant at our snacktime visit. Well done, Sir! 
for the one who took charge of our table for the most part of the birthday lunchage.
Hello there, ela! Thank you so much! I hope you’re doing great! Happy eating at Calajo, you two! (“,)