La Trinidad Eats: Half Cup Cafe and Gasats RestoCafe and Bakery

I was going through my phone and was amazed at how 98% of all the photos I took with it were of food. (I know the reason for that. I haven’t gone out exploring much during the past 3 months, except for eating ‘out’, which explains the kind of ‘variety’ on my phone’s Camera Roll.) So I figured why not blog about these ‘foodventures’? For this round of #foodiefriday, it’s about Half Cup and Gasats RestoCafe and Bakery.

(FYI, I wrote up a review of Half Cup Cafe previously, Check it out.)

Half Cup 

There are food places that you’d visit, taste their food, then not care about. Or, worse, just forget about. Meanwhile, there are places that you wouldn’t mind going back to, and even look forward to visiting. Half Cup Bakeshop-slash-Cafe belongs to the latter category. One proof is how many diners from Baguio City make that 4-kilometer trip out to La Trinidad for it.

When I asked a friend of mine who has become a regular of Half Cup (she and her beau goes there on a date at least once a week, if I’m not mistaken) why she loves going there so much, despite the fact that they are both from Baguio and it is quite a ways away in La Trinidad, she said it’s because: (a) the food is good, (b) the place looks good, and (c) the items on the menu are reasonably priced. Like, the two of them can have a full meal for about a third of the price that they’d usually pay in most other food places AND not be as filled.

I totally agree. Which is one reason why it has become an at least once-a-month haunt for me. And during the month of April, I thought it’d be the perfect place for a date with the parentals.

Perfect timing, too, because April happens to be the anniversary month of Half Cup, and I was given a gift voucher to spend! SO YAY AND DOUBLE YAY!!!!

Since last year, Half Cup opened a mezzanine area to accommodate more diners. When I first saw this area last year (during the planning of our Masungi and Mt. Binacayan trip), I loved the tiled floor inside and the graveled ground outside. And the restroom was also very nice~

Half Cup has stuck to its old or original menu, which is a good move, IMO. Introducing new menu items regularly is a good thing, but sticking to your guns and maintaining consistency of your original ones is not such a bad idea either.

In my previous jaunts to Half Cup, I stuck mostly to their non-rice fare. Since my Dad was with us this time around, rice is a must. So he got one of their meals, the Baked Ribs.

His verdict: he will forever be a fan of Canto’s pork ribs, so that’s his point of comparison, but he says this one isn’t half-bad, either. I had a taste and it was tender and well-cooked even inside, so yeah, not bad at all~!!

Ma-dear went for the Pesto Chicken Pasta. Originally she wanted the Spicy Shrimp Pasta, because she loves shrimp (her hypertension notwithstanding) but she’s averse to spice. So she settled on this one.

I appreciate how the pasta was not oily at all. Pesto has always been a hit or miss for me. There was never an in-between. It’s either very good, or very bad. Personally, this one fell in the very good category for me.

My cousin Nore chose this Seared Chicken rice meal. Topped with, yep, lots of ripe mango cubes.

She was never a hearty eater, just eats small portions, but she managed to clean her plate up, and that’s saying something.

This is one of my regular orders. The Pizza Dip. Basically, they bake the pizza dough and have a separate bowl with what would have been the pizza toppings. This is one of their appetizers, but it is already filling in itself, and it’s perfect to eat while the dough is still steaming hot!

I loved loved loved their Spicy Shrimp!! It had just the right amount of zing for those who want a bit of a bite in their pasta, but not too overpowering that you fail to taste the flavors and end up just fanning your burning mouth the whole time.

Their pasta servings, served in their signature giant mugs, were so generous I had trouble finishing up mine. So that’s the main reason that my mom wasn’t able to finish hers (she does not eat that much anyway, but she was able to devour about two-thirds of it.).

And for dessert (shoot me now), it’s their Banana Hazelnut Waffle, which is basically a giant mug filled with sliced waffles topped with Nutella, cream and sliced bananas. Heavenly goodness~!!

Actually, this is already filling enough to be a complete meal. But after we placed all our orders, we were told that there is still Php105 left unused on the Gift Voucher, and it appears they want us to use it all up. (Sayang nga naman) So when they suggested this one, I just said OK.

This is honestly the time that I found it the hardest to spend Php 1,000 on a meal, haha!!!

The younger ‘uns at the office are curious about this place, so they added it on our “pot” of places to go to on a Friday evening. Pretty soon, Half Cup will be drawn, and I’d be bringing them here. I look forward to hearing what they have to say about it.

