First Bite: Choco-late de Batirol

On my birth week, R and I decided to escape Manila and went to Baguio for some fresh cold wind. I've always wanted to visit Cafe by the Ruins and after several failed beautiful eyes, R finally agreed to bring me to the charming place. But the Panagbenga visitors seem to have flocked to this place the time we visited the city center. With one hour wait time, R and I decided to go somewhere else. I was already about to pout till my lips reach Manila until when we discovered... 

Choco-late de Batirol!

The place is so adorable and the hues of green and brown makes you feel in touch with nature. Sweet chocolate scent dominated the air during our visit and made me drool for its famous hot chocolate. 

But we had to wait for a bit as all tables were taken when we got there.

When we finally got served, we ordered the following: Bibingka (PHP105), Suman sa Lihia (PHP64), Traditional Blend (PHP95), and Baguio Classic Cold Batirol (PHP150). 

In less than 15 minutes, the Traditional Blend drink, bibingka and suman arrived.

The hot chocolate drink had a nice and rich smell of tablea. It had tones of dark chocolate which I liked but the texture was not as smooth as I wanted it to be. It had a lot of grains that made my throat itch. 

Bibingka was quite small and had no salted eggs on it. Instead, it was just topped with coconut shavings. As for the taste, it was very bland. 

I'm not sure if it's intentional to complement the batirol but I didn't like it.

Choco-late de Batirol's bestselling suman also didn't leave much of an impression. Perhaps I was expecting something different or spectacular based on the reviews. But this one was pretty ordinary to me. It was good but nothing worth traveling for four hours. 

The cold batirol was the saving grace of our visit, or so how R put it. It was sweeter than my drink and it had a peanut-y taste. Taste-wise, it was good. But it also had that grainy rough texture which I didn't like. And it took them forever to serve this drink. We had to follow up more than thrice. We finally got this drink after half an hour or so. For beverage, I don't think it's a reasonable wait. 

Adorable place but the merienda dishes and drinks were mediocre. Not sure if I'll visit again but if I do, I'll try the talangka rice. 

Choco-late de Batirol is located at Igorot Park, Camp John Hay, Baguio City. For bookings or reservations, contact them at +639 16 375 6510 (Socorro) or +639 15 933 3474 (Michelle).

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