Pinoy Comfort Food on a Rainy Day in Tagaytay

During a Saturday family trip to Tagaytay, we dropped by Taal Vista Hotel for lunch, since we were looking for good Pinoy comfort food on a cool, rainy day. 

The menu had very little Pinoy food selections, not like the other "taal view side" restaurants along the highway which served everything from bulalo to sisig to tawilis. Taal Vista had around seven or eight choices only.

Since we were hungry, we just decided on the usual stuff (we almost ordered the Crispy Pata, but we didn't want anything that would increase blood pressure). We waited quite a while for the food to come, calling the attention of the waiters twice. It was a good thing I enjoyed watching the performance group who were performing different ethnic dances during lunch time.

We ordered soup because it was on a cold, wet day. The Bulalo was your usual clear broth with mixed green vegetables, beef and corn. Overall, it wasn't bad - the meat could have been a little more tender, the soup a little less peppery, and probably they should have added more beef. If we had gone to a restaurant like Leslie's, for example, the serving size would have been bigger, and everyone would have a big chunk on their plates.

I would say, the Kare Kare was my favorite dish on the table. Great balance of peanut sauce, beef and mixed leafy vegetables. The bagoong (shrimp paste) was really good too, a perfect accompaniment. I would order this again on my next trip to Taal Vista.

The sizzling bangus (milk fish) was a bit of a surprise. I liked how they used gravy on the fish, which was rather unusual - but it worked. I'm not a big fan of bangus because of its earthy taste, but this one was good.

The highlight of my meal was also the ender of the meal. The strawberry sauce topped New York cheesecake was yummy. A good size too, that everyone had a chance to slice into it. The photo says it all. Don't you just wanna put your fork into the screen?

Overall score of the meal? About 6.5/10. A good meal, but I wouldn't travel all the way to Tagaytay just to have it. Just your basic, ordinary good Pinoy food that became extra good because we were really hungry. I hope they improve their speed of service, though.