Who, in their right mind, would want to “swing by” Sagada, just to eat? Us, apparently, and yes, we are in our right minds. We figured it’s a shame that we haven’t tried some of the now-famous places to eat in Sagada when it is, technically, our neighbor. Finally, we got to check out the Lemon Pie House and the Yoghurt House.
Remember that impromptu trip we had that took us to Batad and Banaue in Ifugao earlier this year? (Check the posts here, here, here and here.) While some of us (our travel buddies from Manila, mostly) opted to push through to Buscalan in Tinglayan, Kalinga to visit the traditional tattoo artist Fang-od, four of us decided to go on ahead towards home, way ahead (hopefully) the forecasted typhoon.
Before that, however, we decided to visit Sagada for the morning.
“Swinging by” would be the wrong phrase, considering how Sagada is really out of the way if we were to take the bus from Bontoc to Baguio. So what we did was wake up relatively early and catch the 8am jeep from Bontoc to Sagada. It was a 45-minute ride, and we finally arrived in Sagada at around 9am.
We headed directly to the Sagada Lemon Pie House.
Established in 2008, the Sagada Lemon Pie House is a two-storey wooden (mostly) structure that is situated along the road. If you’re headed towards Sumaguing Caves, you won’t miss it.
Step inside and the interiors are done in a manner that is familiar to us Igorots – lots of pine wood, mostly. I liked the setup of the low tables, and sitting on pillows on the floor. There are also artworks on the wall by local artists, so your eyes will definitely be busy while awaiting your order.
The lemon pie (err, obviously) is the most famous offering of this restaurant, especially as pasalubong (to bring home) so we placed our orders. It is so in demand that, normally, you’d have to place your orders a day in advance. We weren’t aware of this. So it took a lot of cajoling, appealing, and downright begging for them to “please let us buy because we are only in town for the morning”. The heavens must have been in a good mood that day, because they agreed, but we have to pick our orders up at noon. That’s in less than 3 hours from now.
So for brunch, we settled down on one of their low tables and got a taste of their lemon pie (1 slice costs Php30.00 and 1 whole pan costs Php200.00) and their lemon tea. Yes, it was lemon overload. Hey, when in Sagada’s Lemon Pie House…..
An honest verdict: I usually prefer my lemons as something to drink. The lemony taste in this pie is very strong which, I think, is its main draw. I’ve no problems with it. It is with the sweetness that I have issues with. I’m not really into overly sweet things, and I can only eat them in small doses. After a few mouthfuls, I start to lose my taste for it, and all that’s left for me to do is to laboriously go through finishing it up.
That is not me saying it’s not good, though. It is, and I actually like it, but if I get to eat it again, I’d probably settle for half a slice.
One of my friends tried the Onion and Cheese Omelet breakfast. It was just all right, nothing spectacular. Clearly, people come here for the Lemon Pie.
After eating the pie, we decided to walk off what we have eaten, and so we started following the road towards Lumi-ang Caves, snapping photos along the way. I was amazed at how many hotels and inns were now built in the area. It wasn’t like this the last time I came here, which was in 2007. There were only a few inns, and I remember some spots where we stood amid pine trees and standing on pine needles…. they are now occupied by buildings.
Here are some snaps of some hanging coffins we spotted on the way.
Sagada’s tourism has indeed boomed, but not without some sacrifices along the way, it seems.
When we got to Lumiang Cave, they did not let us go in because we had to register at the town center first. Oops. Looks like their rules have changed, because when one of my friends went there 6 months before, they were allowed to just go right in. We just shrugged it off then and decided to retrace our steps and go back the way we came from. We are already making plans of a “December in Sagada” trip anyway.
We passed by the Lemon Pie House on our way up and we spotted the Strawberry Cafe. Now we are all from La Trinidad which is the Strawberry Capital of the Philippines. Part of us were curious as to how this place fares.
Too bad, their main offerings were not on offer because it’s not lunchtime yet. It was still close to 11:30 when we got there, and they only offer lunch at 12 noon.
So we settled for some of their fresh green salad and ate. Again.
Again, another honest verdict: you can’t go wrong with greens in a salad, as long as they are fresh. And the dressing is good. But if you are looking for the best vegetable-fruit salad, I suggest Health 100, Health 101, or Health 102 ReSTOREants. ‘Nuff said. (Wrote about it here, by the way.)
After eating the salads, we walked back down to the Sagada Lemon Pie House to pick up our orders. So there we were, heavy backpacks on our backs, cameras hanging on our front, and boxes of lemon pies on our hands. What a sight.
The last trip, or so we were told, of the bus headed to Baguio was at 1:30pm. It was already 12:30 when we arrived at the Yoghurt House. And it was packed. And there was a line of customers waiting to be seated. I couldn’t even get decent pictures inside!
We decided to line up as well. It took around 10 minutes before we were seated on the second floor. We kept looking at the clock, and then when it ticked to 1pm, we went “what the heck, we’ll find a way somehow to get a ride back home, even if we miss the last bus.” We were hopeful that we’d find jeeps and hitch a ride home.
So we enjoyed our meal. And when I say “enjoyed”, we really did.
We are still already full from our earlier visits to the previous two restaurants. And the servings at Yoghurt House are generous. In fact, it was a good thing I split my order of pasta with Lorie. Otherwise…. ZOMG.
I sooooo loved their Roasted Eggplant in Basil!! TO BITS!!!
They also have subs, sandwiches, green salads, and vegetable rice meals. Flor ordered rice meal, by the way; she hadn’t had rice since the morning when we left Bontoc.
Our main course were already very filling, but we decided that it’d be utterly stupid to go to Yoghurt House and not try their famous yoghurt. Right? RIGHT?!
So we did. AND YUM.
Other Yoghurt Favorites, aside from the one pictured above, are Sagada Honey Yoghurt (Php90.00), Banana-Granola (Php90.00) and Fruits in Season Yoghurt (Php140.00).
Clearly, we saved the best for last.
By the time we stepped out of the restaurant, it was already a little past 2pm, and some of the locals who were hanging out on the streets were telling us that we missed the last bus home. Oops. We still made our way to the bus stop, and saw that there were many other passengers, mostly tourists who want to go back home to Manila (or wherever they came from) before the storm hits the area.
The bus company decided to offer another trip. We’re so lucky, haha!
We then rode on the bus at around 3pm, and took the 4+ hours’ trip back home to La Trinidad and Baguio. When I arrived home, I was still so full that I didn’t bother eating dinner!
Hopefully, this December, we can go back to Sagada and explore the gems we hear so much about. Except for Sumaguing Cave, which I’ve already visited (and I tell ya, Capisaan Cave is soooo much more beautiful), I want to check out Bomok-od Falls, Marlboro Country, and Kiltepan View. Crossing fingers it’ll happen!!
Sagada Lemon Pie House: website and Facebook
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