Il Padrino: A Better Cup of Coffee We Can’t Refuse
Another year, another 365 opportunities … to munch around, and explore, and live! I hope 2017 is starting out well for everybody and that it’s shaped up to be another fantastic year. =)
Let’s pick up where we left off, shall we, with a feature on one of the many, MAAANY Baguio restaurants that opened last year.
Here we go.
The Godfather
I must say that the opening of this cafe and restaurant is probably one of the most anticipated big reveals to me since we’ve seen its construction ongoing as well as we’ve been invited to their pre-opening celebration, months in advance. While Il Padrino resonates more as a cafe, most especially with their #yourbettercoffee tag, we soon found out that it’s an honest to goodness restaurant, with pages and pages of foodstuff to offer on their magazine-looking menu. \m/
Getting our orders in. (Bangus cordon bleu, sample shots of peanut brittle and purple yam frappes, and a slice of purple yam cake)
With the highnesses of Eats OA and Sir Dean of Watwat World, we decided to start the day off with … pizza – a nice and lemony one with lots of olives and chicken pieces. Wee! I’m not really a fan of white sauce pizza but this was such an interesting and well executed flavor that I’m bound to change my mind about white sauce pizzas now.
Lemon garlic chicken pizza (“,)
We washed the tangy slices we had off with something from their hot beverage selection (because it’s chilly out *hee): Caramel hot chocolate for me and cafe mocha for Race. Luxurious drinks, both of those cups. I found me another hot choco drink fave, while Race quickly quietly savored the flavor of coffee beans sourced locally, from Benguet, in his drink.
Caramel hot choco for me and cafe mocha for Race ^^,
Thumbing through the Il Padrino food list, the apricot steak salad caught my eye. Tenderloin pieces in salad, guys, tossed in with fresh greens with apricot mustard dressing. A classy salad if I do say so myself. =D
Apricot steak salad
With the arrival of the Pangwi family, we heard the Il Padrino story [how it came to be, why the resto was named for “The Godfather” movie, other than it’s Sir Ervine’s favorite flick, it depicted the strength of family ties (which the Pangwi family seemed to have in spades)] direct from the horse’s mouth. (“,) With three cafes in the Metro Manila area and three in Pampanga, they felt that with their seventh store, it was time to go back to the City of Pines, Sir Ervine’s hometown.
Getting the Il Padrino story from the Pangwi family. =)
And so Baguio now has a source for a better cup of coffee with the Il Padrino “homecoming”. ^^, There are also Baguio exclusive drink flavors on their line up, to boot. From the cute sample shots we tried that day, my favorite was the purple yam frappe which was so well crafted, it’s like drinking an ube cake. Two birds with one stone with this refreshment that’s also like a dessert. (Sipping totally beats chewing. *heeharhar)
Purple yam frappe, peanut brittle frappe, and strawberry latte. *sip ahh
In Il Padrino’s seventh store, its millennial-friendly ambiance (the other six has an old Italian mansion vibe to it, in contrast), we took the time to get to know the members of the Pangwi family, enjoyed the moment in each other’s company, over great dishes like Race’s beef mozzarella pick (the tenderest tenderloin he’s had he says), over wonderful cups/glasses of coffee. (Sir Dean loved their caffe Americano.)
Beef mozzarella
… and over delectable desserts like their dulce de leche cake. “Best served cold” or at room temp, it was the perfect end to our meal. “Molto lussuoso”, extremely luxurious, cakebread covered with cream and caramelized/sweetened milk. *contented sighs
Pastry chef Darius in action, decorating the dulce de leche cake. =D
The Godfather: Part II
X+1 back for more, before the year ended.
Race and his cappuccino
This time, Race got a cappuccino … which makes him “strange and definitely like a tourist” for drinking a (huge) cup after 11:00 a.m. =b
The menu at The Godfather’s “house”
I made sure we focused this visit on their best selling dishes and so we got their club sandwich. Deserving of the spot, this must be one of the most scrumptious sandwiches I’ve had to date. Nice sandwich to sauce ratio with lots of stuff in there like ham, bacon, chicken fillet, and veg. *burp
Hearty club *nomnomnom
I couldn’t put my finger on the type of mayo they used but that was yum. Like Kewpie, but not Kewpie. If they make it themselves, the kitchen staff surely deserves a round of applause.
Jambalaya pasta. Whoa!
Their next best seller is pesto pasta but when I arrived at that page on the menu, every plate in the photos looked so good, I had a tough time settling for pesto. Marinara was calling, marsala was waving its arms, lemon Italian sausage was saying “here, here”. =)) In the end, it was jambalaya that won. A true Cajun recipe; Mamma Mia, that was spicy good.
