Week 42: Saturday Lunch at Tagaytay

It looked like it was going to rain, we were headed to Tagaytay after work. Due to the gloomy weather, we were expecting it to be really cold in Tagaytay. From work, we headed off to Tagaytay, but since it was the last day of campaigning for the Baranggay Elections, almost all the roads were affected. So after traveling longer than usual, we arrived in Tagaytay nearly lunch time, and it was hotter than we expected. We ate lunch at Kubo Kubo Ihaw Ihaw along Aguinaldo Highway going to Batanggas.

During weekends, you could choose from ordering from their menu or choosing some of the precooked meals in their counter ("turo turo" style) and they have many variants to choose from. Today, we ordered from the menu; Calamares, Kinilaw na Tanique (raw fish soaked in vinegar), Sisig among others, and since we were in Tagaytay, Bulalo (bone marrow soup).

The order came and they served rice in a banana leaf, and that would be where you would eat. I love the smell of rice wrapped in banana leaf, or cooked with pandan leaves because they make the rice smell good. You could either sit at the main building or at the kubo (nipa huts) in the garden. Since the kubo was in the garden, it was hard to avoid mosquitoes, but I don't really remember, if the last time we ate there, there were lots of mosquitoes. I would suggest considering plantings some tree that repel mosquitoes like citronella.

If I am to review the place, I would give them an 8 for food taste and presentation. Some tasted good and others could taste much better. The Bulalo, which I really don't eat except sip the soup, was a bit salty in taste and seemed to have too much umami (monosodium glutamate). But I enjoyed the Kinilaw and the Calamares. If you are at Tagaytay, and you want to taste Filipino dishes, maybe you could try eating here since most of the food they serve is Filipino style. The service was so so, it wasn't bad and the waiter assigned to you is attentive, but serving the food took a while, so that would be a 9. Price is reasonable, we were 13 and the price was around 4000 which was not that bad, so in terms of value of the food, I'd give it a 9.

After lunch, we headed to Bag of Beans to buy a whole blueberry cheesecake.