Tagaytay Restaurants

Antonio's Restaurant = Excellent food + excellent service + astonishing architecture & art = PERFECTION

It was a beautiful magazine article written about Antonio's that made me so eager to try this restaurant. It had been a long wait; almost a year. Finally, in celebration of our wedding anniversary, my husband and I went to Antonio's for lunch three days ago and got to experience first-hand the most wonderful and incredible things that were described in the magazine article. The food was amazing - it was a fusion of what I would describe as French-Spanish-Filipino-German cuisine, so perfectly meshed that we couldn't help but smile at every bite. The restaurant itself is beautiful - it is like a palatial home adorned with beautiful pieces of artwork and furniture, reminiscent of the Philippines as a Spanish colony from the 1500s to the 1800s. The service was superb. One of the highlights of our day was meeting the man himself, the owner and chef - Antonio Escalante, who approached each table and greeted everyone in the room with so much warmth, as if we were his own friends and family. The chef even gave me and my husband generous servings of his delicious home-made limoncello. It was a nice way to end our meal. I recommend ordering the limoncello; if it's on the menu. It is smooth but quite potent so if it is too strong for your taste, try it with the dalandan juice.

A perfect 10!

Note: make sure to go to the right Antonio's for this experience.  Check out their website: http://www.antoniosrestaurant.ph/ - if you like what you see on their website, you will find it even better in person

Fact: Antonio's is rated as the 5th top restaurant in Asia by Miele Guide, Asia's guide to the region's top restaurants, for 2010/2011

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Antonio's Garden (owned by fine dining chef Antonio Escalante) is a fine-dining restaurant in Barangay Niugan in Tagaytay serving gourmet food. It is in the Top Ten Restuarants in Asia according to the Miele Guide. It is the most high end of antonio's restaurants in tagaytay. the other restos are Antonio's All Day Breakfast and Antonio's Grill.The place is tucked discreetly into Tagaytay's interior, about 2 kilometers from the main road. The landmark is when you see a large radar dome (not the square radars on the left side of the highway!)with a road going through it on the right side, then turn right through it. Antonio's Garden has a big welcome sign at the gate, then go through a dirt road towards a wooden gate that welcomes you through a parking space and lush garden. There are several eating levels - an outdoor garden with a pond full of colorful Koi or a veranda overlooking the Tagaytay landscape. There's a variety of starters, from cream of white onion soup to cream of tomato soup and coffee souffle. Salad with foie-gras (glazed) come with purplish dressing (raspberry vinaigrette).

Antonio's menu includes a wide selection of main courses, which includes seafoods (scallops swimming on creamy sauce or tasty seabass, a house specialty) and steaks. A child's meal includes soup, main course, mashed potato and a scoop of ice cream. For dessert, chocolate souffle is worth checking out.

Favorite Dish: Antonio's Trio - certified Black Angus terderloin medallion with béarnaise sauce, Lyonnaise potato, lamb cutlet with cardamon beurre blanc with gnocci, (The black angus tenderloin was as tender as it gets - well cooked on the outside, pink and juicy on the inside. The lamb was tender and seasoned just right leaving enough of its gamey taste intact). grilled Chillean seabass on truffle creamed mushrooms. That included farm-picked garden salad (like Sonia's Garden), tomato soup, dessert (double chocolate soufflé) and coffee. But my favorite was the US Black Angus 16 ounce Ribeye Steak which is good for 2 persons and served with AU Jus with freshly baked Bread. Price? about 1800 pesos (expensive by philippine standards but this kind of menu would cost about 50 dollars (2,800 pesos) in the states.

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taj of andanita tagaytay offers indian-mediterranean asian fusion food. although i read several good reviews about the food, i was quite apprehensive as i haven't tried indian food before (i think). suprisingly, i was satisfied with the food.

the biryani (rice) is good for 3 to 4 persons, depending on the appetite, but quite big for 2 persons. the rotti chanai was so good, not too sweet and texture's just enough. manasala was also good and had the spice i wanted. their ice cream was creamy, but i tasted some spice in it, which was weird for me. so my husband ate it.

the ambiance was great and the staff were never imposing. their dining tables are big and they do not have just chairs, they have sofas! really meant for diners to relax and not to rush. they also have free wifi access.

the view from one part of the restaurant was also great, but too hot as the sun's directly hitting it (late morning and afternoon). but view's great during sunset.

Favorite Dish: rotti chanai, which goes great with manasala or any of the spicy food in their menu.

