CAFE BY THE RUINS / MAY 25,2009

A huge part of any trip for me are the meals I take while I'm there. That said, I should've written this post a few weeks ago, but got side-tracked by my...uh...farming activities. Haha. Damn, that FB Farmville! =) Since I finished my blueberry planting early today, I finally find myself with enough time to finish this post before I run off to the world of excel sheets and statistical analysis. =)

The BCC cottage was so cozy at night (and, besides, our day activities usually left us too tired to do anything elaborate) so dinners were usually about Yellow Cab (New York's Finest Pizza where Patita gets first crack at the pepperonis while Ray*-B hoards all the mushrooms that can fit in her slice. The adults have Charlie Chicken Pasta to bridge whatever topping is left on the now less-than-New-York's-Finest Pizza, haha). One time, Mother, Sister Pusjing and Patita were soooooooo tired, they decided to skip dinner. The rest of us decided we were tired, but also hungry so we took the chance to take the 5 minute ride to The Manor to eat at...well....I'm not sure what it's called anymore, but I'm pretty sure it's the Baguio equivalent of Le Souffle. One lunch was spent at the BCC Lunch Buffet, another we took as the pre-requisite stop at Mario's.

Mother's birthday lunch at Cafe by the Ruins, therefore, was special. It was the only meal we had in Baguio that we couldn't otherwise have in Metro Manila. Haha! =D

Now, I've been there before. C&G, our old ad agency, sponsored a dinner for their clients during the Baguio Ad Congress way back in 1995. It was pitch-dark and I mistakenly remembered it being off some cliff. Imagine my surprise, therefore, when I asked for directions to Cafe by the Ruins from some of the locals in Burnham Park, only to have them point up to the street toward the munisipyo. "That can't be right," I thought, and decided to repeat my question in case they misunderstood me.

"Manang, sa Cafe by the Ruins po. Yung restaurant..."

"OO nga.," she nodded, "Akyat kayo dun sa kalyeng yun, tapos...." she continued, launching into a fairly simple turn-right-turn-left version that made it clear that Cafe by the Ruins is within the city proper and not in the off-city limits cliff location of my dreams. Haha. Apparently, the "ruins" they were referring to where the ruins of an old theater that was later converted into the home of the first civil governor of Benguet. Ngyar. =)

Aside from the Cafe being a landmark (which automatically classified it as a must-visit), we chose Cafe by the Ruins because it was, after all, Mother's birthday and we might as well go where healthy food is supposedly available. The restaurant prides itself with concocting a menu that features and highlights crops and ingredients grown in the region. Mountain rice, muscovado, carabao's milk, upland coffee, etc., etc. Sounds about right. =)

We started our meal with this. Salad Topped with Cheese Made from Carabao's Milk. The cheese was wonderfully toasted on the outside, but still soft-chewy on the inside. The mild flavor of the cheese, the toasted note of the sesame seeds and the lightly sweet-sour vinaigrette were a good complement for the fresh greens. A light but satisfying way to start off the meal.

Father chose this from the appetizer menu because he was intrigued by the idea of Tinapa Rolls. It tasted like...uh...lumpiang shanghai made with tinapa. Haha. Good, but no surprises here. =)

I'm actually confused right now because I have this other pic in my phone archive and I'm thinking now if this was the tinapa thing, and if it was, what then is the pic above? HAHA. Whatever....=) Maybe Sister Pusjing or Bro I-gue can help me remember. Haha. =)


We also ordered the Pinikpikan which is a traditional chicken dish from the Cordilleras. It was also a declared specialty in the cafe. Most lowlanders (us included) only vaguely know of Pinikpikan as a flavorful chicken dish that is made from native chicken that is subjected to a certain Cordilleran religious rituals. Most people order it not fully aware of what the chicken is subjected to prior to cooking. Apparently, "pikpik" is the local dialect's term for light beating as the chicken is......uh....I don't want to continue. Research on your own if you want to know how it's prepared. Suffice it to say that now that I know better, this is probably the last time I will let anyone else order the dish while I am in their company. I respect the reasons for the religious rituals that results in the chicken used for this dish, but also think that to subject the chicken to the process just for the pure enjoyment of eating a flavorful chicken dish in a restaurant is a bit much. Naku! =( Truth be told, it was actually just OK for me. Maybe my expectations were heightened by the seeming exotic-ness that emanates from the description, but it really just tasted like another version of tinola. The more savory taste of native chicken and the supposed roasted note was lost on me.

Father and I also deliberated between ordering the Sardines and the Crispy Tapa because the descriptions for both seemed so "romanticized" on the menu.

After careful deliberation, I declared that I wanted the Crispy Tapa.

