Cagayan de Oro City and Iligan City share the same airport, Laguindingan Airport, a place that has at least two shops for pasalubong from both cities and neighboring areas. The shop near the restrooms offers more options at cheaper prices. Aside from these shops, there are food stalls that sell pastel (Missy Bon Bon pastel is dry and the filling is less than desirable, Vjandep pastel is better) and Cagayan de Oro lechon, among other things.
I had bought some pasalubong from Cagayan de Oro, most of which were from Vjandep Bakeshop along the highway, before I arrived at the airport to catch my flight to Manila, but I could not turn a blind eye to the lure of more pasalubong at the airport. I am super undisciplined that way. I also bought a kilogram of Cagayan de Oro ham, which is chilling in the freezer, not yet photographed.
For more pasalubong from Cagayan de Oro City, please proceed here. For more pasalubong from Iligan City, please proceed here.
Below are the pasalubong I bought in Cagayan de Oro City:
Bite me up! Food Corporation’s Cashew Crunch with the Goodness of Real Butter, 180 grams, P150.00 (US $3.00)
Bite me up! Food Corporation’s Crispy Brownies with Dark Chocolate Chips, 180 grams, P150.00 (US $3.00)
Bite me up! Food Corporation’s Brownie Bites Dark and Fudgy, 272 grams, P195.00 (US $3.90). They are sinfully gooooood. I finished eight pieces as soon as I opened the box. I like dark and fudgy brownies and cakes, so these are so perfect!
Bert Food Products’ Special Taro Crackers Sugarfree with Salt, P80.00 (US $1.60). There was a cheese flavored version for this, but I had bought this one before I saw it. This tastes very natural, which made me realize that I like my chips with chemicals in them. 🙂
Vjandep Pastel Yema Buns with Filling, 12 pieces, P165.00 (US $3.30). They are like buttery pan de leche with yema at the bottom.
Vjandep Chocolate Chip Cookies. The chocolate chips tasted like Nips and the cookies themselves are so-so. This is my least favorite food item from all the Vjandep products I have bought.
The polvoron are at par with the decent polvoron I have tasted, better than Goldilock’s polvoron. It is fine and not too buttery and the chocolate chips complement the polvoron instead of making it too sweet.
Tunzo Tablea Pure Native Choco Chips, P212.00 (US $4.24). Like most of the food items on this entry, I have not opened, cooked nor eaten this yet, but it smells oh-so-good.
Maestrado’s Tablea, 80 grams, P77.00 (US $1.54). This also smells good like the Tunzo Tablea. I have at least five kinds of tablea, one from Davao, two from Camiguin, one from Batangas (looks unrefined to me but it tasted like heaven when I had it in Batangas City), and my favorite child tablea from Iloilo. I prepare tablea drinks with love (and sweat), so I have to find time to make some. Soon.
Philippine Brand’s Dried Guyabano, 100 grams, P50.00 (US $1.00). This is from Cebu City, but I bought it in Vjandep Bakeshop. I grew up eating fresh guyabano because we had one in our yard, and I like guyabano (together with atis and jackfruit). This one did not taste like guyabano, but it was not an unappealing taste.
Pig Boss Lechon, 1 kilogram, P495.00 (US $9.90). This did not taste as good as the frozen lechon from Cebu (I forgot the name of the brand) that I had a month or so ago. There is around 500 grams that is chilling in the freezer next to the Cagayan de Oro ham, so maybe that last half will win me over.