Big Fat Greek Feast at Lemon and Olives Taverna
Another house I used to crane my neck to see (inside of through the wide window, a feeble attempt to do like Superman and his x-ray vision), passing in front of it in a jeepney on the way to work to my students in the Mines View area. *gasping for air after reading that statement aloud.
I GOT THROUGH THE THRESHOLD of it now! #achievementunlocked … Zolaman victory poses all around! Thank you, Baguio’s ever growing food industry … growing and turning old houses into restos, more specifically. Wee!
Looking at friends’ Facebook posts, again, I failed at the game of deciphering where one establishment was with Ms. Ninja’s recent photos. While on the comments, I gathered it was around the Outlook area, we had to put off our first recon attempt when huge drops of rain started to fall from the sky. How psyched I was to hear from Arca’s Yard’s proprietor that it was one of the houses I ogled. *heeharhar (Thank you so much, Ms. Ninj!)
Dining area. \m/
So I’m inside the house-turned-restaurant in our second attempt at recon and I was both so elated and impressed at the size of the dining area. \m/ There are two nicely decorated sections where you can corral your party of foodie lovies if it happens to be a big one. Like the TARDIS it was, “smaller on the outside”. Annnd I’m just talking about the first floor here. There’s more renovation on this old house going on in the lower floors (soft opening phase at this time).
Greek coffee, milder than what Race is used to but still a good ‘cup a Joe’.
Awed with our first visit, I quickly marked the next day as another Lemon and Olives Greek food day. This time, with my family in tow. Let’s take the two days as one and go through each section of the menu to cover our big fat Greek feast, shall we, eatsplorers? =)
Balcony dining.
Starters
The first appetizer X+1 tried was a mouthful to say: Kolokithokeftedes. I just pointed it out from the menu to our attendant since I didn’t want to get it wrong saying it. Tongue twister. These zucchini fritters (that looked a lot like misshapen fried green tomatoes) with tzatziki sauce gently prepared our tastebuds for the new dishes we were going to sample.
What a view. Uh-oh, rain clouds looming.
We tried the black and green olives paste with pita as well as poikilia … dubbed the Parthenon of appetizers from this newly opened food establishment the next day. All for the win, the zingy mashed olives topping for pita bread, the tasty sausages, and the saganaki which are pan fried sticks of Greek cheese seasoned with a squeeze of fresh lemon. =D
Green and black olives paste with pita, kolokithokeftedes, poikilia (platter of saganaki, Greek village sausage, spicy soutzouki sausage and more pita bread). (“,)
Salad
What would a Greek restaurant be without Greek salad, all Baguio’s freshest greens (and reds of the tomatoes) with an equal ratio of feta cheese and unpitted olives in a bowl.
The Inception bottle of balsamic vinaigrette and olive oil. Wee!
No worries on the pits interrupting what would otherwise be the monotonous motion of chewing because they do have a role in keeping the olives firm. (I find pitted olives on the mushier side. I would know, I snack on ingredients remember? *hihi) With its fruity juices coming together with the feta and the other veggies, it’s a memorable salad, one we’d like to have almost every time we see it on the menu.
Garden salad and Greek salad =)
On the simpler side of salad, we had the beautiful garden salad with torn pieces of lettuce, thinly sliced onions, tomatoes, cucumber, and dill. What was really interesting about this was the inception bottle (bottle within a bottle) of the dressing. ^^,
The family, a small part of it. “Anita, Diane and Nick” While with Race .. with the long hair … no Ian on this food adventure. *heeharhar
Main Course – On the Charcoal Grill
On to the heavier stuff, souvlaki plates. *nomnomnom
Souvlaki plates. =D
We picked out the mixed versions with meats like chicken, pork, beef and lamb resting on sliced pita bread and covered with the Greek chef’s secret (wonderful, wonderful) sauce.
Gyro *nomnomnom
In contrast to the open faced souvlaki plates, we had gyros too, which are meat, vegetables, and fries packed huge rolls of pita bread. More flavors to play around in our mouths with more tzatziki, freshly blended garlic and chili on the side of both of these main course selections. Let me tell you, lamb was totally worth the extra expense for these Greek street foods. (“,)
“Nick, Nic, Nik … Nicky … “
Main Course – In the Oven
Three cheers for more stuffed veggies! I love stuffed stuff! The pepper and tomato in this Greek cuisine eating place was cooked in the oven so long, it looked like they were ready to explode. Since I’m not a real fan of fresh pepper, I relished in the veggie being well cooked. Oh, the toasted/charred top of the capsicum. A dash of salt (for Ms. Salty here) on the risotto-in-tomato-sauce looking rice stuffing and I swooned.
Gemista-stuffed tomato and pepper, pastitio and moussaka ^^,
Bechamel sauce and ground beef went around with both the pastitio and the moussaka mains. Looking at the plate of Greek pasta, I was reminded a little of the baked mac takeouts we had from Tummy Fillers; good times, good times. As for the moussaka, this passed with flying colors with my niece who had recently tried a strange one (moose kaka? =)) ) from a restaurant in Manila. These layers of potato, eggplant and beef from Lemon and Olives tasted so good together in a forkful.
June birthday celebrators with their baklava. Happy birthmonth, you guys! ❤ ❤ ❤
Dessert
Baklava! With all the savory foodstuff we’ve had from the Greek menu, this honey drizzled layers of phyllo dough alternating with crushed nuts, walnuts I think some of them were, with a hint of cinnamon was the perfect sweet ending to our meal. =)
Sweet sweet baklava
X marks Lemon and Olives Greek Taverna for good food in Baguio. Ώπα (OPA)!
