After touring several of the beautiful sites in Baguio City, Philippines, our group of 13 was famished and wanted to eat lunch. Our cousin and driver took us to Camp John Hay where there were several restaurants to choose from. Since this was my first trip back to the Philippines in 42 years and I'm an aficionado of Filipino cuisine, I asked if we could eat sizzling sisig, so our restaurant choice was Dencio's.
Dencio's is one of several restaurants located at the end of a slew of outlet shopping stores. Camp John Hay was an exclusive military installation back in the day and is now the home of a private golf club and 5-star hotel. As you enter Dencio's, the decor and ambience speaks of it being located in the beautiful, green, and tropical like city of Baguio. The floors and ceilings are wooden, bamboo like. The tables and chairs have faux wooden appearances. There are actual bamboo poles used as decor throughout the restaurant. The outdoor patio area looks out to a beautiful, green expanse. In the corner of the patio eating area, the Virgin Mary statue sits in a corner with garden gnomes situated on rocks in front of her. We had to contend with some bees, which caused us some anxiety while we were eating. The outside tables, chairs, and the floors were dirty and dilapidated. I wasn't a big fan of the restroom, which also were old and not too clean.
The food at Dencio's was the main reason I gave it 3 stars. One of the things on my must eat in the Philippines list was sizzling sisig. Dencio's allowed me to check this item on my list off with its delicious and very tasty sisig. For those not familiar with sisig, Dencio's Krispy Sisig is chopped, crispy pork jowl generously sprinkled with minced red onions and served on a sizzling plate. When combined with white rice, this carnivore friendly dish is heavenly. My mother-in-law ordered our entire lunch meal which consisted crispy pata (pig feet), pork barbeque, seafood pancit, fried calamari, beef soup, and of course the sisig. I was good with the sisig, but everything else was just icing on the proverbial cake. I ate every single item and savored every bite. To wash everything down, I drank calamansi and felt like a native Filipino, not the American born Filipino tourist that I actually am.
For my first sit down Filipino restaurant in the Philippines, Dencio's represented really well. I wouldn't change anything about the delicious food and drink I experienced, but there outside area and restrooms could use some help. read more