Turf is a brand-spanking new watering hole located in a part of Baguio City where you wouldn’t really expect to see one – Laubach Road. It’s a walkable distance from Session Road – just make sure you don’t walk alone at night.
Turf Logo from the Official Turf Facebook Page
A few friends and I checked it out and were pretty much pleased with what we saw. From the outside, you’d think it’s just a tiny space but once in – you’ll be surprised at how big the space is. I mean – it’s the biggest pub I’ve been to in Baguio. It can probably sit 150-200 people comfortably. And I’m not talking about flimsy chairs – they’ve got nice, cushioned seats in here.
Turf was only 10 days old when we came for a visit. Oh boy it was packed! We had to wait for 30-45 minutes to finally be seated. Typical Saturday night scene I guess.
Here’s what you’ll see when you walk in – a long bar with bottles of drinks neatly placed high up on the wall – mainly for decorative purposes? The bartender would have to be really tall or have a ladder to reach for these bottles :).
Nice long bar with bottles located really high up there. Maybe the bar tenders are tall 🙂
Check out this cool wall dedicated to immortalize Pac-man :). The arcade machine works too!
The crowd is mostly young – very Baguio – as in – college age. Drinks and food are also priced for that particular demographic.
Earlier that night, we had just had cupcakes at Cake Palace in Porta Vaga before we headed out to the Orange Party in C Boutique. We weren’t really hungry so we just ordered a few eats and drinks. Here’s what we had- Chix and Chips (99 pesos) and Chicken Sisig (125 pesos?). Of course, Turf would be best written about in a blog called – drinksinbaguio. I have a feeling that food isn’t really one of their strongest selling points.
They have a wiiiide selection of drinks – from smoothies, shakes, hot drinks to , of course all sorts of cocktails and alcoholic beverages.
The chix in chix in chips had a very interesting taste – there was a bit of coconut and pineapple flavor – which wasn’t bad at all- just something our taste buds weren’t used to. The chips we pretty good – I would order one full plate of that!
One of the eats at Turf
We also had chicken sisig. They probably added the egg in when it cooled down. It was a bit more masabaw than what I’m used to but it was okay, overall.
I wasn’t able to go around – as it would be odd to have one person go around taking pictures in a really chill place such as this — but there were about 4 sections in Turf – the bar section that you’d see when you walk in , the performance area with a small stage, the billiards area and the lounge area. We were at the bar-ish area. haha. We were in between the bar and the performance area – right across the restroom area, where the Pacman video arcade machine was. We had no neighbors – just one isolated table in the middle of two areas. But our seats were nice and comfy and we were away from the smoking crowd so we didn’t mind our odd placement at all.
One thing that confused me a bit was what kind of bar/pub it was. The performance was acoustic but the piped in music was pop – Nicki Minaj, if I’m not mistaken but the decorations were 50s – 90s. There was a vintage TV at the entrance, cassette tape cases and vinyl disc album covers lined the walls. In my head this place called for a bit of blues music or maybe something fuller sounding than an acoustic band. The “background” noise and chatter just drowned the band’s performance.
Overall, I enjoyed Turf – high ceilings, affordable eats and drinks, lots to do, nice lively, young crowd and most of all the spaaaace! It’s not very often you see something this spacious in a small city like Baguio.
Here’s their FB page for more info: https://www.facebook.com/turfloungebaguio074
More pics from my most recent visit as part of the #BaguioFoodTour2013
I miss Turf!