Tugegarao City Dining Journey

Culinare's Pizza

In my recent visit to Tugegarao City where I tasted its local delicacies at my best, I came across with three restaurants. I am sharing these restaurants not simply to promote them but to share my story to provide a reference to would-be travelers and foodies in the Philippines' hottest city.

Inside Culinare

My regular breakfast, longganisang tugegarao with silvanas. (The sinabago in bamboo is mine)

1. Culinare. They say pizza, pasta and more. It is located in Hotel Camelita, where I stayed for four days. If you would like to taste pancit batil patong, then, theirs is so yummy. I also like their pizza. As I have said before, although Biano's Pizza in Mindanao is still my best, I liked Culinare's pizza taste. It is still different from so commercially prepared pizza in Metro Manila. I enjoyed silvanas (sweets) as side in my breakfasts. 

2. Feli-Citas. It is a fastfood and restaurant. One can choose to stay indoors with aircon or dine in those nipa huts outside the main restaurant building. When one is looking for a pancit cabagan try, then Feli-Citas deserves it.

3. Kainang Pinoy. They imbibe being sariling atin that offers Filipino foods. This is the cheapest eat-all-you-can so far. It opens at 10 a.m. for the unlimited lunch onward. Dinakdakan and sea weeds are noteworthy to me. I also liked their mango shake. There are small function rooms where one can reserve for a group dining.

Tropical drink, mango shake

Foods to Taste in Cagayan Valley

Peanut-flavored

Tugegarao City, located in the hottest region of the Philippines, Cagayan Valley. Literally the hottest place because the peak temperature for a day is even higher than fever. I have visited the city for about three times already. I recommend for a first time visit and succeeding visits that one should taste what it takes to be in Cagayan Valley. 

The Philippines has a diversity of food products. We have one-town-one-product project too. Because of this advocacy, we have promoted more local delicacies for every place in the Philippines. For Cagayan Valley, I recommend the following food products to taste. I tasted them, enjoyed them and appreciated the labor of love.

Pancit batil patong

1. Pancit Batil Patong. Characterized by topping such as chicharon bulaklak, vegetables and egg. The best with a mix of spicy condiment with onions and Philippine lemon.

Pancit cabagan

2. Pancit Cabagan. Another variety of pancit, it has no such elaborate toppings like that of pancit batil patong. There is a mixture of vegetables and of course, I like the spicy condiment. What is noteworthy of pancit cabagan is the serving size. In Cagayan, when you say pancit, it is of no ordinary serving but expect a bigger serving. One serving is equivalent to two or three pancit servings in Metro Manila. 

Labor of love

3. Sinabago. It is made of sticky rice inside a bamboo. When I first saw it, I told myself that bamboo had to be cut and be used just to be able to make sinabago. Indeed, a labor of love, one should try for himself sinagago. I tried one and consumed it all. One piece of sinabago is worth about 20 pesos, very affordable.

Rice-based food products

4. Kakanin. I separated sinabago from various kakanin because of its presentation. Other rice food products include tupig, suman and patupat. I like the peanuts inside, yet I forget what they call it.

Carabao milk candy

5. Carabao food products like chicaron-carabao, carabao fresh milk and carabao milk candy. I tried carabao (water bufallo) milk candy but have not yet tried the carabao fresh milk. Next time, I will try it. I also tried the chi-charabao or chicharon carabao, made from popped carabao skin. It is worth a try and it's tastier when dipped in spicy vinegar.

In every place in the Philippines, eating is indeed more fun especially when we taste from one variety of food to another.

Picnic-like in Balinsasayaw

Spacious main restaurant hall of Balinsasayaw.

At one o'clock in the afternoon, hunger made us all uncomfortable already. We headed from Silang, Cavite. It was a long way drive to Tagaytay City as we reached Balinsasayaw Restaurant.

The first group waited for us while they ordered fresh guyabano; they're the hosts.

Nipa huts to choose from.

The restaurant has a huge parking space. It has a main hall but you can choose between eating in the main restaurant or inside the nipa huts. I also see similar nipa huts in various retaurants in Legazpi City, which makes dining more fun as a picnic. Several huts made of light materials (thatch) will make the most of your time as you enjoy the luscious packages in bilao in Balinsasayaw.

One of Balinsasayaw's bilao packages.

Food is the best in Balinsasayaw. It made me so full. At 2:00 p.m., it was very much like my Spanish meal.

Take me home.

Before leaving you can buy some take-home products being sold in the restaurant like fresh guyabano juice and sweets.

Colorful reuse hanging inside the hut.

When you're in Tagaytay City, Balinsasayaw is a place and a restaurant to visit.

Sauyo's Kambingan

Goat's meat is called chevon, mutton, cabrito etc.

I was surprised when I spoke of the word "kambing" in Kaula Selangor some few years ago and the Malaysians understood what I said. Kambing is the Filipino word for goat. The same word for goat in Malaysia, kambing.

When we say kambingan in Metro Manila, it refers to a restaurant whereby goat menu is the specialty. It cooks  chevon, mutton, cabrito or any other terms that refers to a goat's meat in various ways - adobo, ginataan, kinilaw and others.

Until two weeks ago, I discovered the place in the nearby Sauyo not so far from my place in Mindanao Avenue. The kambingan is frequented by a lot of people. It is so simple that it looks like within a home. By the side of the road and on the opposite side is a sufficient parking area. On Sunday when there is not much work, so many customers still flock  Kambingan ni Tsong. I thank someone who brought me there. I discovered a new fun place to eat kambing which is just a few minutes ride from where I live.

Yellow Cab's Sweet Lucy

You don't just eat pizza, you're eating apples too.

I don't simply refuse a friend's offer for a treat. When it's a treat, it's free; then why refuse? 

We were treated by an old office friend to Yellow Cab in the last week of March. For a Filipino like me, who use to eat pancit bato instead of spaghetti and sweet potato instead of pizza; I find it always new to eat something that I don't swallow everyday.

Although the Biano's Pizza in Mindanao is still the best for me, I liked the new taste in Yellow Cab. I didn't knew when was it first introduced but I still liked the pizza considering that it's apple-based. I am referring to the Sweet Lucy apple pie pizza style. While thinking you are eating several calories of pizza, you are confident you are eating apples too.