FINDING a place to eat in a faraway town you are not familiar with can be a drag. Many times, taste is no longer an issue for as long as there is food.

Not in Nuro, the poblacion of Upi (north) in the province of Maguindanao.

There is a very popular bakeshop and restaurant there that prides itself with its cassava cakes.

The name is Gian's Bakeshop and Resto and it's right at the center of Nuro. Just ask anyone, they know the place. The best thing about it is that it's open for breakfast.

There's turo-turo food and your choice of classic, ube, yema, and durian topped cassava cakes that you would love to bring home with you as pasalubong.

They have other specialties like the pichi-pichi and cookies, but the top sellers are their cassava cakes.

With the likelihood of me visiting the town again in the near future, the knowledge that there is Gian's is now a very comforting thought.