HOKA BREW and their WEEKEND BUFFET

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!

VINCENT'S PLACE: I Don't Know Who He Is, But I Want To Be His Friend

Going through my Facebook news feed, I came across some pictures of food from a newly opened restaurant that specializes in Cordilleran Fusion. The person who posted them (a batch mate from high school) had good impressions of the place. Her food opinions  are often spot on, that's why we headed over to Vincent's Place a few days after it's opening.

Here's what went down during our visit:

lots of parking spaces!

1. LOCATION: in a newly renovated building that used to house a weaving center and school run by nuns, Vincent's Place is located at #8 Loakan Road. It's just beside Tulip Apartelle (which, in turn, is right beside Nevada Square). It's near town, along the road and quite accessible. SCORE: 5/5

2. AMBIANCE: "Cordillera meets The World " seems to be the theme of the place, in an interior full of subtle contrasts.

It's got the wooden Cordillera accents that work well with the modern design of the dining area (booth seats, a cozy Al fresco dining area, gift shop etc). At the same time, the decor promotes the Philippine culture in it's table settings (a game of sungka anyone?).

It's got wooden furnishings that would look as comfy in a high end resto and not out of place in a rustic cabin. It's well lit, well polished, shiny, modern and clean, but at the same time, traditional.

Music though was a bit loud, prompting us to get a table at the veranda. View was great with the "Baguio" scent, wafting in the air. It was also the smoking area. Luckily, we were the only ones there. SCORE: 4/5 (perfect if not for the loud "mall-ish" piped in music).

the gift shop - all supplied by local communities from the Cordilleras

3. MENU: I haven't taken to Cordillera food, despite having been born and raised (by Manila-Cebu transplants) in the area. The way the dishes were presented in the menu, I could just imagine all the meals I would have to go back to Vincent's Place for. SCORE: 5/5. Here's what they have:

4. FOOD: as always, the novelty of the dishes made it hard for us to choose what to have for lunch. With some griping on certain menu items, we scored it a SCORE: 4/5. Here's what we got and what we though of it:

a. BUGUIAS PLATTER - named after a town where we grow our potatoes, the platter makes the potato it's star, with it's salted egg potato chips (crisps) with garlic aioli, loaded potato skins (potato skins stuffed with mashed potato and cheese) and french fries (chips).

b. TINUNO SAMPLER - I have been craving for some street barbecued meat for the past two weeks that I immediately ordered this menu item on sight.

barbecued tenga ng baboy are the bomb!!

It's skewers of isaw, bituka and tenga ng baboy, grilled over charcoal and brushed with a sweet-salty sauce, served with chopped onions, peppers and cucumbers on top.

grilled bituka!

What's isaw, bituka and tenga you ask? That's for you to savor first, and ask questions later :)

c. HUSH PUPPY OYSTERS - perhaps I was a bit too eager to reminisce the delicious oysters that we had last Father's Day, that I blindly ordered this one. It's oysters breaded with cornmeal, deep fried and served with lemon wedges and pickled veggie sticks in garlic aioli.

the pond leading to the function room area

The aioli is simply divine, the pickled carrots and cucumbers were as expected, but the oysters were bland and lacked it's "oysterness". I couldn't taste the freshness that I always insist on when I have oysters. It felt fresh, but did not taste like oysters.

the powder room

Perhaps a lighter batter or breading ought to be explored. I get that they were trying to recreate a variant of a classic hush puppy recipe, but it did not work for me.

super clean comfort room

Less cornmeal mixed in the flour perhaps? A little more salt, maybe a hint of pepper added to the onions (didn't feel that there was though)? Or maybe, drop the hush puppy and just make oyster popcorn, drizzled with a spicy rice-wine(tapuy) based dipping sauced instead of vinegar. That sounds more Cordilleran to me.

d. CRISPY DINUGUAN - chunks of tender pork (fat and meat), sauteed in blood sauce. I like traditional "saucy" dinuguan more, but this was quite delicious, where the blood did not taste pungent (as it was in my past experiences of tasting this dish elsewhere) at all.

e. CRISPY SISIG - more chewy than crispy. I get that roasted meats is integral in the highland cooking process, but there has got to be a way to introduce the "crisp" in this version of the crispy sisig.

f. MINT TO BE - I am sooo stealing this idea and making this uber yum drink at home!! Mint, cucumbers, strawberries and chia seeds. I wished my glass was the size of a fish bowl. This drink and I were really "mint to be" :P

5. SERVICE: expect A LOT of people to wait on you at Vincent's Place. The staff to patron ratio was quite impressive.

The waitstaff and the ladies from the gift shop were ALL knowledgeable about the menu, goals and CSR activities of the establishment.

Working as an Internal Quality Systems Auditor for over a decade, I do know how to "casually" interview an employee to get the "lay of the land".

I was pleasantly surprised to know that the gift shop features products from Cordilleran cottage industries, where the proceeds of the sales from Vincent's Place goes back to the communities that make them.

The waitstaff on the other hand, was intuitive, made polite menu suggestions and was efficient. Food arrived quite fast, despite the heads up that our food would arrive in 30-45 minutes.

I enjoyed the ampalaya cookies!

the heat packed by the chili garlic with alamang was OFF THE CHARTS!

The staff gets a SCORE of 5/5.

the barrel man...yes, it's a thing here in the highlands

Vincent's Place is a game changer when it comes to food recommendations asked by out-of-towners. Nothing would give me more pride than to say that Cordilleran food can be pitted against world class cuisine. This restaurant has elevated the highland cuisine with it's presentation, coupled with the service and ambiance behind it.

got myself a free mug by buying the items beside it

The community-oriented business practices of it's kitchen and gift shop (as managed by the same corporation that runs the Porta Vaga Mall) is the cherry on top.

You get good food, priced at the "high-side of reasonable" (to quote my hubby Phil), while doing something for the community. The place is pretty too! OVERALL SCORE: 4.6/5

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

PS
After posting this blog, a high school chum of mine (who happens to work for the diocese) shared that Vincent is actually a Sister Vincent (yes, a nun!). Thanks Cherry Chua for the info =)