Toffee coffee
Good thing, I got a grande sized toffee coffee frappe. With its White Rabbit candy tasting mix, it countered the spiciness of my order very well.
Stuff to go.
X marks Il Padrino Caffe + Ristorante for a #bettercupofcoffee AND good food in Baguio.
Food: 
Service:
Ambiance: I would love to see the interior design of the older branches; see you, one of these days, other Il Padrino cafes!
Price:
Getting “mixed up in the family”. *hihi
Il Padrino Caffe + Ristorante
Porta Vaga Building, Session Road (beside Tea House)
Baguio City, Philippines
https://www.facebook.com/ilpadrinocoffee/
The GC surprise
I didn’t realize there were gift certificates inserted in the press kit until I set out to write this feature. Enough for The Godfather: Part III. #happydance
Andiamo a mangiare!
***Thank you so much to Sir Ervine, Ms. Mel, Ms. Michelle, Ms. Marikit and the whole Pangwi family for bringing Il Padrino home. Not only were our stomachs filled but also our souls and minds, inspired and refreshed, meeting you and hearing your story.
Thank you, Ms. Layella, Sir Yuji and Sir Ed for inviting us to be a part of this homecoming celebration. It was a pleasure to meet you all! More power and all the best for the new year!
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X Marks the Spot for Good Baguio Foods 
Happy new year Miss Xine
Thank you so much! A prosperous and bountiful 2017 to you and your loved ones, too! (“,)
Happy to see Il Padrino has many kinds of dishes to choose from. I thought they are like Starbucks with only desserts and snacks to offer. Thanks for another informative post. Happy new year!
Hello there, Steph! I know right, a rightful foodie hang out. Wait till you see Il Padrino Cafee + Ristorante menu, particularly the pasta page. =b I totally went bonkers trying to pick something out from there.
Thank you so much for visiting Find Good Baguio Foods! And yes, happy eatsploring/exploring 2017 to you, as well! (“,)
Happy new year Xine at Find Good Baguio Foods!!!!! Kakabalik ko lang sa bakasyon at wizz ang signal sa hacienda hehehe Di ko tuloy na sight mga ibang post mo. Ang dami pala malalafang sa Il Padrino. Bet ko mag capucapuccino kahit lampas ng ng 11. Mala turista, okay lang. Pero next time ko na sila try. May energy gap pa ako ngayon. Happy new year ulit. More blessings, Xine at marami pang i-eatsplore!!
Welcome back from the hacienda, Mario! (Wow!) I hope you had a fantastic holiday! Yes, there’s lots to choose from to eat and drink at Il Padrino cafe and restaurant. When you’re planning on eating a lot, choose a wider table too since they’ve lots of small round ones mostly for drinkies *hihi
Thank you ever so much for the support. I wish you and your loved ones all the best for 2017, too! (“,)
New year na new year kinabog ako sa first comment hehe
*hihi You noticed now. Seems you’ve got enough rest from your vacation. No worries, Mario! There will be other days to be first to comment.
I hope your new year’s going well! Food adventure, away! (“,)
Il Padrino’s ube frappe sounds delicious. I will try that soon because I love ube. Funny that Baguio exclusives are always in the line of strawberries, ube, peanut brittle.Just an observation. Thank you for your posts. Happy 2017 Find Good Baguio Foods.
Hello, Iza! From the shot sample of Il Padrino’s purple yam frappe, I already liked it. It was a cooling shot too. I hope you like it as much as I (not a super fan of ube *hihi) did.
Oh, you’re right. Baguio exclusive drinks at Il Padrino do sound like exclusives from another resto like Pancake House Baguio.
I really appreciate the support! A prosperous and bountiful new year to you and your loved ones! (“,)
I went to Il Padrino for breakfast and got their waffle. Its not good =(
Hello. Thank you for giving feedback on your Il Padrino experience. Aww, sad to hear you didn’t enjoy your breakfast meal. I do hope you had other dishes/the Il Padrino coffee and that that made up for it.
Wishing you better dining experiences in the future! Eatsplore away! (“,)
A feature on a restaurant on Session Road. That’s new. You always find far flung and out of the way ones. It’s still a good feature. I will add this Il Padrino The Godfather cafe to my list. Happy new year! I am looking forwrd to reading more about your food adventures.
Hello there! I know right. For the new year, I return to town. =b
I got the impression that Il Padrino Caffe and Restaurant was a mainstream resto but meeting the owners and hearing their The Godfather story, I realized it wasn’t. They do have many different dishes with “new tastes” to offer too. Plus, the coffee is from local producers sooo that deserves to be highlighted.
Yes, please do include Padrino to your list and I hope that once you check it off, that you have as nice a time as we did dining in this central business district eating place.
And a prosperous and bountiful 2017 to you, as well! (“,)