Tagaytay Restaurants

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I have been seeing this restaurants during road trips to Tagaytay and Batangas, but I thought it was "just a museum", without food or drink, until I saw it on Travel Time's episode:LOOKING BEYOND THE RIDGE, which was aired a year before my brother crossed over (May 21, 2011).

Read this article written by Ricky Lo called "Pamana: A Restaurant with a family history"to learn more about the restaurant.





I love the feeling I had when I first entered the place. It had a mini store filled with different goodies, including stuff that Ms. Happy Ongpauco concocted.

Pamana means inheritance or legacy and going around the place you would feel and see that the heirs are taking care of the name they inherited from their ancestors.

When you are there, it is like you are entering their home and you feel welcome there.

There are lots of pictures of the matriachs and patriachs plus their descendants.

The building looks a bit intimidating, but that's not the message they send once you are in.

The service is great too.

Favorite Dish:

SINUGLAW This is like a sour surf and turf dish. It's a dish made of chopped, mixed pieces of grilled (sinugba=Cebuano for grilled) meat and ceviche (kinilaw is the Cebuano term) Sinug-law

ALIGUE RICE made of salted fat...yes, fat...of a crab, rice and other ingredients. It's very, very yummy!

KARE-KARE! I love Kare-kare and if your Kare-kare is "honored" by my taste buds, then you'll be an unforgettable and highly recommended restaurant.

FILIPINO BANANA SPLIT (not sure if this is the exact combination because we shared it, but there was ube or purple yam/taro, chocnut, and mantecado---some kind of buttery Vanilla flavor with anise or nutmeg...or was it mango or cheese? Oh well, we all enjoyed it)

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Slowly, this global quality local pizza, is conquering the whole country, and little by little, the world.

I love this particular branch that is shared with "her brother", ARMY NAVY (Burritos, burgers, etc.), because of the awesome view of Taal Volcano.

It's practically self-service, but the staff still serve us very well, most especially when my dear autistic-savant brother, RJ, was still alive.

You have a choice whether to dine in or al fresco, but of course, if the weather is great, the perfect choice is al fresco.

Favorite Dish:

Among their wonderfully made pizzas, my favorite is the DEAR DARLA. (click it so that you would learn how to eat it) and it's perfect with SOLA Raspberry tea.

Their ice creams are good too!

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Not everybody enjoys their Leslie's Tagaytay experience, although most of us do. The place is seldom empty, so maybe, just maybe, some of the diners feel that they are not served well. I, more often than not, give at least one more chance before I decide to be loyal or never ever to return again, not unless something "monumental" happens.

We are very fortunate to have wonderful experiences in Leslie's. The food tastes just right and we are served with smiles on their faces.

True, there were minor mishaps, but could be overlooked.

If you love to observe other diners, you will see that they are happy talking about life, love, and whatever else under the sun, while they are enjoying their food.

We loved the old look of Leslie's, but a little before Easter, they huts overlooking Taal Volcano, were given make-overs.

Families usually love to stay in the huts, especially those with little children, so that they can freely play while they dine as they are looking after them(May I suggest that at least one grownup should look after them?)




Hours

M, T, W, Th, F, Sa, Su: 6:00am - 12:00mn

Cash and major credit cards are accepted

Favorite Dish:
Bulalo This hot soup is one of the best loved in the country, especially those who love beef. Some of the best Boo-lah-loh soups are found in the Tagaytay area and thankfully, Leslie's in one of them. If you are adventurous enough, the marrow that is tapped out of the bone is very, very delcious with hot rice.

Ingredients

1 kilo Beef shank with bone marrow intact
water
1 big Onion, sliced
3 stalks leeks, sliced
1 package dried banana blossoms
2 pieces sliced tofu/beancurd
Optional Fish Sauce to taste
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions

1. Place Beef shank in water to cover and bring to a boil. Boil for 10 minutes then remove shank and discard water.

2. Boil the shank again in 8 cups water until the stock is flavored and [the water] reduced to half the amount.

3. Add the onions, leeks and banana blossoms.

4. Season to taste with sauce and pepper, then add the beancurd.

5. Serve hot.

(From Wiki Recipes)

Sweet and Sour Lapu lapu(Garoupa) This is my dad's favorite, since he rarely eats meat and he watches his diet. He requests the kitchen not to make it too salty and without msg...they follow his "orders". The dish served is still very, very delicious.

Kare-kare I just love Kare-Kare...I love the sauce...the most famous kare-kare is made of oxtail or beef.



THE MAP

We ate a t two of the restaurants at Robinson's Mall, located 3 kms west of the rotunda. There are 7 or 8 restaurants there, most have outside seating. meals are from 100- 300 pesos, and if you are lucky you will find a bucket of beer on offer.

