On High Land

M and I found ourselves driving off to Tagaytay one weekend for a meeting of his. We were invited to stay for the night at the posh Tagaytay Highlands. It was our first time and we were excited. We drove off early to escape the coding scheme on a Friday, so we found ourselves lounging at Nuvali in the morning.

 For lunch, we went to The Grill by Antonio's to try their Chicken Inasal. But M found other stuff to devour. Give them time to grill your food. :)

Chicken Inasal  P110

It was okay. I like mine a little more garlicky and sweet-ish. It came with some annato oil and some fresh garlic, vinegar and soy sauce. Not the best I've tried, but was satisfied, nonetheless. :)

Grilled Hito P290
It came with a yummy side dish of  Buro. mustasa or mustard leaves and eggplant. Quite good, actually. 

Sisig P320
Chopped pig's ears on a sizzling plate. With chicken liver. Yum.


In the evening, we were invited to have dinner  The Highland's Steakhouse. 

John Wayne's Prime Rib. 
Nope, it didn't delight that night. 

Salad with Liver the name of which I forgot. 
Sinfully good. Just too little greens I think to be considered a salad.  

The dessert of which we all had a taste of from a friend's plate, were scrumptious!!! Yes, the desserts were lovely. Sorry, no pics were taken.

For breakfast, I had some of the waitress's recommended Longganisa. Nope, it disappointed. Sorry.
.

This pond is part of the Clubhouse at the Highlands. Such a pretty spot. This estate has so many beautiful spots, although I think upkeep hasn't been as often judging from some of the structures we've seen. So much more potential for this place.

Until next time, Tagaytay!

A Culinary Vacation

We wanted a vacation so bad, but the budget didn't permit us. So, when we had a little something last month, we planned to go somewhere. Still not enough for a full-blown vacation, and Mark being wary of flying during the rainy season-- we settled for a feast in Tagaytay to nowhere else but-- Antonio's!

We've heard of their great steaks long before. But last month, we saw a great feature on the Philippine Star of Antonio's by Paolo Lorenzana- and we saw this scrumptious photo of one of their dishes. So Mark took me there on the holiday last week, while the new President was taking his oath. :)

The path going there reminded me of Sonya's Garden- a winding, wildflower-strewn little road. I love these flowery paths. A big black wrought iron gate greets as we enter Antonio's. There were quite a number of cars parked that day. We found a spot just beside the gate, and parked right there.

We still had to take a 2 meter hike to the door. The door! Oooh! I love those big wooden doors. Sorry, I forgot to take a picture of it alone. Sigh. I was too excited to think!

As we entered the bungalow, we were met by ancient photos hung on a gallery- showcasing the family's heritage. The place smelled of dew and wooden antiques---heavenly!!! I grew up on those heavy wooden furniture- so their smell brings back memories. We were seated by the Koi pond and the big balcony, where we saw other diners on the lower level. The floor was made of black graphic machuka tiles. Lovely. White walls. High ceilings, garden and black wood. High on class and romance. Nothing too fancy. Just really classy. Clean lines are still the best design.

Wait- I'm supposed to talk about food! Hehe. The maitre d' was a very nice lady who gave us the best seat and treated us perfectly. She gave us several menus, and the husband ordered the dish we came here for-- Roasted Bone Marrow with Parsley Salad and Onion Marmalade . We came prepared-- or so we thought.

The next person who attended to us, was the waiter in charge of our table. He had to explain to us that they served the entree in sets. And we thought we could order ala carte- to his (and ours too ) seeming consternation! Obviously, we didn't look like the ones on the other table, since Mark didn't really inform me we were going that particular day (We wore plain shirts and jeans, and yes, it was another one of his surprises.).

Anyways, we continued to order and were really excited for the appetizer. And because we ordered the set meals, we got this on our table first-

Parmesan roll.

I forgot the exact name of the bread. I know there was Parmesan on it so I will christen it- the Parmesan roll! This is the first bread that the husband liked. He says - "all bread are the same". I protest, of course. This time- I won. :)

And then came the much awaited appetizer---

Roasted Bone Marrow with Parley Salad and Onion Marmalade

And this is the way to eat it.

