Unnamed Bulalo House

We came from a beach in Nasugbu, Batangas and on the way home we passed by Tagaytay almost lunch time. I missed the name of this particular food establishment and couldn't remember to have seen any signage infront of it. If you are frequenting Batangas-Tagaytay route to Manila (vise-versa), I'm sure you've seen this nipa hut restaurant on the ridge, always full with people slurping hot bulalo. Tagaytay is one of the most frequented weekend destinations we visit and almost been around in every establishment there, except this one. So when someone in the car mentioned bulalo, I took it as a sign to eat there.

There were table cottages positioned to enjoy full view of Taal Volcano with corresponding consumable amount. Depends on the location, like in one cottage-  minimum food order amount would be  P1.5k, the other one with better view was like P3k and up.



We didn't take any of the special cottages. We had seen Taal Volcano 14,984 times already, haha. Anyway, we only wanted to try their version of bulalo here, always_ in search of the better one. So we took one of the tables in the main/common dining hall with no minimum consumable amount. You just pay whatever amount you consume.



Well, their bulalo was good but nothing spectacular to mention it above others.  I actually thought_ over this I would still prefer Leslee's , only few minutes drive from this place.
 For my foreign friends - bulalo is a favorite Filipino hot soup made of beef shank/ bone marrow. Tagaytay is one of the best places to eat this hot dish cos of the cool weather and known to serve a better quality of beef cos of its proximity to the province of Batangas where the cows are best raised.

On  the other plate, I actually loved their sisig and would only be the only reason to come back here.



In the end, we did have filled stomachs to continue rocking the roads on the way home.

Sack Lunch on the Road

 Just like most mothers in the world, I guess it is that I was once a girl scout that makes me naturally prepared for the random needs of my patrol  family . For instance, I would  prepare a sack  lunch whenever we go on a road trip. No matter how early we have to leave home, I would make time to rise earlier to home cook and pack.

Regular/familiar destinations are easy to roll us on the way garden/forest parks as lunch locations, free of charges.

This way I could assure safety for my family against questionable hygiene of the food available from the road. Also  we are able to stop fastfood chains to travel with us since we usually have too much of them in the city. and the most important thing_ I'm able to watch my budget! 

What?. . on the table?

errmh. . . 

v

:

v

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KFC bucket meal.. ??? well, I never said : I'm  perfectly a girl scout mother. I said I would try. . meaning sometimes I succeed and wella most of the time I fail, haha.

One thing is sure thu', MoiMoi doesn't mind at all if the lunch is store-bought or home cooked, haha.

YakiMix

Too much of YakiMix. I had it 3 in a row this week. Mad food trip! Now showing. . off to my friggin' piggy cheeks.



*waiting for the queue to be manageable. @Yakimix MOA
Not planned ofcourse. It just happened that different set of friends were coming by and all they wanted was YakiMix!!! wt#!!

Can't blame them. YakiMix is fun. .but not for daily consumption!!



The other night was the most recent. It was with my bfs since birth - Maricor and  Lulu (NY based, on  her annual visit ).  Hence it was my 3rd this week , I wasn't so stirred anymore.

 Therefore, I had time to play with my friend's point 'n shoot  (dlsr left at home, #_#). You can also check how lame my plate was  :

1 single oyster shell, leaves, makis. . all stayed forever in my first plate. oopss, yeeps, didn't have another plate after this.

Lou hauling for pinoy dish?? I thought there was only one there- lechon kawali. Everything was Asian fusion, I guess.



She did however enjoyed the grilled seafoods and look at her shameless first plate, haha!!!

. .and she went back & forth to the buffet spread, haha. Have I mentioned already that this lady is one hell of an excellent cook? She is! She knows food so well.

 to grill plate.



on the table grill - yakitoris, shrimps,bacon wraps.



cooked.

desserts. lots of them. cakes, icecream scooping station, pastries,fresh fruits. .



to which I could never ever say no. No matter how full or frequent I've been. yes.yes.yes.



