Rancho: Warm and comfy on a rainy Sunday

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I have been mentioning in some of my blogs that Baguio City and the Cordilleras are influenced by the western cowboys and as close to the life of a cowboy. Country and cowboy themed establishments and also houses can be seen around the city.

For this Sunday, let's go to another country-themed restaurant called Rancho.

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It was a rainy day. The monsoon season has begun. Summer again has passed us by. In search for a new place, we checked out Rancho. This is located at Lualhati Barangay just in front of the The Mansion compound. It was originally located in the former Ketchup Community but Rancho has now transferred to where Chops and Herbs is used to be (as you can see in the map).

Different businesses have come and gone in this location. Now, Rancho is running trying their luck here.

Entering the place gives off that warm, cozy and homey atmosphere. The use of warm lights and wooden furnitures and interior truly gives that country vibe. It is a welcoming mood from the rain and gloom outside.

It also helps that they accessorised and decorated it with stuff which add life to the restaurant. It does keep your visual senses busy. This is a two-floor establishment with an attic/mezzanine floor. The second floor and mezzanine floors are the ones mainly being used. We got there at a good time because we were the only customers then.

One of the dominating decorations they used are clocks. Lots of it! There's even a part of wall full of different kinds of locks that does not work.

We have checked the menu and things seem affordable. There is a variety of food to choose from: beef, wild pig, chicken, pork, venison and even horse meat if you are up to it. There are other vegetable dish to choose from too but even those are mixed with pork. Seafood dishes are also served and pancit (sauted vermicilli and/or egg noodles with vegetables)

Meals are served ala carte and/or good for two or more. These are the favorite Filipino dishes like Pakbet (vegetable dish) with Bagnet (deep fried pork), Lechon Kawali (deep fried pork), Kare-Kare (pork/beef with vegetable in peanut butter), Bulalo (beef soup) and many more.

They serve fruit and vegetables juices, beer and sodas. Aside from that, fruit shakes are also available.

The menu consists of both lowland and highland dishes.

I have never tasted deer meat so I tried their Tapang Usa (dried deer meat) Meal.

This is included in the all-day breakfast meal. At a price of PHP158.00 (around USD3), this is a good value. It consists of rice, egg, deer meat, a cucumber and tomato salad and a choice of either ice tea, brewed coffee or black gulaman.

I chose brewed coffee which tastes great.

My impression of the deer meat was nothing special. Perhaps because of the process how it was dried, prepared and cooked that I did not find anything something to love about it. I like it yes but it tastes just like any other meat.

My companion tried their Pakbet with Bagnet. This is like the all-day breakfast combo meal without the egg but there is also a choice of ice tea or black gulaman.

This is a bit of a letdown because the bagnet is not the "real" bagnet. There is a proper process in doing this but the pork added here is just fried pork. The vegetables are okay and tastes good. They shouldn't have added the cucumber and tomato salad in one plate because the soup of the vegetables is mixed.

After having our fill, I explored the place a little more. I checked out the mezzanine floor.

The black chairs look comfortable. The second floor mirrors everything here in this floor. I absolutely like the lighting that they did here.

The way things are put together, it seems some of the materials are repurposed. It is made of steel and wood and it was beautifully done.

Come and visit Rancho. It is near tourist spots like The Mansion, Wright Park and Mines View. It is a great atmosphere and the food is affordable.

There are different quotations that are displayed around too just like this one.

This is a place that I will visit again and hope the food will improve. There is still a room for improvement because there are far better places in town who serve the same kinds of dish around the same price. For now, I'll give this place a 3/5.