Backpacking Philippines: Orient The Original Buko Pie of Los Baños, Laguna

Orient The Original Buko Pie of Los Baños, Laguna

For as long as Tutubi can remember, there's only one buko pie he craves for. He doesn't have a sweet tooth but the thought of buko pie from Los Baños, about an hour away from his hometown makes his mouth water.

the bakeshop located on the national highway always has vehicles parked near the place with people lining up to buy the freshly-baked specialty of the town (drive and shoot photo taken through the glass, Canon Ixus 30)

Orient The Original Buko Pie Bakeshop on the National Highway of Los Baños, Laguna churns out freshly baked buko pie that people passing by the place queue up just to buy them. If he remembers correctly, the brand Orient has only been added to the name to distinguish itself from other "original" buko pies peddled elsewhere, even by ambulant vendors, a "disease" that Tutubi refers to as "The Original Syndrome."

three boxes of the pie bought my Tutubi's brother. Each pie costs P130.00

Orient Original buko pie recipe simply uses tender buko slivers (young coconuts) and not the already mature ones. This is different from G&B buko pie of Tuao North, Nueva Vizcaya where milk and cheese is part of the buko pie recipe.

Tutubi wasn't able to take a buko pie photo whole for as soon as he opened a box, a hand swooped in on the pie to take a slice

Note: The bakeshop doesn't sell Buko pie via ambulant vendors who board buses selling bootlegged "original" buko pies.

Question: Which one would you consider the best buko pie in the Philippines? Tutubi personally thinks it's this buko pie closely followed by G&B buko pie which is too sweet for his taste but good. He has sampled other buco pies like Collete's, Rowena's (Tagaytay), El Mare (San Pablo City) even Babe's Buko Pie in Batangas...

the best buko pie though is a subjective matter and Tutubi won't bother if you have your own preference :P

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Notes:
Other pasalubong and delicacies in Laguna include espasol, puto binan (of Biñan town, do you know Nila's Puto Biñan?), kesong puti (white cheese of Sta. Cruz made from carabao milk coagulated in vinegar, very similar to India's paneer but using lemon juice), minatamis na calamansi (sweetened Philippine lemon) in Pagsanjan, the obnoxious-smelling-yet-delectably-good bibingkang itlog similar yet less rotten-smelling than Pateros' bibingkang abnoy (mostly in Victoria town but peddled as fas as Paete), monay buns of Bay and minani and bibingkang galapong in Paete and Pakil. There are also vendors giving away free taste of their candies in buses, e.g. macapuno, espasol, ube et al, that you can buy at a cheap price of P10 per pack.

Other interesting places/tourist spots and attractions in Los Banos:

University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) with it picturesque campus, Homma-Yamashita Shrine (the execution site of Gen. Tomoyuki Yamashita and Gen. Masaharu Homma at the end of World War II), Dampalit Falls, Paciano Rizal Shrine, International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and its Rice Museum, the original baths built by Spaniards (where the town got its name), and lastly, Mt. Makiling (Tutubi won't call it mystic mountain for almost all mountains in the Philippines are considered mystic by many people) with forest for trekking including mudflats.

How to get to Los Baños, Laguna:

If you're specifically going to buy at The Original Buko Pie Bakeshop, you need to board a bus to Sta. Cruz that pass by Calamba and Los Baños. HM Transport Bus on EDSA Cubao (Southbound, near Victory Liner) or GreenStar bus on Taft Avenue (northbound) near corner Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue (walking distance from LRT Buendia station) and request the driver to drop you off there just before you reach Olivares Plaza and the place called College (going to the University of the Philippines Los Banos campus). Those buses don't pass by Alabang ilalim, you need to ride an HM Transit bus, usually non-airconditioned, to get there. If you're somewhere in Calamba hot spring resorts, you need to get to the highway to board Sta. Cruz-bound jeepneys to get there then board HM Transport bus going to Cubao or GreenStar Express bus to LRT/Taft after buying at the bakeshop.

Commute from Rizal Province: it's better to board a jeepney going to Siniloan, transfer to a Sta. Cruz-bound jeepney at Siniloan public market, then ransfer again to a Calamba-bound jeepney. Alight in front of the bakeshop about a kilometer from Olivares Plaza mall.

Commute from Quezon Province: board jumbo-jeepneys in Lucena or Lucban going to Sta. Cruz then transfer to a Calamba-bound Jeepney.