Verdict: Husband liked it, I was disappointed. I expected more from this dish. I expected the bone marrows to be in their plain, salty, creamy essence. What dominated in this dish were the capers on top. Lots of capers. And the menu says parsley salad. No mention whatsoever of capers. I like capers, but in small quantities, and not to overwhelm that special thing called- bone marrow. The dish was accompanied by toasted and dry slices of baguette, and a serving of the onion marmalade. The onion marmalade was quite nice.

I wiped the remaining fat off the marrow with the remaining Parmesan roll.

It tasted much better.

Next up, was the House Salad-

This is described as -

Fresh Mesclun Salad from the Garden, Bleu d'Auvergne Crumble,

Glazed Walnuts, Dried Cranberries with Raspberry Vinaigrette.

I loved the walnuts. Mark loved the blue cheese.

Like the House Salad at Sonya's Garden, this salad also had a lot of bitter varieties. I don't know if these are much healthier than the milder ones, but they had a lot of it. A little off-putting, really. I liked the Walnuts though, and the Cranberries and Raspberry Vinaigrette. Husband likes the cheese. It was a very strong cheese, almost goat-like in taste. But when I googled the Bleu d'Auvergene, they say it comes from cow's milk.

Tomato and Capsicum Soup

Very strong and pimiento-ey, with a pleasant milk froth on top.

This is one of those times when I am thankful we don't like the same things.

I gave him my share. Everyone's happy. :D

While waiting for the entree, I spied this lovely lamp. I want one.

This is Mark's pick-

Barbecue Lamb Cutlets with Garlic Risoni.

And because he's married to me, I got to sample this dish too! Hehe.

It's so good! The cutlets were cooked just right. Juicy and almost well done.

The Garlic Risoni surprised me. I thought it was rice at first since I wasn't able to read about it on the menu, but this was actually rice shaped pasta! So cute. It was smothered in a light but creamy sauce.

Good one, babe!

I had this-

Grilled Chilean Sea Bass on Truffle Mashed Potato

I also liked this! It was a very tender, fat and creamy sea bass,

plus the potatoes had bacon bits.

Yum! Happy.

All the heartache I felt over the appetizer and the soup almost vanished at this time. The main dishes were really good! And when when they reminded us of the dessert, I was all giddy! Great. We had some tarragon tea while waiting. The tea was too strong though. It could have been steeped too long.

There were like 5 dessert choices. And here are the winners--

Dulce de Leche Cheesecake

Mark is happy with this.

The dense cheesecake is covered in thick and smooth caramel which oozed with every spoonful.

Decadent!

Assorted Berries with Creamed Chantilly

I had this because I'm such a sucker for berries. I am so happy that this had blueberries, strawberries and one special raspberry tucked in the middle of the sponge cake and whipped cream.

This is really much like a berry trifle. Lip-smacking.

Thanks you Lord for this visit, it was a lovely trip and, we hope to be back to try that suckling pig. :)

Someday again. :)

Have a blessed day, everyone!

On a Clear Day

Right after the storm whipped the Metro, M and I together with his friend Raymund, drove up to the mountains to visit the lovely Taal Lake in where else, but- Tagaytay! It was Raymund's first time to go, and it was a pleasure to bring him there. And like the rest of the people who were also there, we knew we had scored a jackpot- "to be at the right place, at the right time."

The skies were clear, the birds were hovering above, and the lake was spectacular. Of course my trusty ol' point-and-shoot wasn't able to capture it's magnificence at that time. But my baby and I tried hard. Yes, we did :)

Wonderful.

We stayed at Carlo's Pizza for a snack and for the view. We weren't quite expecting the pizza to be good, but it was! At least, at that time, it was. So I would really recommend this place if you want to get a good view of the lake. And since we were up there already, I asked M to bring us to Sonya's Garden. Raymund- for the sights, and me-- for the yummy Cheese Hopia :)

CHEESE HOPIA

I loooove their Cheese Hopia. At P70 a pack (forgot to count how many, sorry!), it is a good deal. Although I am very sad to say, I tasted more cheddar this time than the previous Parmesan. :(

The surprise on this particular trip were the scones! We scored some scones at the same price for a pack.

SCONES

These were flaky, buttery, almond-y, with a hint of spice, and crusted with sugar.

