Tagaytap trip 2: Looking for the best bulalo in Tagaytay?
November 19, 2009 • Hello. I am currently out of the country and unable to respond to comments and e-mails. Rest assured, however, that future posts have been scheduled so new recipes will go live almost everyday during my absence. I'll be back soon with lots of stories and photos. Ciao for now! ~ ConnieThe first part of the Tagaytay food trip series was posted last year so this second installment is really long overdue. Reasons are many. I was planning on submitting a Tagaytay feature for the Life & Travel section of Manila Standard Today but the delay in the publication of articles I previously submitted made me procrastinate. Big difference between a blog and a newspaper. With my blogs, I and I alone decide when to publish what I want. In a newspaper, other people make that decision. So, anyway, before I go on with the pili nut entries, let me finish the Tagaytay food trip series. Next weekend will be a long one and I know that many city folks are planning on going out of town. So, for those planning on a weekend in Tagaytay, this and the next entry might be informative and useful.
When we were in Tagaytay in November last year, we ate bulalo in three different restaurants. It was a kind of experiment to find the best bulalo in town. I have written about La Trobada earlier; this time, I’m going to tell you about a diner near the public market intersection and a restaurant called Taaleña.
There is a place, simply called Diner, along the highway very near the intersection that leads to the public market. It isn’t a fancy place. The available dishes were displayed on a glass covered counter, you make your choice(s) and give your order to the lady on the other side of the counter.
The bulalo (above) was very, very meat and several notches more tender than what we had at La Trobada. The other dishes were great as well. I especially enjoyed the fresh vegetable lumpia (below). For picky kids, there’s pork barbecue. For the uber carnivorous adults, there was lechon kawali.
We went back to the hotel very satisfied and feeling we probably had the best bulalo in Tagaytay. All of that changed the next day.
I hosted a small luncheon party (it was my birthday two weeks earlier) and I decided it would be lunch at Taaleña. We hadn’t been to Taaleña before but I chose it because the place was spacious (there were lots of kids in the group) and because it offered a great view of Taal Volcano. I felt so bitin from the previous day’s photo shoots because it had been raining and Taal Volcano was almost always hidden in fog. I figured it was my last chance to get the photos I so craved for.
The bulalo was not so meaty. But that probably made it more authentic since traditional bulalo hardly contains any meat. It was the broth that was really mind blowing. It was fantastic. In fact, we ordered additional broth to enjoy the rest of the food after the bulalo was gone.
We had assorted grilled seafood, fish and pork.
There was crispy tawilis, a fish only found in Taal lake. Those in our group were doubtful, however, if they were real tawilis because they appeared larger than the tawilis of Taal lake. Whatever, they were delicious anyway.
We had crispy pata (above) and adobo sa dilaw (below), purportedly the Batangas style of cooking adobo.
There was kaldereta (above), fried chicken (below), pancit canton and a few other things.
About two months later, my husband was on a business trip in Tagaytay and they had lunch at a place called Joni’s. He swore that the bulalo there was even better than Taaleña’s.
So, you might want to consider all that should you think of going hunting for the best bulalo in Tagaytay this summer. 
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Hi Sassy: Can you please post a quick recipe for teh adobong dilaw? this seems like a
great version from the original adobo. Thanks! Les
hi i would just like to know where exactly in tagaytay is joni’s and taalena located
ohhh, mannn!!! i really need to stay away from your blog during a certain time of the month coz you make me want to eat through my computer monitor!!!
LES, I’m interested in cooking it too but I have yet to find a recipe for it.
Along the highway, michelle. if you’re coming from manila, turn right at the rotunda and you won’t miss them.
LOL Lani. Imagine how I feel when I resize the photos. Originally, they are bigger than my computer screen. hehehe
wow naman! katakam-takam… na-miss ko tuloy ang IHAWS sa malolos, grabe…
nakakita kasi ako ng mga inihaw, hehehe…
off topic ako
there’s this resto in malolos that serves only inihaw, you just have to eat with your hands, they operate from 6 p.m. onwards. sarap!
sa init kasi mag-ihaw, phynkee, minsan mas madali sa resto na lang. kaya pag may nakita kaming masarap na ihaw ihaw, sagarin!
You are making me miss Tagaytaay too. I would be happy if I had fresh lumpia right now.
Adobo sa dilaw is cooked just like the “other” adobo. It just uses luyang dilaw or turmeric and minus the soy sauce. I just saute the luyang dilaw together with the garlic and onion. Then add the meat, either pork or chicken or combination of both put some patis(or salt) and black pepper, cover and let cook over low heat until the juices of the meat comes out. Then add vinegar and a little sugar(optional) and let boil again until it appear to be “oily” already.
KK You can always make some lumpia.
Hey Rey, thanks for that. I’ll try that one of these days. Tonight, we’re having ginataang bulalo.
Diner has been there for the longest time. Really good bulalo, good prices too. Taalena has me curious though. I’ll look for it next time i go there.
Mannn….. this is torture! All the foods and restaturant you’re talking about……..I miss my home in Tagaytay
Eversince I’ve tasted fresh lumpiang ubod, nothing else will do. Walang pong ubod dito. The nearest thing I can get is canned bamboo shoots. I’ll juat have to put that in my to-binge on list.
Butanyhow, Thank you for taking me down to memory lane in Tagaytay Ate Connie.
Hi, may I have the address for Taalena? Please?
THanks!
It’s along the national highway.
Thanks, thanks for leading us to Taalena. The food was great and the price was reasonable. You’ve become my resto-guru, Connie