Driving directions to Los Banos (follow this route to Los Banos): from Makati head towards SLEX and take Calamba exit (the last one) then pass over the bridge going to Calamba city proper. There is a diversion road that bypasses the traffic-prone Crossing where you pass by the new Calamba City Hall and RSM Lutong Bahay branch to exit in Halang but still you have to pass by Bucal and Barangay Pansol (where the hot spring resorts are located). If you missed the bypass road where many vehicles turn right, just drive straight then turn right at Calamba Crossing. You are now on the National Highway (that doesn't look like one). Continue driving until you see the sign on your left (and a portion of the highway where there are many cars parked). You won't reach Olivares Plaza, should you see the mall, you've passed the place and must turn back.

Labels: Laguna, Laguna Food Trip, Pasalubong, Southern Tagalog

posted by GingGoy @ 10:20 PM,

26 Comments:

At Jan 23, 2009, 11:57:00 PM, carlotta1924 said...: for me just as long as the buko pie is full of buko then i'm fine with it =) there's one i particularly like which comes from this store that starts with the letter V. virgie's or venus yata yun. it's also in tagaytay.

i've always wondered what store carries the original-original buko pie.
At Jan 24, 2009, 2:15:00 AM, fortuitous faery said...: i guess i have to trust your words on the originality of orient buko pie! i've never tried that brand...only colette's from san pablo, as documented by miss igorota. :P

"bootlegged original buko pies"...i like that phrase. hehe.
At Jan 24, 2009, 4:33:00 AM, Photo Cache said...: Oh I would love a slice of that. I think I have tasted one in Tagaytay and they used the macapuno, but it's very very good too. Padala ka naman dito oh.
At Jan 24, 2009, 8:12:00 AM, atto aryo said...: puro colette's lang yata natikman kko dahil yun ang nagkalat sa kalsada. at least ngayon me hahanapin na akong ibang brand. pag-uwi ko, hu hu hu.
At Jan 24, 2009, 1:23:00 PM, x said...: that looks good and warm! mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
At Jan 24, 2009, 9:43:00 PM, GingGoy said...: carlotta, orient is the true original buko pie in los banos...the buko is slightly mala-uhog and not niyog :P

fortuitous faery, orient has no other branch...don't trust the makulit vendors, sometimes they sell you special buko pie but when you see it, pwede mo pamaypay

photo cache, send me yur addres and i will inquire if i can send one to you. i'll google for a reverse-engineered buko pie recipe

r-yo, i'm trying to establish a laguna food trip route...stay tuned :P
At Jan 25, 2009, 2:59:00 PM, escape said...: how can i forget the buko pies of los banos or generally from laguna. i worked in laguna for three years and really enjoyed buko pies.
At Jan 25, 2009, 3:37:00 PM, GingGoy said...: acey, still hot when I ate it...freshly baked goodness

the dong, where in laguna? probably a semicon or manufacturing company no? :P
At Jan 26, 2009, 2:35:00 AM, pieterbie said...: Sounds simply delicious!
At Jan 26, 2009, 7:37:00 PM, Nina said...: Well, I like the one you featured. It's been years since the last time I've eaten a buco pie. It's good that they added Orient to the name because everyone claims to be the Original...
At Jan 26, 2009, 8:38:00 PM, Anonymous said...: hmmm.. looks like Los Banos is the home of the buko pie :) As for me, I'm content with sampling the ones made from "frozen" ingridients here hehe. I bet nothing beats the original version, freshly made from fresh ingridients :)
At Jan 26, 2009, 9:17:00 PM, Oman said...: I absolutely agree. The best ang buko pie jan and the trip is not complete without tasting one.
At Jan 27, 2009, 9:36:00 AM, Sidney said...: Yes...it is a bit difficult to find the real "original" buko pie... there seems to be so many buko pie shops around...

Hmmm... maybe I will need to go back to the Salibanda next year... I got a few good shots but overall my pictures are disappointing... I didn't know what expect and in the end I was too afraid my camera would be drowned in water...
I need to prepare a better strategy next year... and so I have a good excuse to go back for some merrymaking... it was a fun event...
At Jan 27, 2009, 1:42:00 PM, aldrinbee said...: Just to add, I don't know now but I have not successfully bought Orient buko pie when night comes even as early as 6PM. By that time all buko pies made for the day were already sold out so you have to buy them in the morning up to maybe late in the afternoon kung abutan mo pa. That's an assurance that you won't get any staled buko pie from them.

