Located within the lush greenery of Wright Park, stands an unobtrusive place called the Ketchup Food Community. From here, Borgy and I came across the cheapest and most heavenly BBQ ribs we've ever tasted.
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The Ketchup Food Community features five locally owned restaurants: Canto, Green Pepper, Happy Tummy, Rancho Norte, and Rumah Sate. These restaurants each have their own specialty within the 'community'. Canto's specialty is their Grilled BBQ ribs, which will be what I will mostly talk about here in this post. Green Pepper is a gourmet restaurant featuring mostly Western foods: pasta, salad, steak, and sandwiches. Happy Tummy serves Thai cuisine which includes Pad Thai and their Fried Tilapia as their best sellers. Rumah Sate gives diners an experience of Indo-Malay cuisine with their famous laksa and grilled sate. Lastly, Rancho Norte which serves our favorite Filipino dishes.
Inside the 'community,' you will see the five different al fresco-themed restaurants circled together. All five of them accept orders from across each other so diners who wants different dishes from the other restaurants won't even have to leave their seats.
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| Canto at Ketchup Food Community |
We visited Ketchup Food Community twice and dined at Canto on both our visits. I honestly wanted to give the other restaurants a try but during our first visit, I roamed around and checked out their menus but nothing satisfying grabbed me.
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| Canto's corner is very simple. Wooden tables and chairs and a humorous "pork you" sign. |
I was not even in the mood for BBQ ribs, unlike my boyfriend who was always in the mood for meat. After roaming around, I've decided to give the ribs a try.
Their menu consists of the grilled lomo ribs, which was their ultimate best-seller, pizzas, burgers and fries. Borgy ordered a whole slab (seriously, I sh*t you not. WHOLE slab) priced at only P350 (again, WHOLE slab for 350 pesos! That is quite a deal!) of lobo ribs while I ordered the half slab priced at P190 pesos. I've also odered their Chili Fries and an Almond-Lychee gulaman.
The almond-lychee gulaman was...okay. That's the only way I can honestly describe it. It has gulaman jelly bars in it and bursting boba (tapioca pear with real fruit juice inside.) It's not too sweet. One can definitely smell the almond but tasting it, it leans more to lychee. Even then, you can barely taste anything at all.
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| Almond Lychee Gulaman |
The Chili Fries were served on a platter. Basically it's just fries topped with lots of chili and lots of cheese. The chili was at the center and on top of the fries so it was a bit hard eating them. The generous amount of cheese made it heavy as well, so you have to eat it with effort to get that balanced amount of cheese and chili on your fries. Taste-wise, it was good.
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| Chili Fries |
When they served the main course, my mouth watered. The smell and appearance oozed 'heavenly.'
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| Grilled BBQ Ribs (Whole slab) P350 |
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| Grilled BBQ Ribs (Whole slab) P350 |
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| Grilled Lomo Ribs (Half Slab) at P190 |
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| Grilled Lomo Ribs (Half Slab) at P190 |
The ribs were served with rice and Cascade salad: a mix of lettuce, watermelon, cheese, and one other ingredient I can't name. All I know is that it is crunchy and sweet to taste.
The meat was soft and easily tears from the bone. The use of a knife wasn't even necessary when eating because simply pulling the meat away cleans it off of the bone. The taste was just heavenly. I am not a big fan of barbecued ribs and honestly, pork, in general (*gasp* how do I live with myself, I know!) but this one, this grilled ribs turned things in a different direction.
The next thing I know I was ordering a second helping of rice (so long, diet!).
Our second visit was just as exciting as the first. It was the last day of our 4-day vacation in Baguio and we just had to go back at Canto to re-live that experience again. We arrived at around 10:30 and to our dismay, Canto is still closed. The friendly guard informed us that Canto opens at 11:30 am and so we decided to go back to the plaza and come back at 11:30.
When we did come back at 11:30, Canto is still closed! We saw the guard talking to two guys who were our servers at Canto before. After a few minutes, they decided to just open the place up because we're wating! We practically opened Canto that day. Haha!
