Here’s the second post of the three-part series of things to do in Baguio after Summer as organized by Azalea Residences.
After our tour of BenCab museum, we headed to Slaughterhouse Compound for our lunch. I’ve heard that eating at Slaughterhouse Compound was a must if you were touring Baguio for its food. Our destination was Balajadia Kitchenette located in a small covered court area. It was a no frills, carinderia-style place that appeared to have a lot of customers eating inside. We were greeted by smoking grills with several pieces of skewered and fish as we went inside.
The place felt like home when you’re preparing meals for a lot of people (and they were doing exactly that!). We were sat down and I chatted with my fellow bloggers as we waited for our lunch to be served. We were given bowls of soup from their bulalo which only made me hungrier, haha! It was the perfect appetizer, if I say so myself.
Sabaw is love.
The first dish given to us was chopsuey that was steaming hot and saucy, just the way I like it. The veggies were fresh as one would expect in Baguio and everything was seasoned well.
Served next was pinapaitang kambing and baka. Now, I don’t actually eat pinapaitan so this was the first time I got to taste it; I was not disappointed at all. It had only a tad of bitterness to it, the meat was chewy yet tender, and the ginger did not overpower the soup. I now kinda understand why manginginom eat this as pulutan.
Slightly more bitter than their Pinapaitang Baka (which I forgot to photograph).
And then came their grilled liempo served with dara which means blood in Ilokano (a sauce made of cooked pig’s blood seasoned with what seemed to be salt and a bit of vinegar). The meat was chopped into bite-sized chunks and eating it with the made me think of dinuguan but only the meat was grilled. I liked it. 😀
It’s like eating dinuguan but with grilled pork!
Then, the star of the day finally arrived — the bulalo!!! Just like the chopsuey, the veggies in the bulalo were fresh and crunchy. The soup was darn good and boy oh boy was the meat was tender and tasty. By the end of lunchtime I had downed several cups of rice. #NoRegrets
The reason why we order extra rice.
Just when we thought that lunch was over, they serve us what they called “B and B.” One of my fellow bloggers asked what it meant and to our surprise, they said “Butt and Balls.” Interestingly (or should I say fortunately), it looked nothing like what it actually was. It had a little bit of spice and was a little chewier that other body parts I usually eat. It was seasoned with soy sauce and tasted like it could be a pulutan as well.
Which stands for Butt and Balls!!!
We thanked our hosts for that hearty and filling meal at Balajadia. We then headed t Tam-awan village where we had our potraits drawn. While waiting for our turn, we were served mountain tea together with honey. If I recall correctly, I was told that the tea leaves were organic. I liked how smooth it was and how it had an interesting, sort of minty, after taste. Oh, and I bought some taho to go with my tea!
I headed to the cafe in the area after I’ve had my turn in the portrait drawing session, and we were served some lady fingers. As if I wasn’t still full, I of course ate it, hahaha. It was fresh, soft, and it’s sweetness was just right. I ordered another cup of mountain tea, but to my disappointment, it didn’t taste as good as my first one. It was steeped too long so it left a weird texture in the mouth when you drank it.
One of my fellow bloggers ordered a cup of hot choco that had a lot of cute little marshmallows on it, but unlike their mountain tea, it had nothing special about it. Just your regular hot choco (which was still good, though).
And so after chatting and exploring Tam-awan village, we left and headed to the other locations in our itinerary. After everything I ate, I felt like napping, so that’s what I did. Good job, me! Hahaha 😀
Stay tuned for the third and final post in this series! Here’s the link to the first post: https://eatsinbaguio.wordpress.com/2015/07/07/things-to-do-in-baguio-after-summer-part-1-of-3/
[…] Check out the first and second installments to this series here and here. […]