Barangay Sungay East-End, Tagaytay City
13 April 2010
It has been ages since I went to Tagaytay, and one thing I regret of not doing was to do an extensive research about the place. I guess I focused more on finally using the GC than checking out the list of things I could do while I was there.
My companion and I still wouldn't like to eat at the hotel's restaurant; well, I want to, but I know foods will be expensive and I felt shy. My companion didn't want to eat there, simply because prices were wallet straining and she wouldn't like to spend that much on me. :D
I didn't check which restaurants are near the hotel, so my companion just suggested we go back to the Picnic Grove and check if the Alamat Restaurant was still open. While walking to the Picnic Grove, we did see a different restaurant, but its lavish exteriors already made my companion step back. Good exteriors might mean expensive foods - a big no-no for her. From there, I really would like to tell I'd just pay for my own food or maybe pay for our dinner, but sadly I didn't bring my wallet as I already knew she'd shoulder the dinner.
Fronting the Picnic Grove was a place called Koorah Koorah Restaurant, and even if it didn't look good outside, us walking that long made us go for it. Well, not so good exteriors might mean affordable foods - something my companion was looking for.
The place looked okay, but it looked more of a karinderia than it was a restaurant. I did like the ceiling made from twigs, but the open walls meant putting up with some mosquitoes, but there weren't that much.
True enough, foods weren't that expensive, but they have items in the menu that were a bit pricey for my companion. She went for their plated meals, so it was what I got, too.
Pork Barbecue Rice Meal (p75). Three sticks of pork barbecue, one hard boiled egg, and one not so ripe tomato. Right on the pocket, but the barbecue tasted as if it has been cooked for quite sometime and they just reheated it (they wrapped it in aluminum foil). Smothering it with lots of banana ketchup didn't help, too, but yes it was edible, and it was enough to make me feel full.
I had calamansi juice as my drink, and it was way to sour, as if they didn't add any sugar in it. I only drank half of it because I don't want to spend the night complaining about too much acid in my tummy.
The restaurant had a homey feel, but having a dog sitting near us asking for food wasn't a good feeling. The dog was nice, but I did get a little scared that if the dog might get too excited about waiting for food, it might jump on us. Having a dog is okay, but at a restaurant, it felt inappropriate.
If you're really on the budget, this might be a good place.
Overall, I guess I went on a trip with a person that turned out to be not that good of a companion - food wise. I am a foodie and I would like to taste different flavors different places can offer, yet she's not into that - she would even call me horrible for watching food shows on the hotel's TV, and I cannot even speak of anything food without her taking it against me. Well, there are no mistakes, only lessons learned, and I certainly learned a valuable lesson while on the trip. She and I are still friends, but when it comes to foods... she and I will never be at the same page.
If you plan to travel to Tagaytay, please tag me if you want... I still hope to explore more of the place.
*** Jenn ***
ps - You're all invited to join my Weekend Eating meme... details are written on the upper right part of this blog. Thanks!
I come from a family who loves cooking and eating. I never had any formal training in cooking and that I taught myself how to cook based on the handed down recipes, but I could say that I can cook good food. In 2008, I started documenting my food trips for my