04 July 2018

Where We Ate in Baler

Food and travel go together well. As in, think of the late Anthony Bourdain. Not sure if he really was but I think he pioneered the will-travel-for-food-and-nothing-else attitude. I mean, please show me videos of him bungee jumping and rappelling. I might just have missed it. But him traveling to a place just to eat? He has lots of those! In fact, he made Jollibee famous in the side of his world. He may have sadly cut his life short for whatever reason he had but he surely touched a lot of lives through his love for food. Sigh. Anyway, this isn't about him naman. Cheer up na tayo. This post took more than a month to be posted 'cause I still can't find the right words to describe our foodie experience in Baler! The town doesn't really have specific delicacies aside from Nanay Pacing's Homemade Peanut Butter but we're so glad they have awesome restaurants that cater to their hungry tourists well.


We arrived in Baler a little before lunch time so after we toured a bit (saving that kwento for another post), we headed to Bayler Restaurant.

Bayler View Hotel's own restaurant is located in front of Sabang Beach. It was a summer weekday but the place was already packed. People were coming to and fro. I thought it was a good sign. I assumed then that food is really great. I wouldn't use too many words to get to my point, though. Food was okay. Restaurant levels naman. As in, nakakabusog and sakto ang lasa – not too great. I don't know, maybe because I can also cook or have tasted more delicious food but nothing spectacular, to be honest. My husband R didn't like the kilawin as it was swimming in vinegar. Sobrang naluto na yung fish. Although ang sarap ng grilled squid nila. Tamang-tama ang texture at anghang! And bumawi rin sa dessert kasi sobrang winner yun for my husband. In totality, I find their food a bit expensive if compared to where we had dinner. ₱200 a glass ang food shake nila.

  • What we ordered: Sizzling squid, kilawing blue marlin, chopsuey, a platter of plain rice, 3 glasses of fresh fruit shakes and chocnut turon a la mode. 
  • How much we spent: ₱1,700+ 

I personally wasn't too happy with what we had for lunch so l really looked forward to our dinner. We ate at Kubli Bistro! Kubli is declared as Trip Advisor's #1 restaurant in Baler. Wow, right? But guys, they truly deserve it! It may be located in a quiet street far from the beach, far from where we were staying but tourists were all heading there to check them out. R and I were so glad we did! Wala akong masabing negative from our experience kasi it was perfect. From the restaurant's ambience to the attentiveness of the staff to the delicious food – excellent! Bonus pa that there was live music na sa sobrang na-happy kami sa performance niya eh binigyan namin siya ng ₱100 tip. I won't go into details na on how we loved and enjoyed our food. Basta try it there when you go to Baler!

  • What we ordered: Kubli rice, tokwa't lechon baboy, steamed sea bass, lemon chicken and lemon salay.  
  • How much we spent: ₱1,350


The next day, we had free breakfast at Playa Azul. It was really sad we couldn't wait for lunch. So we relied to our friendly Google again to check out other must-try gastro hubs in town. And glad we did, it gave us Kusina Luntian! It's a no-nonsense grill place that offers well, grilled food. We had a hard time looking for it, though. We expected a restaurant-looking infrastructure. Yun pala, it's just a simple roofed eatery. Naturally, since Baler is known for surfing, Kusina Luntian gives that chill surfing vibe. They only have banana leaves and not plates. No spoons and forks, too. Also, you clean up your mess after, which should be. Love that concept, less garbage! Medyo mainit lang talaga lalo at medyo malapit kami sa ihawan but keri lang, that's part of the experience naman. Masarap all the food! Grilled meat is life eh. Samahan mo pa ng pako salad and itlog na maalat. Ay naku, ang saya! Below ₱1,000 lang bill namin kahit bumili pa ng Banayad Whiskey (lambanog) na for keeps ang aking asawa.

  • What we ordered: Grilled chicken, grilled liempo, tapa flakes and calamansi juice. All meals have salted egg, tomato and pako salad. Plus two bottles of Banayad Whiskey.  
  • How much we spent: ₱600ish 


Our foodie experience in Baler was really special because of these restaurants. I wish that this will be a good start for our now family of four as we look forward for more explore-and-eat trips in the future!

2 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Oh my, you're the owner of Kusina Luntian, right? Yay! Ang sarap ng dressing ng pako salad. Sana nagbebenta kayo sa bote nun! Bibili talaga ako. 💕

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