A HIDDEN GEM IN TAGAYTAY: TAG 4120

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SUMMIT RIDGE TAGAYTAY'S BULALO LANDS ON THE TOP 3 IN FOOD AND WINE FESTIVAL!

The well-loved Bulalo dish from Tagatay  took center stage in the recently concluded  Food and Wine Festival  organized by  the Department of Tourism-City of Tagaytay and  the Tagaytay  Tourism Council where Summit Ridge Tagaytay emerged as 3^rd  Placer in the Creative Bulalo  Challenge and the People’s Choice Awards.  

At the helm of this culinary team  is SRT’s Executive Chef Ernie Baculio who led the team during a 15 minute live cooking demo.  The team bested 15 other entries.  

Chef Ernie,  together with his team mates  Chef Angelo Joseph Garica and Chef Arcy Banez was able to concoct  a secret recipe that rendered the winning entry as most appetizing endearing to the panel of judges.  “The taste is in  the marinate of garlic,  aioli and onion of the bone marrow-a the base ingredient for Bulalo,” says Chef Ernie.   The result -is an explosion of  all the flavors that one will expect from Tagaytay’s most popular and signature dish.   

The winning dish will be available in the Café Summit Tagaytay Menu.  

PAMANA RESTAURANT, REVISITED

        As I was looking back on our first visit to Pamana, I just couldn't believe seeing how small Rain was the last time we wrote about Pamana! Four years has passed since then, yet Pamana is still known as one of the most loved family places to dine in when you're in Tagaytay. We were reminded of how good the food was when we went there a few weeks ago. After our lovely overnight stay in The Boutique Bed and Breakfast, everyone was looking forward to having lunch there before heading back down to reality.

ALOHA, FROM THE ORIGINAL HAWAIIAN BBQ IN TAGAYTAY!

           Like I mentioned in my previous post about The Boutique Bed and Breakfast, Tagaytay is a favorite "Out of Town" spot for barkadas and families. It's far enough so that you're away from the pollution of the metro, but not too far that it becomes an exhausting drive just to get there. 

      Now, lets say you do go to Tagaytay for a quick vacation.. Where would you eat? I have a few suggestions that I'd like to share with you, these coming weeks, but the first place that comes to mind is this awesome place located within The Boutique Bed and Breakfast.. The Original Hawaiian BBQ!

TAZA AT TAAL VISTA HOTEL: FRESHNESS PERSONIFIED

            Taal Vista Hotel will always have a special place in my heart, because it was the very first place wherein I ever had a Staycation at as a blogger. After one stay there, I realized how much I wanted to delve into travel as well, which opened up a floodgate of invites for me as a blogger.

         Although my very first stay there was on my own dime, it was rather gracious of Taal's marketing team to invite me back a couple of weeks afterwards, simply because they felt they weren't able to "entertain" Rina and I because there was an on-going event during my stay. I pleaded with them that it was totally unnecessary, but they simply would not have it. 

      That trip became very memorable for me because I got to meet some amazing people, namely Nikki Tiu of Ask Me Whats, Grace Go of A View From The Leftie, Jo Tan of  JoTan23, and none other than Anton Diaz of Our Awesome Planet. 

    I've been back numerous times since then, with each trip seemingly more fun than the next. Earlier this year, Taal Vista Hotel added yet another reason to visit Tagaytay, when it opened it's new Farm to Table Concept restaurant, Taza: The Fresh Table. 

THE HIGH LIFE AT TAGAYTAY HIGHLANDS: THE HIGHLANDER STEAKHOUSE

     I recently got a hard drive working that was previously believed to be dead. I managed to transfer many file folders containing pictures that I could before it conked out on me again. Those folders contained pictures that I was to use for future blog posts. 

     One of those posts was our family trip to Tagaytay Highlands, and the famous Highlander Steakhouse.  

TAAL VISTA HOTEL'S 75TH! A YEAR-LONG CELEBRATION! - RinaZ

Seventy Five years.... Wow.

        It's so amazing how Taal Vista Hotel has been around for this long. It was 75 years ago when Taal Vista Lodge was the leading attraction when the late President Manuel L. Quezon expressed his interest in making Tagaytay a tourist destination. My father wasn't even born yet at that time. And up until now, Taal Vista is still up and running! Amazing! And the ambiance and the scenery is still as breathtaking as ever!

        We have had the privileged to experience staying for a few nights here in Taal Vista with my family and we always have a great time. It's really a nice change of scenery from all the city noise. And seeing the Taal Volcano sitting pretty in the middle of Taal Lake is really something else. And of course, the cool weather!

        So in lieu of celebrating their 75th Anniversary, Taal Vista has cooked up some huge surprises for everyone, and fortunately, a huge chunk of it is food-related. HIGH FIVE!!!

PAMANA: FAMILY TIME AT TAGAYTAY

      I'm sure everyone has heard horror stories about having terrible in laws.. Well, I'm very blessed because mine are awesome. As you may have noticed, my sister in law Chaikka and her boyfriend Don, appear a lot in my blog because we love spending time with them. And ever since she and my dad in law moved into our village, we make it a point that Rain visits him as much as she can. Rina's dad is really cool, and has the most infectious laugh. We get along great because he's really easy to talk to and you feel you can tell him anything. 

     The very second Rina's dad found out the doctor gave Baby Rain the Go Signal to take Rain on out of town trips, he immediately scheduled a day for him to take all of us to Tagaytay. He wasn't going to miss the chance to be the one to take Rain on her first out of town excursion! 

      Basically, "Daddy Cool" as he wants Baby Rain to call him when she grows up (I told you he was pretty awesome), just wanted something simple.. Find a place to hang and enjoy the view of Taal Volcano, and afterwards, have a great meal. Naturally all of them looked at me for the best place to eat, so I had to do a little research, with Tagaytay being an unfamiliar area to me. I asked Rina's dad if he had a certain cuisine in mind, and he said, "Anywhere... just as long as there's Bulalo!".

     Bulalo. Of course. A Tagaytay staple. 

      So I was thinking, when you're in Tagaytay, and you're looking for a unique dining experience with your family, where should you go? 

      "Pamana" became the obvious answer.