BENGUET | Baguio City’s Oh My Gulay!

Saturday, January 23, 2010

20090208-BAGUIO-D80-0106

Like Edgar Allan Poe’s Purloined Letter, one of Baguio's best kept secret is openly located on its busiest district; the Session road.

The first clue in locating this gem of a restaurant is by finding the La Azotea building.  Being one of the older buildings in the area, it has that old Manila building feel to it.  Do not be daunted though, enter the building and ascend five flights 20090208-BAGUIO-D80-0072of its darkly lit antique staircase until you reach the very top.  Then stop, and have a breather; for in the next minute your breath will surely taken away again as you find yourself transported into a landscape as playful and colorful as Lucy’s diamond sky.


To describe Oh My Gulay!’s interiors is just crazy.  Everything is jumbled, mixed, crooked and totally mismatched.  You won't find straight logical lines here.  The amazing thing is, through all that chaos the whole mess seems to sort itself out and magically transforms the restaurant into one funky enchanted place.

Upon entering the cave door leading to the huge hall of OMG!, you will immediately be greeted by a rickety looking wooden bridge crossing a koi pond.  Facing it is a towering Moroccanish style castle housing two very odd washrooms. 

On the left side is a spacious stage performance area, complete with rocket-shaped mirror balls hanging on the ceiling; and on the right is the airy dining area towered over by a giant cardboard man. 

The eating area is divided into two sections by a huge sea ship and has a mazy second floor above it.  Aside from the dining areas on the second level, it also has two art galleries; an open one and another housed in a cave.  That's right, a cave.

If my description of this crazy place still did not make your head spin, just think of OMG! as a hippie trip induced Neverland.

Oh My Gulay! is owned and operated by indie film director Kidlat Tahimik and it got it's moniker from the food they serve.  Their menu consists of crazily named vegetarian dishes like Anak ng Putanesca, 20090208-BAGUIO-D80-0104Super Sosy, Ceasar Asar, Kabute, Chow Chow Noodles to name a few.  This is definitely not the place for hamburger and steak lovers.  Zero meat here.

But this is not to say that meat lovers would not enjoy the food served here.  Me being more of a meat than a veggie person, can definitely say that I enjoyed their dishes.  Although a few more choices from the menu would not hurt too.

Prices are quite reasonable, dishes plays at around the P150 range.

I recommend that if you do decide to check out Kidlat Tahimik's quirky masterpiece of a restaurant, time it when the sun is just about it give it last hurrah.  The place is perfect for a sunset view of Baguio city.

Seat yourselves at the balcony or on the tables near the window of the restaurant, grab a bite on their sweet tangy spring rolls, sip a cold lemonade and watch the drama that is Baguio as the city bask in golden light of the sinking sun. 

20080710-BAGUIO-D80-0188 20080710-BAGUIO-D80-0192 20080710-BAGUIO-D80-0193


    Oh My Gulay’s! portal opens at 11:00 am and closes at 9:00 pm
    Phone them at (0918) 667-6025

        PART OF A 3-DAY BAGUIO SERIES
        BURNHAM PARK | PIZZA VOLANTE | UKAY UKAY | OH MY GULAY! | THE DIPLOMAT HOTEL | BENCAB MUSEUM
        MINES VIEW PARK | CAMP JOHN HAY | FOREST HOUSE BISTRO & CAFE | STARBUCKS COFFEE AT CAMP JOHN HAY

You Might Also Like

10 comments

  1. this is one of the reasons why we keep coming back to baguio. a real treasure.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Christian this place is indeed a well kept secret! I visit Baguio once in a while and never heard of this place. Thanks for the info and I'll definitely check it out next time I visit.

    I also enjoyed your blog and since you do a lot of 'lakads' you should visit what I call my mountain hideaway, another 'best kept secret' destination. If you ever decide to go pls emai me (eyeneardoc@yahoo.com) so I can give you details on how to get there.

    Cheers

    edwin antonio lim md

    ReplyDelete
  3. Lestat
    A real treasure indeed. =)

    Escrimador
    Indeed it is, I have visited Baguio a few times too before discovering this special gem.

    What about this secret hide-away you're talking about? =)

    Thanks for dropping by!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Christian, the place I regularly visit is just 19km from Santa fe, Nueva Viscaya. Please click on my name so you can check out the place. Cheers!

    edwiin

    ReplyDelete
  5. Escrimador
    Oh man, that's really far! Breathtaking place!

    ReplyDelete
  6. This is great Christian. Thank you for sharing this post. Will definitely add this to our list.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Poker Francais
    No problem, always glad to help out a fellow traveller. =]

    Do check out my other Baguio posts if you have the time, you might find other interesting places to go to:

    http://lakad-pilipinas.blogspot.com/search/label/Baguio%20City?&max-results=8

    ReplyDelete
  8. been here 1st week of March after we went to Sagada. You will really never expect that a beautiful place like this exists on the last floor of a building. Ganda talaga magtambay dito :-)

    ReplyDelete