Our son MAX's class gets out before 11 am every Friday. The night before, I had it in my head to bring the kids to the barbershop for their monthly haircut. The barbershop happens to be a good 5 minute drive from our house and is along Marcos Highway. Thinking of places in Marcos Highway that we could have lunch, we decided to check out Hoka Brew's Weekend Buffet.
Hoka Brew has been around for 2 years. This is the first time we've ever checked out the place out and here are our thoughts on that:
1. LOCATION
Found at The Podium Hotel's 2nd floor, it's just along Marcos Highway, fronting St. Peter Chapel. Accessible by both private and public transportation, it's not that hard to get to. Taxis and jeeps ply the road fronting the hotel at all hours. The hotel has basement parking as well, so that's a plus. SCORE: 5/5
2.AMBIANCE
I never imagined that Hoka Brew had so much space in it. I assumed that it was a hole in the wall. Clearly, I was wrong.
The decor is casual, yet well curated. The layout was clearly well thought off and the views that the picture window, the veranda and glass/wood walls showcase, is quintessentially, Baguio.
The use of natural light is excellent. No loud music/sounds made it perfect for our hearing sensitive son, Max and the cool mountain air made eating a joy. SCORE: 5/5
3. MENU
We went for the weekend buffet at 375 pesos/adults and 275/kids. Buffet starts at 11 am on Friday til Dinner on Sunday. These were their buffet offerings:
a. MAINS
Smokey Ribs
Frito Misto
Rice
b. MONGOLIAN BBQ
c. SALAD STATION
d. NACHO STATION
e. HALO HALO STATION
f. PASTA STATION
g. ASSORTED JUICES
h. SOUP
We have yet to try their menu. The menu itself is interesting enough for us to go back and try the items in it. SCORE: 5/5
Here's a look at their MENU:
4. FOOD
Given that we only sampled the food at the buffet, here's what we thought of it:
a. MAINS
Smokey Ribs - fall off the bone with a really nice smokey flavor to it.
Frito Misto - Hoka Brew's take on fish and chips. Perfectly battered and fried on the outside and moist on the inside, Phil, who normally doesn't care much for fish, was made a fan. The Potato chips were thinly sliced and crispy compared to the really hard ones we would get from Meal Lab.
Rice - comes in plain and Java
b. MONGOLIAN BBQ - fresh and varied ingredients, guaranteed to satisfy
c. SALAD STATION - basic fresh Baguio vegetables. The star of this station was the 2 vinaigrette choices: Strawberry and Mango. You get more of the fruit flavors with the tang of the vinegar following, though mildly, shortly after. The oriental dressing was just so-so.
d. NACHO STATION - salsa, their take on chili con carne, veggies, cheese sauce and nacho chips. We're big fans of chili con carne and salsa, but somehow, there was a hint of sweetness that we're not particularly fond off in those two condiments.
e. HALO HALO STATION - sweet corn, gulaman, kaong, ube, pinipig, sugar and milk. Really hard to mess this up :)
f. PASTA STATION - lasagna was a bit on the bland side but that could've been on account of the amount of bechamel sauce that coated the pasta and meat sauce. The baked mac, which smelled heavenly, was cloyingly sweet. Sweeter than Jollibee Spaghetti. Was not fan of both.
g. ASSORTED JUICES - orange, pineapple, iced tea and lemonade. Not fresh but not bad either.
SCORE: 3.5/5
5. SERVICE
Excellent service all around. No dilly-dallying and avoiding eye contact by the staff. Questions were answered knowledgeably and requests were immediately addressed. Smiles all around and attention to detail despite serving snacks at a seminar on the function hall beside Hoka Brew. SCORE: 5/5
All in all, we enjoyed our visit to Hoka Brew. Definitely looking forward to trying out their other menu items and bringing the entire family the next time. And speaking of family, this place has high chairs for the little ones, which apparently isn't as common as I thought (looking at you, Yasuragi and Cholo's). OVERALL SCORE : 4.7/5
From TMW, may all your wanderings be better than ours!
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