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Bag of Beans, a coffee house, is just a few meters past Mendez Crossing and is one of Tagaytay's garden-themed cafés. This cozy place, owned by a couple named Eric (an Englishman) and Chat, sells pies and cookies they themselves bake and are served with locally brewed coffee. It's actually a coffee shop, bakery and a garden restaurant all rolled into one.

The café has become a popular stopover for those on the lookout for an authentic English menu and a place to unwind after a round of binge eating. Its specialty are Home Made British Style Pies that come in different flavors--Shepherd's Pie, Steak Pie, Apple Pie--and are fairly priced (about 50 pesos for the cheapest) Pies can also be ordered on a 24-hour notice.

Also on the menu are Pies 'n' Mash, Bangers and roast beef. A huge helping of Fish and Chips, an authentic British recipe, comes alongside a variety of omelettes and sausages.

Freshly baked bread comes with different flavors--raisins, wheat and white bread--and makes for an alternative "pasalubong" from Tagaytay, instead of the usual buko pie or pineapples.

Bag of Beans' coffee, grown from Amadeo town in Cavite, is a legend. A bottomless cup comes for about P40. Packed coffee beans are ready to be taken home too. This garden café has an element of wildlife thrown in with a pet monkey playfully pulling off tricks while rabbits roam around in an enclosure. Beans also offers a place for those looking for overnight accommodation.

Favorite Dish: Bag of Beans Excelsa (Baraco) Blend which sells for Php184.80 (a bit less US$4) for a 500 gram bag of ground coffee. Baraco coffee, is a type of coffee grown only in the Philippines, particularly in the provinces of Batangas and Cavite. It belongs to the species Coffea Liberica which has more than twice the caffeine content of arabica coffee. Arabica Robusta (combination of Robusta and Arabica Coffees) Blend for Php235.20 (US$5) for a 500 gram bag. Tropical Blend is made from roasted and ground excelsa, robusta and arabica beans. Tropical Brew retails for PhpP120 (a bit less than US$3) for a 500 gram bag.

Steak Pie at 60 Pesos, COFFE ALAMID (coffee harvested from droppings of the Civet Cat or Alamid in Tagalog, also known as Coffee Luwak in Indonesia and Weasel Coffee in Vietnam, this type of coffee is the most expensive int the world! more expensive than arabian sanani, ethiopian sidamo or kona coffee!) at 117.50 pesos a cup (cheaper than in Bo's Coffee which is 240 pesos a cup). Coffee Alamid is Philippine civet coffee that comes only from the sweetest coffee cherries of the Philippine forests. The palm civets that naturally propagate the sugar palm trees are also the same civets that choose and eat these ripe cherries. The beans are then fermented in the digestive system of the civets, then excreted as whole beans. The coffee farmers pick these civet droppings during coffee season.Coffee Alamid when roasted, has sweet, chocolatey aroma that heightens the senses. It is light and naturally sweet. Its fine and smooth taste is perfect for a good morning start. It is a winning formula during high power meetings. Enjoy it black and pure to savor its true taste and aroma.

*note that arabica coffee is smooth domesticated coffee found at starbucks and regular coffee shops, robusta is strong coffee added to instant coffee to add flavor and taste!, liberica is wild coffee thus is exotic.

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Leslie's restaurant is one of the most famous in Tagaytay because of its good food, ambience and fantastic views of the Taal Lake and volcano. The local food here is delicious, with very nice ambience. You can choose to sit either in the main building where nice music is played while you are eating, or at nice small huts and also at a side annex which is protruding out with fantastic views. This restaurant is not to be missed when you are at Tagaytay, but please be careful because it is normally very crowded. I will show you the food at part 2 of this tip.

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Attached are photographs of some of the food which I ate at Leslie's Restaurant. Among them is a dish with buffalo meat and soup (delicious), steamed fish, mixed vegetables etc. Essentially, food in the Philippines are not so spicy as compared to neighbouring countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia. I had an enjoyable meal at Leslie's with my driver and my guide :)

I decided to add a tip in this category about Sonya's Garden as the food is another story. There's no need to waste minutes poring over the menu and wasting a few more deciding what to try. You'll be served an excellent 3-course meal: Fresh salad (I assume the greens are from the garden), a tasty pasta course and a native dessert of sweet bananas.

Don't forget to call for reservations!!!

Favorite Dish: The pasta is to die for!

Favorite Dish: There is a fixed menu with ingredients fresh from the gardens that serenade you with colors and scents. The menu consists of salad (second helpings are given), bread and spreads, pasta with at least 5 choices of sauces, dessert and fresh tarragon tea.

Reservations are a must. And bring a healthy appetite!