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You will see several Colette's Bakeries throughout the town, which has a good selection of cakes and confectionery. don't miss out on the buko pie, a delicious pie made from young coconut, which cost 155 pesos, a bargain.

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Josephine is one of the oldest Filipino Restaurants in the Country. They offer good ole Filipino Cuisine and comfort foods and filipino fusion cuisine. They started in the 1960's in cavite province and branched out to Manila and to Tagaytay City. Their Specialties Include the Filipino Version of the French Bouillabase recently renamed "Mutya Ng Cavite". This is their branch in Tagaytay City.

Opens 11:00 am to 10:00 pm everyday

According to their website:

In 1965, Alfonso Sarayba, Sr., whom family and friends called Ponso, bought 8 hectares of fishpond in the town of Kawit, Cavite. Fishponds were considered especially good sources of income, but Ponso wanted to transform his fishpond into something different. What he had in mind was building a housing subdivision over land he was going to reclaim from it.

Despite numerous obstacles and relatives' thinking him crazy, Ponso was not discouraged. He borrowed money from friends to raise enough capital for his business plan. This was considered a pioneer undertaking then because land reclamation was not the usual practice at the time.

During the construction of the housing subdivision, someone thought of opening an eatery. The fish were plentiful and the workers needed to eat. Ponso opened the restaurant and named it after his wife, Josephine, whom many called Josie.

On December 22, 1966, the first Josephine Restaurant opened to the public. The people came in droves. They were eager to leave the hectic city life in Manila to enjoy the provincial air that boosted their appetite for fresh seafood.

Josie took over the entire business and imparted her culinary skills to her growing number of employees. JOSEPHINE RESTAURANT, The Home of Fresh Seafood became the family's major line of business.

Favorite Dish: My favorites are the "Mutya Ng Cavite Soup" a seafood medley patterned after the french bouillabase soup at 450 pesos an order. The Sizzling Bulalo Steak at 500 pesos an order. The Grilled Liempo at 400 pesos an order and more.

They Also have Buffets:

Breakfast Buffet Weekends:
-P410.00+ per person
-P310.00+ children below 4ft
-P100 discount for no left over
Lunch Buffet
Weekends:
-P495.00+ per person
-P395.00+ children below 4ft
-P100 discount for no left over

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The Grill by Antonio is the third and the cheapest restaurant owned by Sous Chef Antonio Escalante in Tagaytay City. If Antonio's Garden was gourmet european fusion cuisine and Antonio's All Day Breakfast is European Style Breakfast, The Grill is Filipino food, specifically Illongo Cuisine (from Iloilo province) of which he came from. Basically most meals available here are grilled but not all. They have an ecletic selection of assorted filipino dishes and comfort food too.

Favorite Dish: Chicken Inasal (grilled Chicken w/ lemongrass, this is similar to grilled vietnamese chicken that I sometimes wonder if many asian cuisine use lemongrass as seasoning in grilling chicken) thigh cost about 120 pesos (2.40 USD), chicken breast at 100 pesos. Bulalo at 400 pesos, Sizzling Bulalo Steak at 500 pesos. Inihaw na Liempo (grilled pork belly) at 250 pesos. Shrimp Sinigang at 400 pesos an order.

Opens: 10:00 am to 10:00 pm everyday

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We wanted to try "something new", but the place had to have a good view of Taal volcano...somewhere we have not been to before. Before going to a place, we had to have a good feeling, at the very least.

When we got tired of "searching" I decided that we should go to Tootsie's, but dad said, "I don't think they have a good view of Taal..." then we saw the very BIG sign of this restaurant. I wonder why we've missed this because we have been in and out of Tagaytay for more than thirty(30) years. Tsk, tsk.

This place has been featured in Mabuhay Magazine and travel shows, and I couldn't find it. OK. I can blame it on my peripheral vision again, but gees, am I not a RESEARCHER? ;p I did not try hard enough.

Maybe there's really such a thing as "perfect timing". My autistic savant, but non-verbal brother, was in his "no eye contact mode/mood" that day that he looked really pathetic. We wanted to bring him to a place where his spirits would be lifted.

When we arrived we had a good feeling. It was an odd time so there were not many people there. Only a few groups were there, but the place was big that it was seemingly empty. For us, that was good. There was privacy and a good view to boot.



They are Open from 7 in the morning until midnight and they accept Visa and Mastercard

You may also request The Taaleña Restaurant Duo to serenade you with songs of your choice (check my Tagaytay videos) ;)

Favorite Dish: When the food arrived, we were not disappointed. The taste was just right for our very discriminating taste.

Every we tasted was great, including the desserts, but please, don't miss the crunchy tawilis(small fish). It does not look "great", but it tastes oh so good.