Vincent’s Place: Transcendence of Cordilleran Food

The moment this plate of grilled treats was laid on our table, we knew.

Intuno sampler (“,)

Ahhh, that’s a little fast forward and I’m getting ahead of myself, so let’s start from the very beginning … a very good place to start. ♪ ♫

I first heard of Vincent’s Place from our foodie friend, Sir Dan, the eager beaver new restaurant lookout. *hihi (Thank you, Sir!) Since Vincent’s was just set to open in the future when he told me about his find, we kept on stepping by checking other food sources in our fair city off our list.

Riding out to PMA recently, I thought I saw what looked to be the sign for a new restaurant as we whizzed through from the Panagbenga Park rotunda to the winding roads of Loakan. It all came together in my mind when I saw on my newsfeed that Vincent’s Place had finally had its grand opening.

Taking over Vincent’s Place. Wee! NOTE: The view of the Cordillera Ranges from VP’s balcony.

Lunchage

For lunch today, we picked out the intuno sampler, pizza canao, bikorot short order to be paired with two extra rice, and a glass of fruit juice called tropical treat. =) Quite an interesting healthful refreshment, that was with the passion fruit seeds in the bottom acting like pearls for the mango and carrot blend.

Now we’re up to speed where the grilled sampler plate was laid in front of us and oh, how wowed we were at the serving. It looked so good, we knew that when we bit into the pieces of meat skewered on barbecue sticks that we’d enjoy it immensely.

Bikorot – Highlander pinikpikan gets a Bicol twist \m/

Having tried a stick each of the chicken and pork isaw(s), and the pig ears with the yummy sauce, and still reveling at the preparation of this appetizer, we were approached by store manager, Ms. Ann, whom we’ve met before in this food quest. ^^,

From the chat with her, we learned little info bites about this newly opened food joint as well as the answer to what probably is the question on most people’s minds hearing about Vincent’s Place, “who is Vincent”. According to her, this used to be some kind of convent and weaving center, and now that it’s revamped into a resto, it was named for one of the sisters who stayed here. Hello, Sister Vincent.

Pizza canao and me. =b

Moving our attention to the pizza topped with kiniing, pinuneg, rings of red onion and cheese, Race and I had a fine time rolling our slices and savoring the rich explosions of flavor coming from all the ingredients combined. \m/

After a short discussion that probably a squirt or two of citrus juice on the pizza would give it another facet of scrumptious-ness, we started heaping pieces of tender chicken and pinikpikan broth made creamy with coconut milk (Bicol+Igorot) onto our small mound of black-ish and white wild rice.

Bulalo ^^,

As much as I thought it was a perfectly seasoned soup, I remarked that would’ve wanted the chicken swimming … better yet, drowning in that soup. As if God himself heard me, one of the waiters approached us carrying a bowl that looked like a giant aromatic diffuser.

Turns out, this was a bowl of bulalo on top of a thingamajig for a votive candle to keep the viand piping hot. Compliments of the house, our attendant said. And so, I/we had more full flavored soup to let our rice swim in … and what a delicious soup that was with uber soft chunks of beef and crunchy pechay. #happydance

Tropical treat fruit juice, blooming edible flower tea, pineapple lassi quirky shake, organic mountain tea, cafe Americano and cappuccino

… Turned Foodievent

After the bulalo, more compliments of the house dishes and drinks were delivered to our table. Second was a clear pot of tea where a ball of dried leaves was popped into it. Our attendant told us to wait till the “flower” blooms in the tea then it would be ready to drink. Whoa, it did bloom! The next beverage was a cream based one, lassi, that made us imagine drinkable cheesecakes. =D

Melba toast with banana blossom dip joined the party at our table. Made of banana heart, watercress, spinach and cheese, this was one exciting appetizer. Appetites riled up again, we tamed it with another pot of tea, the organic mountain tea with honey.

Banana blossom cheese dip =D

Just when we thought we were done, a huge slice of carrot cake was placed in front of us. Moist cakebread chockful of raisins, walnuts and carrot strips with a perfectly balanced ratio to the cream cheese icing, we quickly finished this dessert off while alternating sips from the tall glass of pineapple lassi, the cup of mountain tea, and the cup of blooming flower tea. =b

At a neighboring table of aunties, Race saw a cup of coffee delivered. That coffee looks good, he said admiringly. Again, God seemed to be listening in on our convo for as soon as our table was cleared off of the other dishes (to be packed to go), the servers again brought us each a cup of potent-POTENT coffee. Americano for Race, a frothy cappuccino for me.

Coffee, tea and Race ❤

(At least, we think, my better half’s cup was an Americano. Or was it a latte? Anyhoo.) It was so amusing that when he poured all of the milk from the small pitcher into his coffee cup, the mixture stopped exactly at the brim. They got their measurements down, don’t you think?

By this time, in our fullness, we were ready to lie down right where we sat but the staff at Vincent’s wasn’t done with us. They gave us another plate from the dessert section, the sweet potato pie a la mode. (“,) With the help of all our warm drinks, we cleaned off every bit and morsel of this pie that made me think of Thanksgiving for the notes of cinnamon and spice mashed in with the tuber. At last, we were home free. Shyeew, tough job being food questers … but someone’s got to do it. *heehaha

Carrot cake and sweet potato pie ala mode =)

X marks Vincent’s Place for good food in Baguio. It’s also now Race’s place … and my place. It could be your place, too.

I’m sure, Sr. Vincent would be proud of her namesake resto and their transcendental offering.

Food:  Cordilleran dishes with a little twist here and there.

Service: 

Ambiance: 

Price:  For the classy sturdy rustic furnishings and awe inspiring interior, one would think the food at Vincent’s would be up there, but really, the price is quite reasonable. Main course selections are good for two. Mayat ah!

The specialty shop

After we settled our account (for the foodstuff we ordered), we ended this lunch turned food tasting gorge fest with a last stop at Vincent’s specialty shop. Lots of pasalubong worthy items were there like woven bags, wood carvings big and small, coffees, cookies, jams, chili oils, etc. These items converged in Baguio Vincent’s Place from the highlands (like Tabuk, Kalinga and Sayangan, Mt. Province).

Fruit wine varieties: Honey ginger wine, guava wine, coffee wine, rambutan wine, pineapple wine, and guyabano wine.

Somehow, Ms. Ann found a way get our gobs busy again by offering us a taste of the different selections of fruit wines from the shop. =)) While taking shots, I noticed that there was a staircase leading downstairs and I inquired from the staff if that was going to be a B&B. They told me, it’s actually a function room that could accommodate 120 people. I can see it now, parties and celebrations at Vincent’s Place! Shot after shot we took and it led to us coming home with a bottle of guava wine and honey ginger wine, our top picks from the lot.

Vincent’s Place Restaurant Cafe Bar Specialty Shop

#8 Loakan Road (between Nevada Square and Forest House)

Baguio City, Philippines

444 2999, 661 3632

0945 240 8720, 0999 877 9386

https://www.facebook.com/vincentsplacebaguio/

Pizza canao, up close. *nomnomnom

***We can’t thank you enough, Ms. Ann, for stuffing us silly with the fantastic dishes and drinks of VP. Congratulations and more power to all at Vincent’s!