HEART.HEART. LOVE. LOVE :)

Coffee at the Bag of Beans

After a lot of picture-taking at Sonya's Garden, we hied off to the just-as-popular Bag of Beans. Catchy name for a place, huh? I've also heard so much about their coffee and pies. This place is also located at the Buck Estate, and just along the highway. It is so much more accessible.

The bakeshop is just along the highway and features a lot of breads, cinnamon rolls, and a quaintly named Dundee Cake, which really looks more like a fruitcake. I settled for the Steak & Mushroom Pie (P105) for take-out.

The Coffee Shop is located a few feet below the highway ...meaning, we had to climb down a paved stairway. It rained that afternoon, so we didn't get to experience having the coffee in the garden. There were bird cages all around, and a Parrot that squawks every time someone enters the dining area.

The dining area also had an all-white theme, with some old Filipino wood trimmings. I liked it , although the place lackked soothing music. The deafening silence was broken by a few humming of next-table conversations. Going back to the decor, this place was much more masculine looking than Sonya's and was devoid of a lot of frilly stuff. Three pieces of fresh, yellow Chrysanthemums adorned our white linen topped table.

Mark ordered the House Blend Coffee (P95), Eric and Jessica both had cups of White Mocha ( P85), while I had my English Breakfast Tea (P60). For our sweet tooth, we shared a slice of their Blueberry Topped Cheesecake at (P125).

The Cheesecake was sweet, and complemented the coffee well. It was a bit sugary and soft for me, but it was a yummy cake still, with two layers of crust and cream cheese. The blueberry toppings were seemingly homemade :)

House Blend

My English Breakfast Tea coming to be...

White Mocha

Blueberry Topped Cheesecake

"All is fair in love and war..."... Hehe


And this, is not going to be our last! Until next time, highlands!

A Double Date at Sonya's Garden

It was a double date up to Tagaytay together with Eric and his girlfriend, Jessica. It was Mark and I's first time to go to Sonya's Garden, and we were so excited. I had read so much about this mysterious woman's heavenly garden and last Saturday, I finally got to see it for myself.

It was almost a two hour ride to her place. It was a weekend, but it seemed that a lot of people decided to go up to the mountains too! Save for the traffic and some repairs at the SLEX, it was a a smooth ride.

Oh, but as soon as we stepped in.. we were in love! The dining area had an ethereal feel all over, with white, embroidered linens covering the tables, white draperies all over the ceiling, fresh flowers and greens all over the place! There was a garden on one side of the dining area, and a "rain" wall. Everything was meticulously crafted to produce the whole ethereal effect!

It was a good thing that Eric had reserved a table for us because, the place was packed! At P610 per head, we had the following yummies ( please forgive the pictures)...

I love the embroideries, and the heavenly dalandan juice!

Greens and the mix-ins- melons, pineapples,
board nuts, mangoes, eggs, parmesan cheese

oh, and turnips too!

Pineapple

Chopped Eggs

The really fresh lettuce, with edible rose petals

I love their Sesame Bread!

The spreads: Pesto, Liver Spread, Tuna and Kesong Puti ( I think),
Feta Cheese and Sundried Tomatoes

The bread was good in itself, but with the spreads, it became extra special. I love the Pesto and Feta Cheese spreads :)

The Pasta, Two Kinds of Sauces, and your choice of mix-ins

White Sauce, Red Sauce

Mushrooms

Ratatouille

Deep Fried Salmon

It was a very heavy meal, the greens were lovely, but the pasta was really heavy! The pasta sauces were not that impressive. I love their mushroom and ratatouille though. :)

And for that, we were so thankful for the tarragon tea which was served after the pasta meal. It was a cup of hot water, infused with the tarragon leave's essence.

Tarragon Tea

For dessert, they served us the following:

Deep, Dark Chocolate Cake

Banana rolls with Nangka ( or the local Turon)

Sweetened Camotes

The chocolate cake was not sweet at all! It was dense but not cloyingly sweet. The sweet part burst into the native desserts. I love their turon, and the candied sweet potatoes (sweetened camotes). I was so full, but I simply had to get a second serving of the turon! I must say... the native desserts overshadowed the chocolate cake!:)

There were a lot of food served. And guess what, everything was eat-all-you can! In fact, we can always have a round two, of any part of the meal, if anybody wanted to...so cool!

But more than that.. the experience of Sonya's Garden is not to be missed. It was a lovely, romantic interlude to the busy metro life!