Stylestat: Cafe by the Ruins

I feel guilty posting this entry late! Here's another must eat place when in Baguio. This is another popular restaurant in Baguio as researched by my Baguio buddies. I don't have any idea about Cafe by the Ruins before this experience. So let's see how it goes.....

Since this is a popular place, they don't actually accept reservations so it's better if you go there early or you shouldn't be so hungry. We didn't go early so we have to wait for sometime. We were 6 on the list but while waiting, we already scanned the menu so that we will already know what to order when it's time for us to have our sit. But it's good that the receptionist took our order even before we get our sits.

Upon entering, we were greeted with this signage plus some floral arrangements. The bread were displayed and I think it's very tactical since it is also the same place where we were seated while we were waiting for our table. The display of the bread is very enticing that we wished to order all the breads!

Well hello human! Order us now or you'll regret!

The looks of the bread pa lang winner na! I wonder if the taste is winner too.....

Though we were 6 on the list, we actually didn't wait too long. I think that they handled the traffic of their customers well. Specially to the receptionist who was very kind, patient and accommodating. She's taking care of the sits and even taking orders of those who were not yet seated on their tables. Clap clap clap!

Since we already made our made our order before we get to our table, we had our time to observe the area when we finally were ushered to our table.

Cafe by the Ruins have their own vibe. For me, the ambiance was relaxed, casual and comfortable. It's not cheap but a very accommodating feel. Very "Baguio" feel.

So here's what we decided to order. Base on my observation, they prepared their breads via pugon so we definitely ordered 2 types of bread with spreads. We asked the receptionist to which spread is best paired with the bread.

Here's the Focaccia bread paired Kesong Puti with Basil. The bread was sooo goood!! It's very fresh and soft. The Kesong Puti was the bomb. It's light but very tasty, it has a gelatinous consistency where it's not hard nor soggy! This is really a good pair.

We also ordered Brioche with Herb Cheese. Like the Focaccia, Brioche is soft and fresh too! The herb cheese is really good, it's not salty. It's like a gourmet but has it's distinct cheese taste. It's like it's something they made time and effort to invent. You should definitely get breads as your appetizer.

We noticed that we are in Baguio but we don't really eat salads given the fresh vegetable of this place. So we decided to get salad for this meal.

If I remember it right, I think this is their Baguio bounty salad. This is another great menu of Cafe by the Ruins specially that they have Strawberries in it. The vinaigrette is great, it's not super sour that's irritating on the throat but I can really taste the dressing though the greens were not soaked in it. The fruits were great! The mango was sweet and of course the greens were very fresh!

We weren't supposed to order appetizer anymore but how can we ignore not to try this Carabao Cheese Lumpia. It's very crunchy and tasty! The Carabao cheese was great as it wasn't malansa.

Since the weather was great, we decided to order a soup base dish and here's their version of Sinigang.

It looks different from the usual sinigang. This is another great dish, it has the right sour taste and not too sour. The veggies are fresh too and even the seafood in it. By the way, it has 1 full fish inside. This dish comes with a rice already.

Here's our very carb meal!

We tried their Shrimp and Mango Curry, but this is not that spicy. For me, it doesn't really taste like curry but I still love this dish. The shrimp was fresh! The condiments on the side was ok, but I like the mango condiment.

I already forgot the name of this dish, but this is a cream base chicken dish. I super love this dish too. It's very tasty! It's not super creamy that will make the dish loose it's flavor.

Lastly, we had pasta too! Carbs kung carbs diba! :) This meal is very tasty too. The pasta should I say was Al dente. The pasta sauce matched perfectly with the pasta. Bravo!

To end our Cafe by the Ruins experience, we had leche flan for dessert! This is a must have dessert. It has the right sweetness and soft creamy texture. It doesn't the same with the usual leche flan. It has a gourmet taste but not a foreign gourmet taste. We had 2 orders of this and we find that the 2 has different consistency and taste. Good thing, both leche flans taste great! I am sure you will love their leche flan too!

Overall! I super love Cafe by the Ruins, I can say that my best meal during our Baguio escapade was here! I would definitely go back. I want to try their merienda menu too!

Here are some more photos of Cafe by the Ruins.