Father declared that that was what he wanted, so maybe I should just get the Sardines so we can taste both.

I told him, I said I wanted the Tapa first so maybe he should get the Sardines.

"But I want the Tapa, and just want to taste the Sardines," he retorted, apparently secretly thinking that despite the romantic description, the sardines will just taste like the bottled Spanish sardines that one can get from the supermarket shelves.

"Eh, I also want the tapa, and just want to taste the Sardines," I answered, as I was beginning to have visions that it would be quite similar to the Crispy Tadyang that we used order in the old Bistro Remedios in Malate.

"Basta, I'll order the tapa," Father said.

"Ako din."

End of discussion. (And, yes, this is how we sometimes converse over meals. And, yes, this is also how we ended up with two Crispy Tapa dishes. Hahaha!)




The verdict?

"This is so not what I expected," I voiced out, after taking my first bite.

"Adobo flakes naman 'to, hindi tapa," Father said, apparently also expecting the tapa to be more similar to the Cafe Remedios Crispy Tadyang.

"Oo nga. Slightly dry and matabang," I sighed. (For the record though, I'm a "salty eater". =))

"Sabi na kase sa'yo yung Sardines na lang orderin mo, eh!" Father exclaimed.

"OO nga..." I agreed, "Eh, yun din naman ang sabi ko sa'yo ah!"

"OO nga," he grinned.

End of discussion. Haha! =D

The other dishes were pretty uneventful as the kids ordered pasta (if memory serves me right), and Mother opted to spend her birthday lunch eating...uh...Mami. =D This was not special Cordillera mami. It was just mami--which, I suppose, is just made with really fresh veggies. =)

Dessert was something else. The kids were enticed by the idea of ordering Strawberry Sorbet. They're actually enamored by anything strawberry, and actually declared they wanted some before they could even go through their main meals. It was light, as expected, but the tartness that broke through the very slight sweetness was slightly jarring. Our collective experience with strawberry ice cream, strawberry shortcake, and even fresh strawberries sprinkled with sugar has taught our brain cells (quite falsely) that strawberries are naturally sweet when they are really not. Well, they are, but not syrupy, sugary sweet. =) I liked it. The kids....well...I will let the fact that they did not finish it speak for itself. Still, don't you think this is really pretty strawberry sorbet? =)

Still, there has to be something said about my penchant for sour desserts. (Just ask Mrs. Smith and Cheffy re: our Starlight Express experience @ The Pen, and Cousin Day re: the Lemon Torte Birthday Cake, haha!). So, I figured, what the heck. I will go where my adventurous taste buds want to take me. Against all appeals to good reason, I ordered this. Tamarind Sorbet. Ang asim! Haha. =D Still, I at least now know that Tamarind Sorbet is too.....uh....sour. I mean, even for me. =)

This, however, is the one thing that made the Cafe by the Ruins worth it for me. I have long been intrigued by it, but never really found a decent venue to try it out. Civet Cat Coffee. Yes, coffee that is made from beans that are picked out from the Civet Cat's poop. Yes, poop. Supposedly, the Civet Cat is very fond of eating coffee berries, but they cannot really fully digest it so the coffee bean still comes out of their poop pretty much intact. Still, the gastric juice processing that it goes through while inside the Civet Cat's digestive tract supposedly gives the beans a unique note. Now, how anybody (in his right mind) actually thought of scooping up some wild cat's poop and picking it apart to look for flavorful coffee berries is beyond my comprehension, but what the heck. Somebody discovered it. I must try. =) Father and Bro I-gue were also intrigued enough to give it a go.

I usually take my coffee with cream these days. This time, I decided, only the slightest hint of sugar will get between me and my pure Civet Cat Coffee experience. First sip. Divine. Bitter sweet with a slight wine-y note. Perfection in a cup. ^_^

Now, I deliberated about buying me more to take home as I surveyed the shop outside the Ruins (where they sell practically everything that they serve in the cafe in its raw form), but I decided against it. Not only was it not cheap (P500+ for a small pack), I also didn't want to get used to the idea of enjoying this divine coffee on a daily basis. What if I run out? How will I learn to live with the supermarket-variety coffee beans? No. Civet Cat Coffee will be reserved for special occasions.

Good thing too, because soon after, in the middle of Baguio, despite a very cold mountain breeze, I started sweating profusely! My heart started palpitating; fire seemed to be running through my veins. There was no doubt about it. It was the Civet Cat Coffee working its magic.

Wow! =D

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Cafe by the Ruins is along Chuntug Street--which is really not much help if you're not a local. Haha. My tip: go to Burnham Park and ask for directions from there. =)