Secret Garden — Restaurant in Baguio

The Greats: -- Ambiance - beautiful garden; great, homey decor; good quality furniture (no dressed monobloc chairs here); fresh air thanks to pine trees; awesome, wide windows that really let the sunshine in and keep the place warm and bright even when it's cloudy and rainy outside. -- Food offerings - a fair variety of fusion cuisine, i.e., Filipino fare, like seafood chowder with tahong. Italian options abound: thin crust pizzas and different pasta dishes. Fair variety of drinks as well--cold, hot, caffeinated, fruit drinks...oh, and cocktails! Dessert list is short, but for the variety they're already offering, it's understandably so.

The So-so (aka, depends on your taste): -- Food - this really depends on your panlasa. I'd say some were hits, some were misses, and that overall, I can't recommend any one thing in particular because nothing really stood out personally. -- Price - We differ in our idea of what's pricey and what's affordable so instead of describing it, I'll instead give you a ballpark average: prepare Php250 per meal on average, exclusive of drinks. Drinks can set you back by Php100 on average. -- Location - it's outside the hustle and bustle of Baguio's central business district so if you're into quieter places or just prefer to be closer to nature, then you'll love it here. It's a little out of the way, however, and transpo can be a problem especially if you're commuting and you're there until closing time. If this isn't a big concern, then you'll like it here. -- Toilet amenities - not inside the resto but very close by; common toilet for men and women; malinis at walang water probs; may salamin. -- Other amenities - they have WiFi. Not sure kung puwedeng mag-park sa hotel sa baba. It's not wheelchair-friendly kasi unfortunately, masikip yung garden path at may steps. Haven't seen kung may high-chair sila for little ones. Largest group they can accommodate in one table is a group of 10; for larger groups, expect na magdidikit ng dalawang mesa para magkasya lahat, so kung malaki kayong grupo, more than 10, best to call them ahead and make a reservation.

The Not-so-Greats: -- CUSTOMER SERVICE. I can deal with waiting for food kasi better na yung cooked well than be served bad food (and they served good food naman). What we found disappointing was the customer service. They're not attentive to customers. Hindi naman puno at kami na yung table closest sa counter/bar, pero ilang beses pa kami kelangan mag-tawag. :( May time pa na naawa ako dun sa isang magjowang nagdi-date kasi walang pumapansin sa kanila; paglingon ko sa counter, nakakumpol naman yung 3 wait staff! So ako na tumawag sa kanila sabay turo dun sa babaeng kumakaway three tables away. So tip: wag sa labas kumuha ng table kung ayaw niyong maisnab. Again, they're not attentive to customers. Nag-dish out ng plates, iniwan naman yung clear, empty glasses. Nagdala ng pizza...matagal bago nasundan ng plates...tapos wala pang kubyertos kasama ng plato. Nakakaawa si Ading wait-staff kasi parang siya lang humahada mag-isa kasi walang naghahanda ng kubyertos kasama ng mga plato. Ibang request pa pag kelangan mo ng table napkin. Those experiences plus yung paghihintay sa pagkain? Nakaka-disappoint. :(

Final Verdict: 3/5 I might go back but maybe not too soon. Maybe next year na? Baka sakaling better na yung customer service. :P Food-wise, I can think of several other places to go to first before I consider this place again.

Pa-thumbs up if you found this...

This restaurant was recommended to us by Holiday Inn Baguio City Centre, where we're staying. My parents, my husband and I came here for lunch while we touring the city nearby. It's tucked away and can easily be missed.

My Dad and I ordered the green mango shake and my husband got the hot calamansi. I got to taste the hot calamansi and it was well-made. I suggested the shrimp chili pasta to my husband - shrimp, mushroom, eggplant, red pepper in chili). The shrimp was like jumbo shrimp in his dish and my husband really enjoyed this dish. I had the pesto with seafood, which was fettuccine with shrimp, mussel, scallop, and squid in house pesto cream. My shrimp was smaller and the scallop was small and overcooked. My Dad had the steamed fish, which was dory fillet in basil cream sauce. This was cooked perfectly to my husband and my taste but my Dad didn't care for it too much. My Mom had the sweet and sour fish, which she ended up sharing with my Dad. They both really liked the dish.

There are pizza and rice dishes on the menu but we didn't get to try them. We almost got a pizza to share but we figured we already had a lot of food ordered.

Julie Ann and Mikee took good care of us while we dined and even took a picture of all of us.

Our meal cost about Php 1,400 ($28) for 4 people, including senior citizen's discount.

I highly recommend this place....

I was going to give 4 stars but as I was writing this I remembered that they forgot to serve our fruit platter dessert. They also didn't give an official receipt but with the price it cost us, we surely paid for the forgotten fruit platter.

This is a cozy restaurant in Baguio City. Its name is accurate as we almost got lost finding this place. When we got there, it's almost a hole in the wall establishment as there were overgrown flowers and plants by its entrance. There's about 30 steps to get up to the resto. Not very accessible to PWDs.

There's indoor and outdoor dining. We ordered seafood chowder, quattro formaggi pizza, seafood chopseuy, shrimp chili pasta, and fruit platter. All the food were delicious. I especially like the spices in the meals. The staff were accommodating. Serving time was 10-20 minutes. We had lunch here but they also close late so a dinner would be cute here with the Baguio breeze.

There's plenty of parking space. The restroom is one tiny room for a big establishment. It's not the cleanest place. Overall, I liked the ambiance of the place. But the fruit platter issue bothered me. It tainted our experience. I hope that didn't happen to other customers too. Objectively, you can chill and drink here with...