Mario's Restaurant In Baguio City

With the combination of good food, beautiful ambiance, and cool weather, it is not surprising that Mario's Restaurant is one of the best restaurants in Baguio City that one should not miss when visiting the City of Pines.

For 40 years now, Mario's Restaurant in Baguio City provides impeccable dining experiences to its guests both tourists and locals. Although their branch in Tomas Morato, Quezon City is the one which is rather more familiar because of its proximity, their branch at the summer capital of the Philippines holds beautiful memories since it is the first branch that the Benitez's built way back 1971.

I have vague memories of the time I visited Mario's Restaurant Baguio when I was a child, but my recent trip made me feel the same familiar excitement I had way back. The cozy ambiance still never fails to make me feel comfortable. Yes, the weather was cold but the warmth of welcoming gestures from the staff and the comfort of food they serve made me want to stay a little longer.

The weekend we spent at Baguio prompted us with several dining trips to Mario's Restaurant. I've had several favorites from Mario's and despite having it as a mainstay in my orders when dining in their Tomas Morato branch, it is still a different feeling and experience when having these favorites in Mario's Baguio.

The fact that Baguio City has abundant supply of fresh vegetable and fruits is very apparent on every dish that they serve.The assorted greens on their Chicken Oriental Salad for example lends an innate sweetness that blends perfectly well with the combination of crispy noodles, chicken strips, tomatoes, nuts, and spring onions. This salad can be a good meal starter however, with the big servings that Mario's Restaurant is known for, it can already be a meal on its own.

Famous for their crown jewel of a Caesar Salad made and prepared in front of its diners, Mario's Restaurant never cease to provide the authentic taste that has captured the hearts of many all through the years.

We have tried two kinds of soup during our visit. One was Sopa de Mariscos (Php210) which is basically a Spanish seafood concoction on a thick tomato soup, and the other one was the French Onion Soup (Php190). Among the two it was the French Onion Soup that blew me away. It has the right amount of flavor made all the more special with the melted cheese on top.

We also had Baked Mussels and Calamari Fritters as appetizers during the dinner. These two were good as expected since Mario's is known to serve good variants of seafood dishes just like my all-time favorite Oyster Rockefeller.

While it is their Pork with Santol Glazed which usually rock my world, their Barbecued Spareribs satisfies my palate the same way. The haunting smokiness of the ribs with a hint of herbs and honey makes this fall off the bone goodness rather endearing not just to the palate, but to the heart as well.

The Cajun Fish Fillet with Tropical Salsa is one of the few fish dish I enjoy when eating out. The fillet of fish is already savory on its own but the Tropical Salsa that comes with it gives a flair of distinction to the meal. Considering I am very picky when it comes to fish dishes, I am very well please with this.

Another dish which never fails to make me happy when dining at Mario's is their special Paella Valenciana. I've had tasted several Paella Valenciana from different restaurants but Mario's still is on top of my list by far.

A meal wouldn't be complete without dessert and Mario's Restaurant is known for providing impressive line of cakes and pastries for their guests. For a while my attention had been transfixed to their Toffee Sansrival, but then their Bannoffee Pie is equally worth raving for. I guess it wouldn't be tagged as their best selling dessert for nothing.

We have also tried the Churros con Tsokolate which I heard is the new addition to their line of desserts. While I love the texture of the churros, it could have been better if the tsokolate dip is more thicker. HOwever in terms of taste, it is nevertheless good and worth the try.

Since strawberries are everywhere in Baguio City, I took advantage of the chance and enjoyed Strawberry Milk Shake in every single visit. It was nothing like the strawberry milk shakes that we have here in Manila and it really didn't bother me how many calories have I consumed during those indulging period.

In Tomas Morato, they have Mango Jubilee and it is not really surprising that in Baguio City, they have Strawberry Jubilee. I am a sucker for anything Strawberry so needless to say that while I went crazy over the mango version, the strawberry variants made me crave for it for quite a good number of days.

Before we head back to Manila, the last meal we had at Mario's Baguio City was the Sunday Brunch Buffet. It was a good buffet spread with some of Mario's well known dishes such as Cochinillo, Roast Beef, and Oyster Rockefeller among many others. I would love to share with you the gastronomic buffet experience but it is going to be a different story which deserve its own post.

Mario's Restaurant in Baguio City is already an institution. With four decades to boast of, Mario's remain humble and true to its vision of serving fine food and giving excellent dining experience to its diners. Some people may find it a tad intimidating since it exudes an aura of a down right fine dining restaurant, but believe me when I say that their menu features very affordable options of high quality food which anyone can enjoy.