Thank you, Half Cup for the voucher that allowed me to have dinner with my family (at no expense to me, mwahahah!) Happy anniversary, and more years (and happy mouths and bellies!) to come!!!

Half Cup Bakeshop is located at Km.4, beside SaveMore and behind Marosan’s. Check out their Facebook page.

Gasats RestoCafe and Bakery

During the Labor Day holiday that fell on a Monday, I wanted to take the family out for dinner at this Japanese restaurant just a stone’s throw away from where we live. (Review on that next time.)

BUT! I failed to glean the fact that the restaurant is closed on a Monday. So we drove straight to another nearby restaurant, as recommended by my nephew because his boss owns it.

It’s called Gasats RestoCafe and Bakery by Joy and Minan. Phew, that’s a mouthful. Let’s just call it Gasats, eh?

Gasats is a sprawling house with its one side converted into the restaurant. When we got there at a little past 6pm, it was relatively empty, except for 2 other groups of diners. Maybe because most people went home during the long weekend, or they went to Baguio. I heard that this place is quite hopping on regular days, though.

Wide floor area, with lots of tables and heavy chairs. If you want to dine al fresco, there are also tables outside. But it was quite a chilly evening out, so we preferred to take just one of the tables by the glass windows.

Place your orders~While waiting for our orders, we decided to explore a bit. It is surrounded by residential houses, but the good thing is that it is elevated, so it’s higher than the neighbors’, and you can still get a view.

From here, you can see the expanse of the strawberry fields, and where the BAPTC is located. If the fog ain’t so thick, you’d see an outline of the mountain where barangays Balili and Tawang are. And maybe even of Mt. Kalugong.

They have quite an extensive menu, but not too many items that you’d be overwhelmed. This time around, we all wanted to try their meals. Even if my eyes were continuously drawn to the pasta and salads page. Maybe next time.

Mantle in Poulet, or chicken breast wrapped in bacon. I didn’t get to taste this one, since it’s my cousin’s order, but she says it’s good.

Since that ‘mishap’ over KFC’s “Double Down”, though, I have developed a mild phobia against anything wrapped or covered in bacon. Just serve the bacon to me straight up and I’ll take it, thank you very much.

Malu’s Pork, pork cooked in sous vide, served with veggies and applesauce. Ma-dear’s order. And it’s your normal pork chop, IMO, just with that applesauce giving it a unique flavor.

By the way, since it’s all meat, we had to order some greens. and we all had a shared love for Ginataang Gulay. Loved the flavors on this one. And how crunchy and chewy the veggies are. Yeaaah, we love fresh veggies~~~

Dad wanted to try the Gasats Smoked Pork, which is the place’s take on the local dish called kiniing or kinuday. Unfortunately, they ran out of the smoked pork. Awwwww..

So he ordered the George Ribs instead. These are basically baked ribs, with glaze.

Again, he says this is pretty good, but nothing still beats Canto’s for him. (I think that’s him hinting at me to bring them there again. ><)

This was what I ordered: Mexican Pork Chop. Basically grilled pork chop with chilli. Drizzled with applesauce and some marble potatoes on the side.

I loved the flavor, and how tender the meat is, but I was expecting more zing. It was not really all that spicy. In fact, I don’t think there was any zing at all. Hmmm. Was my tongue desensitized? I still give it a 4 out of 5, though, because yay for the flavor, but I take 1 point off for the lack of the hot and spicy.

We were already full but I wanted to try at least one of their cakes. So we got one slice of Blueberry CheeseCake.

Now this, I loved. I don’t know what they did, but the cream cheese did not feel all that rich and oily to me, which is sometimes my problem with cheesecakes in general. It’s like they are too oily or too rich that they make you feel even more guilty with every bite, haha!

Oh, and they didn’t use the normal graham crust this time. I think this one made use of some chocolate-flavored base, which is a win.

I’d say Gasats is ideal for families or groups looking for a heavy and filling meal while sitting somewhere slightly above the rest of the world. Or, at least, most of La Trinidad.

Gasats is located at Puguis, La Trinidad. If you’re coming from Baguio, you can either take the Long Long route, or commute via Puguis. Get down before Puguis Elementary School, walk up a bit on that road that leads to Long Long, and you’ll pass by the driveway with the sign on it.

Check out their Facebook page here.

See you soon for more foodventures~!!!