Looking for a café with an artistic feel and a breathtaking view? Get your Waze on and search for Arca’s Yard in Baguio City!
(074) 442-9706
9:00 AM-7:00 PM
Largely Filipino cuisine and American
Limited Parking
The café looks like a typical house but it is neat with its white walls accented with beautiful furniture, antiques, art works and paintings. Bookie junkies will love this place too because of variety of books displayed on the shelves.
Location, Accessibility and Parking
Arca’s Yard is located at Tiptop, Ambuclao Road, Baguio City. From the city center, you will pass by Leonard Wood Road, Teacher’s Camp, Botanical Garden, and Pacdal Circle. Exit to Ambuclao Road (4th Exit) then continue going up. You can find it just after the Asia Pacific Theological Seminary (APTS). It is easy to find because it is along the road.
It has limited parking spaces beside the road which can accommodate only few cars. There are additional parking spaces few meters from the restaurant that can accommodate at least 3-4 cars. During Saturdays and Sundays, there are a lot of local diners and tourists. Once the parking is full, it is difficult to look for other parking spaces in the area.
Food, their Main Menu and Serving time
Their cuisine is largely Filipino with Japanese dishes. There are plated meals which include pork ribs, pork steak, lechon kawali, beef patty, beef teriyaki, and honey buttered chicken and a lot more. They also have pastas, salads, soups, seafood, tempura, breads and pies, and desserts like ginataang bilo-bilo, banana split, and camote ice cream to name a few. Interestingly, they have pizzas too!
I visited this place a lot of times already. Recently last February 2021, we went there and tried their seafood pasta. It was in red sauce with shrimps and mussels. It was nice but I thought it needed more cheese because I’m a cheese lover. Hehe. Their lechon kawali is a 5-piece crispy fried pork. While their inihaw na liempo is a thin-sliced savory pork belly. I loved the lechon kawali and inihaw na liempo only that I thought they had small servings.
Yesterday (July 2021), I went there with my brother and sister and her 5-year old daughter. I was not that happy with how the pork humba tasted. Good Taste Restaurant’s pork humba tastes way better and with bigger serving. Hehe. But I loved the daing na bangus. It tasted fresh and savory.
They have few “for sharing” menus which includes the pork humba, Arca’s bangus, and some pancit. The “for sharing” menus are only good for two (2) people unfortunately.
During Saturdays and Sundays including holidays, diners flock the restaurant. This means that you have to wait in line outside if the restaurant is full and wait again at least 45 minutes before your food is served. I warned you!
Refreshments include teas, coffee, cacao hot chocolate, soft drinks, milk shakes and smoothies. I liked their cacao hot chocolate because it did not taste like Milo or Swiss Miss.
UPDATE 2023: Their menu improved. The lechon kawali is no longer a 5-piece meat. I was also told by the waiter that the waiting time is 45 minutes but the food came out as fast as 20 mins. Probably this is because there were fewer customers when at that time.
Value for Money
The price for their menu is mid-range. You can spend a minimum of P150 for a meal without drinks.
When we went there with my two (2) siblings and my niece, we ordered 5-cheese pizza, pork humba, alfredo pasta, Arca’s daing na bangus, a mushroom soup, a cacao hot choco, and a smoothie. For such order, we paid the amount of more or less P1, 600.00. My brother who is a big-eater was disappointed with the small serving.
UPDATE 2023: I think they increased prices a bit.
Service
As I earlier said, they don’t have a lot of servers. Some customers are turning grumpy because of the long wait for their food. It is also difficult to find someone who is available to answer your questions like the wife password or where is the toilet. You don’t also see the staff smiling because they look tired.
UPDATE 2023: The way the servers attended to us has improved also for the better. Again, this is probably because there were not too many customers at that time. But it is still difficult to call for the waiter when you are staying on the 3rd floor as they are busy in the kitchen in the lower floor.
Rate it!
Ambiance was great and the food was okay. Limited parking spaces.
POTENCINA AVENUE, their annex cafe!
Sometime in February 2021, the staff told us that we can also visit their other café which is the Potenciana Avenue. It is located near Arca’s Yard. It is less than 50 meters away. It is with the same architectural design but more romanticized. It is more of an erotic gallery than a café because it has a lot of artworks and furniture. This is also a place where artists exhibit their work and lovebirds hold their pre-wedding pictorials.
They serve the same menu for Arca’s yard and Potenciana Avenue. Only that, the latter serves more desserts.
As of this writing (July 2021), I am not sure if Potenciana Avenue is open considering the pandemic.
DISCLAIMER: I was not paid for this review. All words as well as the images are my own. I am not an experienced food critic but everything here is just my opinion. My experience may vary from yours. My taste may not be the same like yours. And we should both respect that. Have a happy eating!
The Backpacking Lawyer is a practicing lawyer and a nurse by profession in the Philippines. While she enjoys her day job, she loves traveling and sharing her adventures and misadventures with you.
