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| Forest House Bistro & Cafe |
Stepping into the Forest
House Bistro and Café, a 275 sq.m., casual yet upscale bed and breakfast, bistro
and restaurant built into an old American-era structure along the zigzagging
and pine-forested Loakan Road, is like entering the homey atmosphere and
serenity of a gracious and warm log cabin created by pinewood, yellow bricks
and colored antique glass windows. The warm
light and soothing feel of the interiors and the accouterments are definitely
the first thing that catches your eye.
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| The foyer |
Opened last April 8, 2001 by couple
Ari (Baguio-born, raised and educated, he prefers to be called “Manong Ari”) and Raquel
Verzosa, with cousin Alvin Verzosa (who has an eye for detail and penchant for
good food), its foyer (where guests wait to be seated) has a cozy sofa and two
armchairs facing each other.
Between is a small, brick fireplace that
would surely warm guests during chilly evenings (in Baguio, this happens more
often than not) with the heat of its crackling firewood. Above the fireplace is
a painting of Charlemagne vanquishing the Saracens at the border of old
France and establishing the first Germanic empire in 800 AD.
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| Main Dining Area |
A coffee and tea bar, on the
side of the restaurant, boasts of an excellent selection of coffee and tea from Chicago-based coffee masters (a choice of decaffeinated brew in a variety
of granules, depending on your preference of richness), while on the opposite
side is a pasta bar.
The overall look of this storybook restaurant is country, its
various walls and nooks adorned with de rigueur collectibles. The well-thought-out,
warm, intimate and cozy ambiance (sitting well in a natural setting), well
chosen décor, winning color combinations, faultless table settings and
arrangements was perfect.
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| Main Dining Area |
Its charming bathroom is
decorated with a box of potpourri, scented candles, a square-shaped seater and
a wall décor with an uplifting message, “Greet each day with your eyes open to
beauty, mind open to change, and heart open to love.”
The carefully planned and
laid out menu of Forest House offers a wide variety of delightful dishes, which
are mainly of Asian influence - Fresh Green Salad with kani and
Mango (organic greens with mango and crabstick), Spicy Thai
Squid (Stir-fried squid in Thai chili sauce), sesame crusted Mahi Mahi
(fillet of Mahi Mahi grilled to perfection topped with Asian salsa) and Pisang
Goreng (banana slices on rice wrapper, topped with vanilla ice cream). The
house specialty (and its most sought dish) is the homemade Ilokos bagnet (crispy
tender fried pork belly).
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| Pancit Canton |
Start up with the creamy and
properly rustic wild mushroom soup. Appetizers include the piping hot Roti
Canai (Malaysian unleavened flat bread served with curry dip), Scallops
Thermidore (half shelled scallops with white, bubbling cream sauce), minced
chicken in lettuce cups (Asian marinated chicken in lettuce caps with hoisin
sauce on the side) and Forest House platter (a combination of smoke fish spring
roll, buffalo wings, bagnet and tomato bruschetta).
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| The author |
Also on the menu are popular
international (Spanish, American and Italian) dishes such as Lengua con
setas (ox tongue in rich gravy mushroom sauce); succulent Prawns
Thermidore (baked prawns in rich Bechamel cheese sauce); Beef Caldereta;
Lamb with Mustard sauce; Flounder with White Wine Sauce; Chicken Alexis in
mushrooms sauce and red wine; Jakero Pork Chop (grilled pork chop topped with
chili on a bed of fries); Forest House wine-sauced Chicken; Vegetable Kebab;
Sesame Crusted Fish Fillet; Callos; Salpicado; and Roasted Dijon Rack of
Lamb (roasted rack of lamb rubbed in soy Dijon Mustard and spiced with herb
and blue cheese).
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| Diners from E. Ganzon, Inc. |
There is also an array of
pasta to choose from (Putanesca with capers and black olives, Country Garden
Linguini with Mozzarella, Fettuccini Carbonara with smoked ham and wild
mushrooms, etc.) as well as crisp, green and very tasty salads (Grilled Chicken
Caesar, Smoked Salmon Salad and Forest House). All these are coupled with a
serving of fresh strawberries and iced tea drinks that come in various flavors.
Desserts like Pisang Goreng (a
comforting creamy crunchy concoction of vanilla ice cream sandwiched in between
fried wontons), Strawberry Panaccotta, Carrot Cake or Black and White Cheese
Cake and home baked cakes liked Black Forest, Blueberry Cheese Cake, Apple Pie
or Belgian waffles are best with a simmering, bottomless cup of Benguet’s well-known,
strong and robust Arabica coffee brewed to perfection with a secret concoction.
The terrace, the best part of
the restaurant, is where you can dine al fresco, breathing the crisp, bracingly
cool air and admiring the pink bougainvilleas and the breathtaking, spectacularly
priceless view of the mountains. The country touch is enhanced by the use of the
original structure’s old pine wood panels as well as antique wood pieced
together from the old materials or obtained from antique houses around the
Ilocos Region.
Stepping into the Forest
House Bistro and Café, a 275 sq.m., casual yet upscale bed and breakfast, bistro
and restaurant built into an old American-era structure along the zigzagging
and pine-forested Loakan Road, is like entering the homey atmosphere and
serenity of a gracious and warm log cabin created by pinewood, yellow bricks
and colored antique glass windows. The warm
light and soothing feel of the interiors and the accouterments are definitely
the first thing that catches your eye. 
Opened last April 8, 2001 by couple
Ari (Baguio-born, raised and educated, he prefers to be called “Manong Ari”) and Raquel
Verzosa, with cousin Alvin Verzosa (who has an eye for detail and penchant for
good food), its foyer (where guests wait to be seated) has a cozy sofa and two
armchairs facing each other. 
A coffee and tea bar, on the
side of the restaurant, boasts of an excellent selection of coffee and tea from Chicago-based coffee masters (a choice of decaffeinated brew in a variety
of granules, depending on your preference of richness), while on the opposite
side is a pasta bar. 
Its charming bathroom is
decorated with a box of potpourri, scented candles, a square-shaped seater and
a wall décor with an uplifting message, “Greet each day with your eyes open to
beauty, mind open to change, and heart open to love.”
Start up with the creamy and
properly rustic wild mushroom soup. Appetizers include the piping hot Roti
Canai (Malaysian unleavened flat bread served with curry dip), Scallops
Thermidore (half shelled scallops with white, bubbling cream sauce), minced
chicken in lettuce cups (Asian marinated chicken in lettuce caps with hoisin
sauce on the side) and Forest House platter (a combination of smoke fish spring
roll, buffalo wings, bagnet and tomato bruschetta).
Also on the menu are popular
international (Spanish, American and Italian) dishes such as Lengua con
setas (ox tongue in rich gravy mushroom sauce); succulent Prawns
Thermidore (baked prawns in rich Bechamel cheese sauce); Beef Caldereta;
Lamb with Mustard sauce; Flounder with White Wine Sauce; Chicken Alexis in
mushrooms sauce and red wine; Jakero Pork Chop (grilled pork chop topped with
chili on a bed of fries); Forest House wine-sauced Chicken; Vegetable Kebab;
Sesame Crusted Fish Fillet; Callos; Salpicado; and Roasted Dijon Rack of
Lamb (roasted rack of lamb rubbed in soy Dijon Mustard and spiced with herb
and blue cheese). 
