Cafe by the Ruins

Strawberry Shortcake. A layer of fresh strawberries, shortbread, whipped cream and syrup. Yummehh!

The moment the bus arrived in Baguio city, after almost seven hours of butt-aching travel, we immediately thought "Luuuunch time!" Since we did our research, we knew the place to be was at Cafe by the Ruins. Doing research is one thing, but navigating the actual site posted as a challenge. We called a taxi to take us there and he said, "Lakarin niyo na lang!" and left us. :( It was nowhere in sight! We went to another taxi and asked him to take us there, and he said, "Mag jeep na lang kayo!" :(( At least he was kind enough to assist us and instruct the jeepney driver to take us there. It was the right decision not to walk all the way to the Chuntug branch from where we were at. We arrived at Cafe by the Ruins and was 16th on the waiting list. :((( On our way back to Manila we realized that there was actually another Cafe by the Ruins two blocks away from the Victory Liner bus terminal. :(((( I managed to buy a bottle of their fresh milk for Php120.00 before getting on the bus. It was so fresh that it got sour on the third day and I only managed to drink half of its content. D: Although interior-wise, I prefer the one at Chuntug St. than the one in Upper Session Road.

Despite the setbacks, their Tita Susie's Crispy Tapa alone was worth the trouble.

  

One Php14.00 pandesal was enough to fill me up. It was huge!

Our bags piled to one corner. DON'T TOUCH THE IRON STOVE!! They put grease on it.
My friend had the misfortune of staining her bright yellow bag after our friend leaned it
against the stove. It cost us two packs of wet-wipes and a whole lot of laughter.

  

Cafe by the Ruins is a quaint cafe where their freshly baked breads and a queue of people greet you at the doorstep. It took about 30mins waiting time before we got seated. Arriving in small groups will get you the upper hand as the larger parties will have to wait longer. We were famished by the time we were called that we agreed to split our group in half just to get a table. 

The menu was pretty and straightforward. It wasn't overwhelming with choices that it didn't take much for us to decide what to order. Maybe hunger was also a factor. We didn't do a lot of waiting for our food to arrive. 

The. . .food. . .was. . .awesome!!

It tasted well as it should be, like it belonged to Baguio and not in Manila. The ambiance helped a lot in elevating the experience, but it was the intent of how the food was presented and made that I appreciated. Flavor-wise it was more on the meaty side with no overwhelming seasonings. It was honest, and I loved it. <3 It gave me a sense of place, you know, the kind of feeling that you know you're eating in Baguio? 

Given a chance, I'd go back in a heartbeat...if only it weren't so far away.

Their strawberry soda was really pretty to look at.
 Wasn't very sweet, which is a good thing.

Beef Ribs Sinigang ( Php 340.00 ) good for 3-4 people!

My order was their Beef Ribs Sinigang, not expecting it to be so big because the girl said their dishes were good for one. Now I know I may have a hefty appetite, but I can only eat for two people at most! We ended up not finishing the whole thing even if it was heartily good with that right amount of sour kick because yes, takaw-mata kami. 

Baguio Bagnet ( Php340.00 ) with padas bagoong

Tita Susie's Crispy Tapa ( Php300.00) A MUST EAT!!!

We initially ordered Galantina instead of the tapa because it was marked as a best seller, but boy where we glad that they were out of stock that day because we got to try this crispy tapa instead. This was soooooooooooooo good! It's like adobo flakes, except that it's made out of beef and threaded in larger stands, but the whole dish was spot-on! It was nostalgic for me, and was comfort food for the rest of my friends. This was the one dish that stood out for us and gets us craving from time to time. 

Bistek with Herbed Butter ( Php320.00 ) tasted homey.

25 Shuntug Street, Baguio City

(074) 422 9804

Open 7:00am - 9:00pm