We ordered our usual: whole slab for Borgy and a half-slab for me. This time, I've ordered dessert: Panna Cotta, an Italian dessert I've first known of because of Serenitea. :p
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| Panna Cotta |
It was topped with a cherry and raspberry syrup. The syrup was a bit too sweet. It would've burned down my throat if I didn't eat a spoonful of the pudding.
Naturally, we had to go for the best sellers but there are other items from their menu as well like pizza and burgers.
Canto and the exquisite homey atmosphere of Ketchup Food Community are definitely what I miss the most from our Baguio vacation. When I get the chance to visit Baguio again, I will definitely try the different dishes offered by the other four restaurants. Maybe, I'll even design my own "perfect meal combo" by trying different dishes from the community. ;)
I highly recommend this unique food hub to travelers and locals alike. Whether or not you're in the mood for meat, Ketchup Food Community will still serve you the best dishes to satisfy your appetite. ;)
I highly recommend this unique food hub to travelers and locals alike. Whether or not you're in the mood for meat, Ketchup Food Community will still serve you the best dishes to satisfy your appetite. ;)
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Ketchup Food Community
Romulo Drive, Brgy Lualhati (near Wright Park),
Baguio City, Philippines
At one time, I had a crawling worm in my salad. A green kind of worm that birds eat, but a worm nonetheless. We asked the waiter to take it back to their kitchen and we were expecting to be served a fresh batch of salad that's "worm-less". They gave back our plate de-wormed, haha. The worm was gone 'cause they took it out but it was the same plate. Kind of a turn-off if you ask me. I guess you can't expect the same kind of service as you would at a restaurant for fine dining because the food is admittedly cheap. But still, they ARE in the food industry, so FOOD SANITATION MATTERS. Just a warning... The next time you eat there, check your veggies thoroughly for any creepy crawlies 'cause apparently they don't wash their vegetables very well.
ReplyDeleteI agree, food sanitation matters. Fortunately though, we did not encounter any sanitation issues when we were eating there. I honestly think they're doing their best in keeping their food and place clean. And if not, they're going to have problems with their customers and DOH, right? Maybe since then, they've made some changes and improvements, I really wouldn't know.
DeleteI know how nasty an experience it is finding something on your food and it is completely understandable if you're turned off. And thank you for the heads up. :) We'll be more observant next time! :) I'm sorry if you had a less-enjoyable experience there; such a shame you weren't able to enjoy their amazing food. But anyway, do you have any other food hubs in Baguio you'd like to recommend? We'll try checking it out the next time we visit. :)
if you found a worm on your veggies, especially the green one, then that means the veggies served to you is organically grown. thou a worm is still a worm and that's really a major turn off and i agree that food sanitation really matters. anyway, what about the meat? did you find anything unusual like crawling/dead maggots? because if it has then its time to call DOH.
ReplyDeleteIf you haven't tried Le Chef at the Manor in Camp John Hay, you should eat there once. It's fine dining and I recommend their Marinated Salmon and Roasted Prawn Salad. You should also try their French Onion Soup.
ReplyDeleteIf you like Japanese food, try Chaya Baguio :) (http://www.chayabaguio.net/Welcome.html). I always order their Tem Don (assorted tempura over rice) along with their Beef Yakiniku Plate with Ponzu. Their desserts are also delectable. My favorite is the Cream Anmitsu :>
There's also this place that we go to; it's not in Baguio but it's only an hour's drive away from Baguio in San Fernando, La Union. It's called the Oasis Country Resort (http://www.oasiscountryresort.com/) and they have a Japanese buffet every Wednesdays from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. It's Php 625 per person (drinks not included) but it's so worth it, especially if you're fond of sashimi (good cholesterol :D), tempura, and sushi. They also have sukiyaki, assorted Japanese meat dishes and salads.
I wanted to try Le Chef at the Manor but since it's fine dining, I put it off for our next trip when we have a bigger budget. Haha. Chaya Baguio? Sounds familiar. We'll try eating there on our next visit. Thank you very much for your suggestions! :D
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