Cafe by the Ruins

I’ve always been curious about this place, always wondering why it’s popular with tourists and the who’s who in Baguio. Finally, I gave it a shot.

Fresh from a City Hall visit, I headed to Cafe by the Ruins and ordered pasta for lunch. I forgot what mine was called, but here it is. I wanted 2 things– Chicken and Pasta. So here it is. Chicken was herby and was okay for my taste. I’m not jumping up and down for glee that I got this. A little bland for me, but okay. Serving size was pretty big.

I was told that they were famous for their breads and cocoa drink so, I sampled Cinnamon bread something a shot of dark chocolate. If you’ve read my other entries, you’d know that I have a high standard for good bread. I was pretty disappointed with my 40 peso- slice of bread. I wanted to literally kick myself in  the head for paying 40 friggin pesos for a slice of uneventful, not even cinnamony slice of bread. I could probably get half a dozen of cinnamon rolls at Danes and I would’ve been happy. I pay 40 pesos for an entire loaf of multigrain wheat bread from an authentic French baker (in Sagada 🙂 ! This pathetic slice of cinnamon bread is by far, the most disappointing thing I’ve ordered in eatsinbaguio history. They could’ve given me 2 slices for 40 bucks. But no, this slice of bread is so precious that it would cost you 40 pesos. Have I ranted enough yet? Haha. It wasn’t even good! I could’ve easily gotten this from the grocery. Argh.  I was expecting something Cinnabon-y. One bun is about 40 bucks.

Behold! The most expensive piece of sliced bread in the universe.

And– the shot of cocoa. It was very rich and very thick. It would’ve been good with cinnamon sticks or something, not with cinnamon bread slices.

If I ever return, I’d order the bibingka instead. It was the last item I ordered and it was the best thing I had. The bibingka was warm and soft and the toppings were just right — nothing overpowering. Too bad I didn’t take a picture.

I get why tourists come here. They’re a sucker for places that look like this since where most of them come from, cafes are found in malls and don’t have a lot of character like this place has. The feel is very organic and not too well-contrived (for lack of a better word)

Service was okay. Nothing like Hill Station, where waiters are more experienced and attentive.

I don’t see myself coming back here anytime soon– unless someone buys me a meal. It’s pretty, it’s got a lot of character,other items in the menu sounds exciting but again, I feel like it’s one of those places that had too much hype.