The last time I was able to buy one was almost a year ago. Dapat makatikim na ulit...
At Jan 29, 2009, 6:00:00 PM, dodong flores 도동 플로오리스 said...: Collettes lang yung alam ko eh.

Will wait for your Laguna Food Trip route :)
At Jan 29, 2009, 9:55:00 PM, tin-tin said...: for me it's letty's buko pie. hehe. pero sa totoo lang nung nag-aaral ako, parang never ako kumain ng buko pie sa lb. hehe
masarap din na pasalubong is mer-nels chocolate cake. mabibili siya sa grove, los banos.
At Jan 30, 2009, 2:55:00 AM, Unknown said...: .....masarap nga din ang letty's buko pie, malapit lang din sa orient original buko pie. ang sa letty's its much softer ang pagkakagawa, kaso nga lng naghihiwa-hiwalay pag kinagatan mo saka medyo matamis....ung orient, tama lng, di masyado matamis and firm pag kinagat,kaya siguro madami ang gusto yon...
At Jan 30, 2009, 9:28:00 PM, GingGoy said...: pieterbie, not too sweet, that's why i like it

Nina, original syndrome that is

bw, i guess that's the closest thing for you

lawstude, try it one time

sidney, next year I'll join the Salibanda with my waterproof camera in tow :P

aldrinbee, lapit lang yan ey :P

dodong, i'm trying to find out new addresses of certain food stuff that's why i won't post them now :P

tini-tin, so you're from UPLB :P

wordsalad, yeah, i don't like the sweet ones
At May 5, 2009, 2:46:00 AM, enneyehs said...: I'm from Los Baños, Laguna. I remember when I was a kid, my family would always ask me to get snack ("pa-merienda") for visiting friends/relatives and it would always be buko pie. To be honest I developed a dislike for it as a kid, we always have it and I grew tired of it. But now, having grown up and living outside the Philippines, I am nostalgic about those weekend afternoons where my grandmother would slice on the plump hearty pie (about 2-inches deep) steam coming out from the moist custard and the fresh almost crunchy coconut slices. Yummy!! I remember only 2 sellers during those days ('80s-90s) Mitz and Letty's. The latter having the popular sweeter crust. Their stores are along the Nat'l Highway at Anos (practically where I grew up). Letty's have a stall right in front of Carbern Village subdivision beside the Shell gasoline station. And Mitz would be right before the cemetery if coming from the north (Manila). All other brands are poor quality imitations often times leading to the detriment to my hometown's beloved food specialty.
At Jun 11, 2010, 5:57:00 PM, Anonymous said...: i want to eat buko pie!!!! please!!!!
At Jul 15, 2010, 3:47:00 PM, Anonymous said...: yes natikman ko rin once and since then nagpabalik balik nako sa los banos just to buy this pie. super to the max ang sarap!! meron p ba silang ibang branch?
At Jul 16, 2011, 3:34:00 PM, Anonymous said...: me also will recommend the original buko pie @ los baños. i've tried other brand of buko pie but original it's different. if i'm not mistaken sister company yata ng original buko pie ang letty's.
At Jul 28, 2011, 6:45:00 PM, Anonymous said...: i will be around in baguio or subic for this week? is there any nearby store selling buko pie? please send me message to choi_chat05@yahoo.com, appreciate your help thanks.
At Sep 30, 2011, 12:15:00 AM, Anonymous said...: try Loumar's Buko Pie in Tagaytay, that's my new favorite.. :)
At Nov 19, 2011, 8:17:00 PM, Anonymous said...: the best buko pie i taste is buko pie of pampanga, which is sold ambulant vendors who board buses selling bootlegged buko pies. It has a thick and very hard crust, with almost no filling in the inside and if you are lucky, you may get a little bit mold for free... they sell it hot (because they left them on roof of the waiting-shed to keep them warm) they taste a bit sour because of the vinegar from the chicharon the they sell also....... what the heck it only cost P10
At Feb 1, 2012, 11:51:00 AM, Anonymous said...: Orient talaga, ang may pinaka kalidad as for me, i'm from Pila Laguna, i grew up passing this place at Los banos, bakit ma-trafiic?-- dahil pala sa orient buko pie na pinipilahan.... huh sarap talaga..

Orient The Original Buko Pie of Los Baños, Laguna

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