A Not So Vanilla Life at Vanilla Cupcake Bakery, Kamiseta Hotel

Hearing the name “Vanilla Cupcake Bakery”, there’s a lot that went on in my mind about what kind of an eating place this would be. For the most part, I assumed it was a dessert spot … with a signature sweet offering = vanilla cupcakes.

Salted caramel cheesecake cupcake. What you lookin’ at, bear? =b

With that impression, X+1’s first stop for an eatsploring-filled day was a resto we were sure would have substantial savory foodstuff.  As soon as we had enough of that, we headed out for the new cafe. Walking through the threshold of the hotel (CHECK for getting into another house I like to look at from beyond the gates \m/), it dawned on me that the cafe wasn’t going to be a regular cafe.

Browsing the cupcake selection

While we were dusting ourselves off of moisture (whatever we could manage to get off from what we collected riding under a sudden downpour) (and while Race was letting this explosion of color and patterns a la Cath Kidston sink in through his long-hair-uniform-black-shirt-daily-rocker core =)) ), we were handed a menu that could cover any foodie from starters to drinks to sugary meal enders … but, of course.

VCB chocolate fudge overload ^^,

Race and I stuck to the plan of getting dessert from Kamiseta Hotel’s in-house restaurant. My better half picked out a nice dense dessert in the form of VCB chocolate fudge overload.  It was a huge enough slice as a stack of brownie, icing, cakebread, more icing, and some choco chips on the edge. =)

X going camera happy at the beautiful Vanilla Cupcake Bakery indoor dining area *hihi

For my choice, I went with a cupcake, thinking what kind of cupcake bakery visit would this be if we didn’t have at least one of those small cakes? In my salted caramel cheesecake cupcake, there was more cream than cheese in the filling over the graham cracker base. It too was a tall dessert on account of the towering whipped cream topping.

Java chocolate mousse vanillatte

Having foregone fancy drinks at the first restaurant we were in, I opted to get one this time: One of Vanilla Cupcake’s vanillattes, Java chocolate mousse. As the more powerful flavor in my cupcake-and-vanillatte-combo, I was drawn to my drink more than I was to the uber creamy cheese-cup-cake. ^^,

Aww, such an adorable take out box, don’t you think, my foodie friend? \m/

As dense as Race’s dessert was and creamy heavy my drink was, he and I had to give up on these for a lunch ender at some point. Half of these lasted long enough to make it home with us and while Race was off in Lala nap Land, I attacked what was left of the dessert in the box. *maniacal laugh  When every bit of it was gone, I vowed we’d return to this bakery cafe for more slices.

Enter, Kamiseta Hotel and Vanilla Cupcake Bakery

A week after, we found ourselves at the whimsically decorated (Mad Hatter world to Race *heehaha) Vanilla Cafe yet again. I was gunning for this to be a P3+1 food adventure but seeing as life gets in the way, Ate Beth and Karla had to pass. (No worries, there will be other days.)

Garlic spinach dip and Melba toast (“,)

Open as early as 6:00 a.m., we arrived about an hour later and had the cafe to ourselves. How fabulous the sight we got to see of the sun streaming through the window, illuminating every tiny detail of the mismatched chairs, the little lamp shades on the chandeliers, and the hodgepodge of patterns painted on the walls. =D

Al fresco dining at Vanilla Cupcake Bakery

We only settled down when our garlic spinach starter was delivered to the table. What a dish to start our day with! (We were up as early as 3:00 a.m. to walk the furry lovies.) I would be perfectly happy dipping crunchy Melba toast in this flavorful dip all day. =b

Spanish armada pasta =D

With the description catching my attention, I had a heavy breakfast in the Spanish armada pasta. While I didn’t expect there to be only small chunks of red egg in the bowl, this was one seafood-y pasta I really enjoyed. (“,) It was super fun to have a big slice of bread to go scarpetta (wipe bread on plate) with for the olive oil sauce left on the bowl, too.

A not so vanilla life breakfast

Race’s first choice from Vanilla’s breakfast selection was the sardines casserole. I made him look for something else to eat since one more sardine dish in one meal in one day would be too much for this somewhat sardine-despising girl. (I’ve had way too many sardines in tomato sauce meals in my childhood days to last me a lifetime, you see. *hee)

He shifted to an entree, the seven spice beef stew, (thanks, love) which while was a good and tasty viand reminiscent of curry, we thought was the smallest main course serving we’ve ever seen. (I just might have said “What the fudge!” aloud, seeing the platito it was in.) It didn’t even have rice or some other carb to eat it with. Even when we got two extra orders of plain rice, it was still pretty intense in its saucelessness. (Also, the driest stew, we’ve ever come across. *tee hee) Luckily, we had a pitcher of refreshing dalandan juice to wash it off.

Seven-spice beef stew =)

And so we come full circle, to dessert at VC bakery cafe once again. I knew exactly what we were going to have. The frozen strawberry shortcake. The operative word there is “frozen“. In the deep freeze, I felt it would have just the kind of consistency Race liked in desserts … and that, it did. Especially with the strawberries on top. Already freeze dried, these crumbled in our mouths like ice candy. I’m liking the buttercream icing on the cake peppered with strawberry bits, too. Wee!

Me, a slice of frozen strawberry shortcake … and a someone eyeing our dessert once more.

X marks Vanilla Cupcake Bakery at (soon to open) Kamiseta Hotel for good food in Baguio. A day in a vanilla life turned not so ordinary.

Food:  for everything … but  for the salted caramel cheesecake cupcake.

Service: 

Ambiance:  Although, I am a bit bothered by the narrow spaces left in between the tables. A tad cluttered indoors, methinks, but anyhoo.

Price: 

Kamiseta Hotel facade

Vanilla Cupcake Bakery at Kamiseta Hotel

#23 Villamor Street, Barangay Lualhati (beside Little Flower Convent, same street as Albergo Hotel)

Baguio City, Philippines