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.

Milky Way

We entered Milky Way and my girls blurted : "mom, inuman yata ito !" (looks like a beer joint). I said no. It used to be famous for good food when I was younger. You mean, you were already eating here in the 50's? Excuse meeeh! I wasn't even born then yet !






But when I checked the menu, no recall of good food . Had I really eaten in Milky Way in my younger years?




The girls cut me and ordered easy : barbecues. J wanted a plate of sisig and some veggies for me- lumpiang ubod.

J liked the sisig

bbqs - too salty for the girls, they didn't finish them

lumpiang ubod was okey for me

lame dinner scene in this side of Las Pinas

It had been a long day for us. Maybe next time, we'll come back to try their specialties. Just so I could recall my past with Milky Way.

The Sisig Queen

A trip to Angeles City wouldn't be complete without a taste of sisig from Aling Lucing, the sisig queen. Credited for the fame of the dish from Angeles, the late Lucia Cunanan had passed the legacy on to her sprouts.






Although still far from sophistication, the place has its own charm of a provincial eatery. Just like other popular restaurants which are known for their unique specialties around the country , Aling Lucing place has also showcased wall of fame or photos of the owner with famous people who had visited the resto in one time or another.


Anthony Bourdain - this wowed me as I used to follow his shows over a cable channel when I was hooked on cooking and thought watching culinary shows would turn me as one of them_ the pros. hehe, so ambitious and dreamy of me then.

I couldn't name his show that I was following then but it was the one where he went around the globe to taste exotic food from different countries.

I wonder if Mr. Bourdain featured Aling Lucy's sisig over that show.

The fact that he has a status of an international famous celebrity chef and a culinary author and had graced the humble place is surely something to be proud of , isn't it?




























Well, here you could spot more of our local celebrities. There's Joey de Leon for one. You name the rest, will you?























Here's one with our local actress and former beauty queen_ Charlene Gonzales Mulach.In the foreground is a camera staff, I would guess, a tv show had featured the place.


There's alot more celebrity photos in the wall of the place, but our sisig was now served on our table. Time to dig in.




Served as usual in a sizzling plate, sisig of Aling Lucing looked no different from the sisig available around the country. A concoction of boiled and chopped pig ears and cheeks seasoned with vinegar, calamansi juice, chopped onions and chicken liver.




But a spoon of it made me taste the difference. It was more meaty and the abundance of onion made it sweeter than the other versions around the country. This was sure tasted better than the rest !

Worth the side trip!