Lunch and coffee with a friend

One fine #BeautifulSunday and #SublimeSunday, I had lunch with a friend I have not seen for a long time. It's the first Sunday of the month and how is your October going so far?

Before anything else, #BeautifulSunday is hosted by @ace108
and #SublimeSunday is an initiative of @c0ff33a.

It had been a long time since I saw this friend. He is a churchmate too but since he moved out of the city to study in the capital, we haven't had the chance to spend time together but we still update each other through social media.

He messaged me the day he was in the city but I couldn't meet him then. I asked until when will he be visiting and he said until the next day only. I then decided to meet him for lunch. Fortunately, he has no other appointments by then.

I then asked him what he wants for lunch. Good thing he already has a place in mind that he wants to try so I agreed right away. I could recommend a lot of places though. He actually has two places he wanted to try but I suggested the one nearer which is Lemons and Olives.

Before moving further, this is also my #MarketFriday entry. Market Friday is where money is involved. It does not have to be your local market or grocery but anything that you spend money for like event or services. This is the idea of @dswigle. If you want to know more about #MarketFriday, head on to this post Market Friday takes the Metro to know more about the guidelines.

From our place, I took a cab and met with my friend somewhere in the city center before taking another cab to take us to Lemon and Olives.

This is what it says on their page

We're Baguio's first authentic Greek restaurant. Our very own Chef Takis is from Athens, Greece. Everyday he cooks his favorite Greek dishes using some ingredients straight from his homeland. Picture a taste of Greece!

I don't know of any Greek restaurant here in the city other than this one. This is my second time here though. The place looks like the same as it was when we first came here with my partner.

The place was not that crowded when we got there which is good. The interior, furniture and decor do give me that Greek vibe as what I have seen in photos and movies. All it needs is the sea.

We were actually served right away.

We settled for Greek Salad and Mediterranean Pasta. I was able to take some photos before our food was served.

What I like about this place is it is nestled amongst pine trees. It is an old house that was converted into a business. Slowly but surely, the houses along this stretch is being converted to businesses. Lemon and Olives is just one of them. Also, the trees around it is being threatened by development. Those who own the lots around this place will soon be developed.

When the salad arrived, in a couple of minutes, the pasta arrived next. Now that's one fast service I'd say. We were there not even 10 minutes and we already set to eat. Maybe the food we ordered was that easy to prepare.

The salad is just the basic lettuce, bell pepper, olives and feta cheese. They served olive oil and vinaigrette sauce for that. The pasta is olive oil based and boy it was really generous with olive oil. For drinks, my friend ordered basil and cucumber shake. I am not up for anything so I just ordered water.

Overall, it was an okay experience food wise. Both the salad and pasta is good for two or three. Both taste good and delicious. I couldn't concentrate that well on the food because me and my friend are busy catching up.

The price of food is competitive enough although you can have the same salad some place at a cheaper price.

I would've taken more photos of the place but alas, we don't have that much time so we headed to another place for coffee and desserts.

This time it was to Arca's Yard we go.

Arca's Yard haven't changed in terms of their decors, paintings and other stuff that adorn the place. It is sort of a mini museum where traditional gongs, spears, shields are displayed everywhere. There were also paintings that were familiar for they were the same paintings I have seen there before as well.

Even these colorful cushions and placemats are the same as I remembered them. What I noticed new though (or maybe it was there the last time we visited but it's only now that I noticed) were added seats on the balcony and verandah.

We decided to go upstairs and chose a seat there. This is also an old house that is now used as a restaurant.

We settled for coffee and sweet potato cake ala mode. Black coffee for me and cafe latte for my friend.

It was a perfect combination to end our meeting unfortunately. We were unable to enjoy a second cup when he was contacted by his cousin. He had to meet with them too so we had to cut short our time together. Also, I still have work waiting for me.

I hope next time he will have a longer stay so we can visit favorites spots here in the city or maybe I will be the one visiting him where he lives.

So there goes my date with a friend.

Thank you all for visiting!