JOSEPHINE RESTAURANT

After a long ride from People's Palace in the Sky, we were able to get to our last stop on our Tagaytay food trip...

Josephine Restaurant has been known to be one of the famous restaurants frequently visited here in Tagaytay.  We arrived here at around 2PM and found out that there were still lots of people dining.  We were assigned number 9 on their queue and waited for them to call our name before we get seated.  While waiting, you can roam around their restaurant and take pictures of the scenery.  At the back of the restaurant is a clear view of the Taal Volcano in case you are interested to have a photoshoot.

View of Taal Volcano from the restaurant

After around 30 minutes, our name was called which means that there's already an available table for us. 

Let's start with the wide selection they have on their menu...

Images of the food on the menu are really mouth watering that with the variety of options we found it's so hard to choose which one to order. There are lots that we would like to try but we have to choose only a few. 

For our starter, we tried one of their specialty which is Josephine Soup.  As mentioned in their menu, there are shelled shrimps, clams and fish fillet in this flavorful stew of crushed tomatoes spiced with basil, parsley and laurel.  Just right for us since we love seafoods and it was not too spicy.

Josephine Soup - Php120.00

For our main course, we had the Fried Tawilis and Bulalo Steak.

Fried Tawilis - Php195.00

I thought that I still have to remove the fish bone on the tawilis but my buddy told me that it could be eaten as well so I did.  It was crispy and you wouldn't even notice the fish bone.  I find the taste of  it just a little salty.  I was able to eat lots of this.  Serving was more than enough for the two of us.

Bulalo Steak - Php495.00

Their Bulalo Steak is huge!  I didn't expect it to be this big having it at only Php495.00.  It was so delicious.  Inside the bone there are lots of fatty marrow which I enjoyed eating.  While around the shank are lots of meat.  Though it's really delicious, it was already too much for the two of us.  We had the small bone shank for take out instead since we got full already sharing with the big one. 

For our beverages, we tried their "Sunshine" and "Paradise Quencher."  Sunshine is their own version of piña colada while Paradise Quencher is a blend of peach, mango, banana, orange and lime juice.  What can I say about the two? Very refreshing and really a must try! 

Sunshine and Paradise Quencher - Php105.00 each

We're already full but still I would like to have a taste of their Leche Flan for our dessert.  This is the only one I didn't enjoy on our picks.  Nothing much special on the Leche Flan.  I'm not sure if that's because I'm expecting too much or since my stomach is already full.

Leche Flan

Overall, it was really a good experience having tried this restaurant.  Though it's a bit expensive compared to others here in Tagaytay, we find it still worth it with the quality and serving of the food that we had.

ONE TAGAYTAY PLACE HOTEL SUITES

During our Tagaytay vacation, we stayed in One Tagaytay Place.  Upon check-in we were provided with stubs for their complimentary breakfast buffet.  Here's what to expect.

Dining Hall

Buffet table

Selection of food

My plate

Aside from those, I also had bread with butter toasted on their bread toaster.  I also had a French Toast which they also have in their menu.  For the drinks, you can choose from iced tea, mango juice and orange juice.

Though there weren't too many options on their menu, it was just enough to have yourself full.  Whenever a particular dish is already consumed, no need to worry as it is immediately refilled for those who would like to get themselves another round.

MAHOGANY MARKET in Tagaytay

Since me and my buddy are free this weekend, we decided to have a trip to Tagaytay.  It's already late and it was also raining when we got to our destination so we were not able to roam much on our first day.  Instead, we just decided to try out the MAHOGANY MARKET to have dinner.

As the name says, it is a marketplace wherein there are small food stores on the side or what we Filipinos call as "carinderia".  There are several carinderias but I think each of them serves almost the same menu. Here's an image of the place.

When it comes to food, Tagaytay is well known for it's special BULALO, a soup with beef shank including the bone with marrow inside.  So we ordered this as this is a must try!

Served in a soup pot with flame underneath to keep it warm

The first thing I looked for when the waiter placed this on our table is the bone.  I checked it if it has lots of marrow inside as it is the precious part of this dish.

Lots of marrow inside the bone

Just a reminder, if you're blood pressure is high, try to avoid the marrow since it is high in cholesterol as they say.  Instead, you may eat the meat part which is also tender.

With just Php300.00, you can have this special bulalo which has lots of bone marrow and several chunks of beef.  One order could be good enough for 4 persons.

As for the dessert, you can have these bananas for free.  You may get as many as you want I guess because I got 5 pcs. at no extra charge.

If you don't like bananas they also have leche flan on the side which will cost you Php80.00 per order.  Unfortunately, the leche flan is not that delicious as we were expecting.

Overall, if you're tight on the budget and would love to try Tagaytay's Special Bulalo without caring too much on the ambiance, then this is the place you should visit.