City De Luxe Restaurant and Bakeshop (Dagupan City, Pangasinan, Philippines)
Review of City De Luxe Restaurant and Bakeshop in Dagupan, serving Miki Bijon Guisado, siopao, and fresh mango juice. A local stop for hearty noodles, sweet siopao, and fresh mango juice, City De Luxe is a true Dagupan dining classic.
After arriving in Dagupan late the previous evening, our first proper meal of the trip was at City De Luxe Restaurant and Bakeshop. Known locally as one of those reliable, long-standing eateries, it felt like the perfect place to ease into Pangasinan food culture. Affordable, straightforward, and familiar to many locals, City De Luxe is the sort of restaurant that doesn’t try too hard, but consistently delivers the kind of meals you’d expect from a Filipino dining institution.
The Menu and Pricing
City De Luxe’s menu offered a solid variety of options, ranging from around ₱100 to ₱300 (roughly $1.76 to $5.27 USD). A few larger dishes were priced up to ₱500, but overall it remained very accessible. In a city where meals are expected to be hearty yet affordable, this restaurant fit right in.
Miki Bijon Guisado – Hearty and Familiar
We ordered their special Miki Bijon Guisado (₱170), a dish that immediately stood out with its generous serving. Visually, it promised warmth and comfort, and that’s exactly what it delivered. The noodles were salty, oily, and rich in flavour, the way a proper guisado should be. Mixed into the dish were liver, chicken, and slices of fish cake.
Personally, I found the texture of the liver and fish cake a little challenging, as those aren’t really to my taste. However, for diners who appreciate the full range of flavours in traditional Filipino noodle dishes, this combination certainly makes sense. It embodied the hearty, no-nonsense cooking that you expect in a local eatery.
The Sweet Side: Siopao
Alongside the noodles, we tried the siopao, which leaned heavily into sweetness, a flavour profile clearly designed for Filipino taste buds. The bun itself was soft and fluffy, while the filling offered that familiar sweet-savory blend. It was served with a sauce that reminded me of watered-down hoisin, though I didn’t find it necessary. The siopao already had enough sweetness on its own, and the extra sauce only pushed it further in that direction.
The Perfect Drink: Mango Juice
To wash everything down, a mango juice was the obvious choice. Cold, refreshing, and naturally sweet, it was exactly what you want in the Philippine heat. It rounded out the meal perfectly, cutting through the saltiness of the noodles and complementing the sweetness of the siopao.
Final Thoughts on City De Luxe
City De Luxe Restaurant and Bakeshop is not about refinement or reinventing Filipino food. Instead, it’s about honest, filling meals that give you a sense of place. For ₱170, the Miki Bijon Guisado was more than enough for one person, and paired with siopao and mango juice, it made for a satisfying first meal in Dagupan.
It might not be the restaurant that impresses with creativity, but it does exactly what it promises, provides affordable, hearty, and familiar Filipino food that comforts both locals and visitors. With its long-standing presence in the area, City De Luxe continues to prove why it remains a dependable stop for everyday dining.
City De Luxe Restaurant and Bakeshop
Address: Tapuac District, Dagupan City, 2400 Pangasinan, Philippines
Phone: +63 75 522 9880
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/citydeluxerestaurant/
