Tajimaya Charcoal Grill Baguio - A Constant Eat All You Can at P499

It's been a week since our 4th son, MAX, attended his school's recognition day ceremony. Since the ceremony ended before noon, MAX, Phil and I decided to go to Tajimaya Charcoal Grill.

It's been around since summer of last year, but we haven't gotten around to trying the place out. We tend to avoid crowded, newly opened places, due to MAX's condition.

If the name sounds familiar, Tajimaya has branches around Metro Manila, with the main one, originating in Japan.

Here's our Tajimaya experience:

it's right across SAGE. Here's our review of that place: http://themediocrewanderer.blogspot.com/2015/02/sage-advice-restaurant-review.html

1. LOCATION - situated along Military Cut-Off, its near enough to be considered downtown, but far enough that you escape the central business district's traffic. SCORE 5/5

2. AMBIANCE- as you may have read in the past editions of TMW, our son MAX has sensory issues. That being said, the place was perfect for him.

Ambient sounds and background music was at a minimum, lights were softly lit, the furnishings were well spaced and tasteful;

PLUS there were wonderful specific areas for waiting for a table, parking space, a smoking area and a PWD lift and access area. SCORE 5/5

3. MENU - Extensive albeit pricey for the Baguio crowd, there was a little of everything for everyone.

The best draw though is their eat-all-you-can sit-down buffet (which is a steal at 499 pesos BTW). There were a lot of things that I would love to try, the next time we visit the place. Here's a look at their menu: SCORE: 5/5

4. FOOD - MAX loved his bowl of yakiniku don, while Phil and I relished our eat-all-you can time (2 hours is allotted per customer. we couldn't eat that long). Here's what we ate: SCORE: 5/5

5. SERVICE - fast, polite and attentive staffers waited and attended to us. No complaints whatsoever. Everything was refilled (when requested) immediately. Even replacing the charcoals was a breeze :) SCORE 5/5

We enjoyed the food and pretty much everything else in Tajimaya. Phil (who once lived in Japan as an exchange student) felt that the food was more Korean than Japanese, but that wasn't a gripe.
 

It's a great place to go, especially if you're healthy eaters. I wouldn't mind visiting the place once more. Props too to the staff, for their excellent service. Overall score: 5/5

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

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!