A calm afternoon in Gaia Cafe & Crafts

It was past noon when we left Kenlibed Inn, our accommodation in Sagada to dine in a highly-recommended cafe. There was a power outage that day and it was expected to last until late afternoon. It was a 20-minute walk from the inn, and if you've been to Sagada, you'd know by now that you have to walk to get around town, unless you rent a motorbike or have your own car. We passed by houses, some inns, local stores, souvenir shops, vegetation, and tall trees while walking on the roadside, before finally reaching Gaia Cafe and Crafts, which was easy to spot.

There was a signage upfront about a 50 Php entrance fee for people who just want to take photos in the cafe, because hey, the cafe is situated with a great view of mountains and rice terraces. I noticed similar signage in some restaurants in town with a nice view. My husband and I were greeted with almost empty tables and chairs. There were only three people dining at that time, since it was a weekday and only past noon, I guess. Good for us, because we usually do not prefer crowded places. We were quite hungry and were hoping that the food would be good.

Imagine, if it was the weekend 

Crafts and souvenir items for sale

Quite a view

We moved from table to table trying to find a good spot. We checked their menu, and yes, they serve vegetarian dishes. They only have one meal with meat, which I ended up ordering. I ordered the spring roll meal while my husband ordered crispy tofu steak meal and a bottle of Sagada craft beer. Also, we ordered their Gaia camote fries and a cup of hot chocolate because I was craving for something sweet, and sadly, they do not have dessert options.

Cafe menu

Our orders came a few minutes later and we enjoyed it. Maybe we're just really hungry but I really loved the fresh salad and the simple dressing. The tofu steak was firm and perfect with cashew sauce. The coffee stout, which my husband tried, was also good, he said. We ate the rest of what we ordered for merienda.

Spring rolls with brown rice and salad

Crispy tofu steak with brown rice and salad

Gaia camote fries and hot chocolate

Sagada craft beer (coffee stout)

There were three bookshelves placed separately in the cafe with some interesting books and magazines. If you have a lot of time to spare, their collection was good enough. I checked some of the books and found something to read, like this one:

A photo compilation of The Beatles touring around the world

We stayed in the cafe for two hours and maybe more, and we were the only customers when the others left. We took some photos here and there, and relaxed for quite a bit. I imagine my husband enjoying a short nap there, only if there was a lounge chair. We had quite a nice time and loved that we almost had the whole place to ourselves. We left with a satisfied appetite, ready for the sunset viewing late that afternoon.

A scenic view behind

Viewing deck right before the cafe's entrance

Gaia Cafe and Crafts was on the top of our list of restaurants we tried in Sagada. We'll be glad to visit it again when our wandering feet take us back to Sagada.