By now Lou is on her trip back to New York. See you soonest Lou. mwah!

Isdaan, Tarlac

Apart from being one of the most scenic floating restaurants I've seen in the country, with all those huge monkeys mixed with giant Buddhas ( see here ) standing all over the place, Isdaan in Tarlac serves very tasty originally concocted Filipino dishes.

Although everything in the menu was all Filipino and dishes that were well known to us, still it got a lot to choose from and my husband who got no patience when hungry, had no time to read and discuss. The waiter who sent us to our cabana styled-table had disappeared and no staff was around to give us suggestion. The place was mad huge ! You have to walk a mile ( ok that's quite an exaggeration, but it sure was far from our table ) to get to the reception if you need a server. We actually looked for a button to push or something that might buzz to get a server, but there was none.

I saw our neighbor being serenaded by a string band. I knew were were next.

So right I was. They sang, nice yes, but we were too hungry to appreciate. We tipped them and ask for a server. Sorry guys, we came from Baguio and had yet to go on the road for the next 4 hours? back to Manila.



The girls eat no more than kare-kare. If you brought them to a Filipino resto , they are easy_ beef karekare ( beef stew in peanut sauce), always. While waiting for the food, the girls enjoyed feeding the kois in the pond.

There was al fresco cooking going on in the bamboo bridges. No, the man on a red bull cap is not the cook, it's the dad. The one beside him is the cook,haha.



Kare-kare arrived and the girls was happy.



But the tiny pot of rice was funny. The waiter said, it was good for four, enough for us. Hello, our hunger was severe! What dya think? haha, we had to order for another pot.

The liempo came wrapped in fresh banana leaves.

and when we unwrapped it_ the aroma was captivating. . I took a bite and it was so tasty and soft and simply delicious. I bet marinated well and unlike other liempo ( yes husband never missed to order a plate of this dish ) from other resto, I did like this one.



We only had those two dishes and rice and we were quite satisfied.

Filipino Buffet @ Cafe Asiana

We came from a two hours swim in the club's pool and was really hungry when we came back at Cafe Asiana ( inside the Palms Country Club in Alabang.) for a late lunch buffet at around 2 pm. We made our reservation for a table near the buffet table when we had our breakfast of the day, see here.

I realized making a reservation was not necessary_ it was already hours past the height of lunch and the resto was already almost empty except for a table or two and us.



The buffet featured Filipino cuisine that day, I guess it was because the country was celebrating Independence Day in the month of June. The buffet spread was too many to mention each and neither my tummy was accommodating to try each.



Unlike my teen daughter whose habit is to taste each and every bit there is,haha.



I made sure thu' to taste those that were new to my buds. Like this sinigang na lechon ( suckling pig in tamarind broth). It was good. The soup complimented the crunchy lechon. It was like having your soup over your plain rice then biting a crunchy side dish. I think, the lechon is being added only when the dish is about to be served, cos it stayed crunchy and didn't appear to absorb the liquid. Luv it! I made a mental note to try it at home for my family.

This was one of my plates. I also loved their arroz de valenciana . Not so Filipino thu'. Yet it's a popular adapted rice dish from Spanish cuisine. I enjoyed their version cos they didn't use sticky rice which I'm actually not so fond of. Another dish in my plate was beef calderita. Another borrowed Filipinized beef dish which I always like however it 's being concocted. I make a tasty version too_ at home.

Another part of the buffet was a spread of raw dishes like salads and local kinilaw or ceviche ( veggies and meats cooked raw in vinegar or in citrus). I have had to try some of them. The best was the tuna kinilaw.

The dessert spread had also huge selection, with pastries, local delicacies but I went for fresh cuts of local fruits in season .



and ofcourse it was hard to say no to a local brand ice cream scooping station where we all indulge, see here.

I was happy to see that my friend was all smiling during the meal.. .



. . cos, after all I meant to make her happy cos it was her birthday and this was my treat to her. Happy bday Neth!!!