Mother's Day At The Nook

My reasons for celebrating Mother's Day

Mother's Day 2017 has come and gone, but not the food intel that we gathered that day.
 

Foregoing my usual "slaving over the kitchen stove", Phil and the boys took me to Baguio's The Nook Kitchen and Pub.

Opening it's doors last November, here's what we discovered :

1. LOCATION - Far from the maddening crowd that is the city centre, but close enough that one can walk from town should vehicles be scarce, is The Fern Hotel II. At the bottom-most floor of #90 Upper Military Cut-off (which opens up to an ample spaced parking lot)is The Nook. Seriously accessible be it via car, PUVs or a power walk from Session Road, we give a SCORE of 5/5.

2. AMBIANCE - The place still looks brand spanking new and is somehow both trendy yet cozy at the same time. Maybe it was because we were there as a family, that even a biker's bar might come off cozy (lol); but The Nook is a pretty chill place to go to.

Brightly lit, the sounds just right and the TV screens installed were showing Nat Geo shows, I'd say my boys were engaged with the sights and sounds, right before the food arrived.

Also, there are tables outside, and one that's attached to a swing, if you want to feel the Baguio weather, while dining. Bug lamps are strategically placed around too, so avoiding dengue is a plus in my book. SCORE: 5/5

3. MENU - The menu is simple, yet offers a little bit of everything for everyone. Prices are reasonable, bordering on low, but food quality isn't compromised. Here's what's in it:

4. FOOD - Everyone at out table enjoyed the food. Portions are appropriately sized that we ordered a little bit of everything and shared. Here's what we got and our impressions for that dish:

Chicken Popper Platter:  chicken tenders in garlic parmesan, bbq, buffalo and honey chipotle flavors. Delicious, chicken was juicy and tender and portion was quite big

French fries

Grilled Chicken and Prawn - chicken and veggies were perfectly seasoned and cooked. Prawn was cooked adequately but had a fishy taste. Texture-wise, prawn was fresh but perhaps storage and handling caused it's quality to slightly deteriorate.

Italian Pizza (thin crust) - Italian sausage, bolognese sauce, pepperoni, bell peppers and mozzarella and parmesan cheese on a 14 inch crust. Good flavors,  loaded with meat and cheese, absolutely yummy!

Nook's Platter - chicken lollipop, mini pizza bowls, potato chips and carbonara makes for a perfect combo meal for a healthy eater. Raving over the pizza bowls. It's like fillo pastry, loaded with meat and cheese. Seriously good!

Beef Salpicao - tender and tasty beef, with lots of olives. A bit too tasty as I prefer mine more peppery. Kids enjoyed this dish though

BBQ Pork Ribs - tender, tasty and quite filling, our MAX had this, after consuming most of his Nook's platter!

SCORE: 4/5

Waiter Joemar (hope I got the spelling right) is the most efficient and pleasant waiter  - like, ever!!

5. SERVICE - Ive never seen a more intuitive waitstaff than that of The Nook's. Seriously, these folks are ninjas, stealthily popping up just when you're about to think of ordering or asking for anything, or if you dropped your utensil. Props to the management and the staff for having a well-oiled machine, in their hands. 

Thanks too for my free Mother's day cookies! SCORE: 5/5

That's The Nook Kitchen and Pub in a nutshell. Recommending it for the various reasons mentioned above and probably more. Please, do check out the place. Our overall score for the place: 4.8/5

From TMW, may all your wanderings be better than ours!