Food: 
Service: 
Here’s hoping the attendants soon get the hang of watching the tables as they get more experience in the soft opening … so they could refill glasses of water like clockwork, for one. Or, they could just leave a pitcher of water on the table, that would work, too.
Ambiance: My eloquent sister puts it better: “The place has since been renovated with beautiful new wood panelings and eclectic decor and as a new dining place, guests can meander freely in the dining areas and spacious balconies.”
Price: 
Not so big fat Greek servings with heaps and heaps of food we can share with the whole family. I had a feeling the whole time, I could eat the garden salad for sharing, poikilia appetizer sampler, the moussaka, the pastitio, and maybe a souvlaki all by my wittle self.
The Greek restaurant facade
Lemon and Olives Greek Taverna
26 Outlook Drive
Baguio City, Philippines
423 2278
facebook.com/LemonandOlivesPH/?fref=ts
(See location on Google Maps: From Pacdal Circle to Villa La Maja to Lemon and Olives Restaurant
https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Pacdal+Cir,+Baguio,+Benguet,+Philippines/Outlook+Drive+Baguio+City+2600,+Villa+Maja+Hotel+and+Restaurant,+Outlook+Dr+S,+Baguio,+Benguet,+Philippines/16.4109189,120.6230592/@16.4138869,120.6174488,16.77z/data=!4m20!4m19!1m10!1m1!1s0x3391a1543c12988d:0x36c088ef47050d5c!2m2!1d120.6155933!2d16.4163158!3m4!1m2!1d120.6196117!2d16.413738!3s0x3391a1535ea4161d:0x1136dabb24e927e!1m5!1m1!1s0x3391a6ac8a5fde67:0xf8fc33b6654a154a!2m2!1d120.6234536!2d16.4123126!1m0!3e0 )
The resto’s amphitheather vegetable garden below. Looks like the lettuce Rapunzel’s mother had pregnancy cravings on in old Ladybird story books. =b Beautiful!
(Got this scheduled for June 12 Sunday posting and just remembered it’s a special holiday that day. Thought some of you might fancy some Greek food for Philippine Independence Day, so publish today we go! *tee hee)
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I am an Ian! Just playing with you. A magnificent write-up about new restaurants in Baguio as always. I hope I can visit Lemon and Olives Greek Restaurant one of these days.
Iaaaannnn! *hihi Let me touch your hair. =)))
Thank you so much for visiting the blog and reading the newest post on Lemon and Olives Greek Taverna!
Yes, do plan a visit to the Greek resto soon, really good authentic Greek food. Till your Lemon and Olives dining experience, happy (food) adventure where ever else you find yourself to be! (“,)
Yes! A Greek restaurant in Baguio. Very good news because I love Greek food! Thank you for this feature on Lemon and Olives. We appreciate all the info you put in here, Xine 🙂
Hello, Alysa! Thank you so much for the support! Thanks to Lemon and Olives, we have an honest to goodness Greek resto in Baguio now, yey! I hope you enjoy your time at the taverna! Thank you again! (“,)
Xine, thank you for the food tour of what they have at Lemon and Olives Greek Taverna. You weren’t joking when you said big fat Greek feast. Iknow exactly what we are going to get when we visit this new baguio resto.
Hello there, Candy! Nice eatsplorers like you, always welcome! Thank you so much for visiting the blog and reading this post on Lemon and Olives.
Very good the food here; I couldn’t get enough of the saganaki, the olive paste, the yemista stuffed veggies and the souvlaki … lamb, make it lamb souvlaki. *hihi Have a wonderful Greek dining experience at the taverna, Candy! (“,)
Hello there, Cynths! Thanks so much for the support! Lemon and Olives Greek resto on your list now? I hope you have a great time at your visit! (“,)
I have been following your food blog for some time now and I must say I truly appreciate how you tell it like it is. Not everything is peaches and cream eating out. I also like that your posts do not read like a menu description or puff pieces for the restos you visit. Good job.
Hello, MF! Thank you so much for the kinds words. I really appreciate you looking in on the posts, reading and leaving this heartwarming comment. While the chances of getting a perfect dining experience are sort of slim, I do wish you incredibly memorable food adventures wherever you find yourself to be. Thank you. (“,)
Napuntahan na namin itong Lemon and Olives. Sarap pero tama ka nga gurl bitin. Thank you parin sa review. Next restaurant sa list. hehehe
Hello there, Mario! I’m glad you liked the food at Lemon and Olives. Although, yes, nakakabitin. Sorry naman, no more moolah in my pocket. *hihi
Next resto … post coming soon. Till then, how’s about trying the newest Pancake House offerings that come with metro Baguio homegrown specialties as ingredients? Just published the post now. =b Exclusive to Baguio branches for a certain time before launching to other branches.
Thank you for visiting the blog and reading the chronicles of our Baguio food adventure. I hope it’s going really well on your side too! (“,)
Kaloka. Medjo napaiyak yung bulsa ko hehehe
I will read pancake house post first.
*hihi Mine too, lacked padding, after.
Much appreciated, Mario! (“,)
Hi!
Great blog. Im a Charo from Greenwich, I would like to ask if you have a blog group thats based in Baguio?
Thanks!
Hello, Charo! Yes, there’s a blog group in Baguio. Thank you for visiting the blog! (“,)
Do you mind if I quote a couple of your articles as long as I provide credit and sources back to your webpage?
My blog site is in the very same niche as yours and my visitors would definitely benefit from some of the information
you present here. Please let me know if this alright with you.
Cheers!
Hello there! Yes, that’s all right. Quote(and credit and source back) away. *hihi Thank you so much for the heads up! More power to Your Delicious Recipes! (“,)