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Tagaytay City, the grand viewing deck for the world's smallest volcano, is brewing something special for the day-tripper: new restaurants, wellness centers, and other worthy attractions such as flower and honeybee farms. Walter C. Villa and Thea Anzures try out what's new
Photographs by Walter C. Villa
IGHT YEARS AGO, there were only two charming places where you can wine and dine on Tagaytay ridge: Faal Vista Hotel's Cafe-on-the-Ridge and Josephine, a casual dining Filipino restaurant with tall, wide windows overlooking Taal Lake and Taal Volcano A few years later, Sonya's Garden, a restaurant set amidst a fragrant and colorful greenhouse, lured the crowd with memorable four-course vegetarian meals and flowery romantic nooks. Not surprisingly, other restaurants followed, making Tagaytay City in Cavite, one of the more popular day-trip destinations for Manila residents. Here's an essential guide to everything new at the ridge.
Where to Eat
You are there for the view—and the slightly cooler climate than Manila's—so you may pick among the strategically located restaurants on the western side of the Silang rotunda towards Nasugbu, Ratangas. There's Dencio's for sisig, a popular beer companion made of pig's ears or checks cooked with onions and pepper and served with a dash of chili. For breakfast, there's Pancake House for blueberry pancakes and favorites like pork tocino (sweetened pork) or beef tapa (pan-fried salted beef) with garlic or steamed rice; or Starbucks, for a load of sweet muffins and super-charged fancy frapuccino.
Farther down the Agumaldo highway are three restaurants that serve the usual Filipino fiesta fare like kare-knrc\ ox tail in peanut sauce; kaldereta, beef slices in spicy tomato sauce; crispy pata, deep-fried pork knuckles; and other grilled fish specialties such as fried tawilis, (a rare freshwater sardine found only in Taal Lake), and sinigang }ut maliputo (another endemic fish), cooked in tamarind broth.
BIRD'S VIEW, (clockwise) Adventure starts on your plate when you eat at charming restaurants like Breakfast at Antonio's, and its good plate of goodies. Then, you go horseback-riding or enjoy close encounters with other animals at the Residence Inn mini-zoo or (RIGHT) at the exclusive Tagaytay Highland's Animal Farm.
With Rodeo-themed decors and uniforms, RSM Seafood Garden Restaurant ([6346] 860-2297) lures customers with native huts facing the famous view. Probably the best table in the house, the Yellow Bell hut, sits on the edge of a cliff. Popular among foreign tourists who come by the buses, RSM occasionally invites Bayanihan Dancers, the Philippines' premier touring dance company, to provide entertainment during daytime. Viewsite Restaurant ([6346] 413-2660) goes beyond its hacienda theme by coming up with its own horseback riding loop. Its landscaped garden with bridge and pond adds a nice foreground for photo ops against Taal Volcano. If you want your bulalo, beef shank and marrow in peppery broth a wee bit healthful, then head to Bahay ni Tatang (Father's House I [63920] 404-1553) where every sinful dish is sprinkled with homegrown herbs such as anise, basil, chervil, coriander, dill, marjoram, mint, oregano, rosemary, sweet pepper, sage, tarragon, thyme, and turmeric. There's no view of Taal from here but the reconstructed old Spanish house, the restaurant's herbal garden and pugon-cooking—an old style slow-fire oven cooking—add another dimension.
After the success of Antonio's ([63917] 899-2866) in Barangay Neogan, a homey terraced garden restaurant that serves salads, risottos, Churasco-style steaks and the oh-so-yummy spanferckel (boneless suckling pig stuffed with herbs and served with apple sauce and German mustard), owner chef Tony Boy Escalante has come up with Breakfast at Antonio's ([6346] 413-0975) on Aguinaldo Highway to fill the need of his diners for scrumptious breakfasts of pancakes, fritatas, crepes, Belgian waffles, and super omelettes. The dishes (starts from 190 pesos), which all look good, are served all day. The dining area, decorated with big paintings, is very airy with screened walls and high ceiling. Whatever you'll have, don't miss the syrupy thick hot chocolate.
On the way to Mahogany Market lies Tagaytay's best-kept secret: Massimo's Cafe ([63916] 371-5449), an Italian restaurant with its rustic big hardwood decors, earthenware,
and stained glass art pieces. Chef Hazel Galvez, who studied culinary arts in Italy, will leave you wanting for more of her tasty pan-roasted Sea Scallops or her rich Osso Buco (beef shank braised with root vegetables and brown stock). Leave room for desserts especially the homemade pistachio and Belgian chocolate gelatos. The Molten Chocolate cake is equally divine. If you want to feast on porchetta (roasted suckling pig marinated in Italian herbs and slow-roasted in a brick oven), you must order a day earlier. A set menu starts from 695 pesos.
just a few meters to the east of Silang rotunda towards Talisay, Batangas is Sanctuario Cafe + Gallery ([63917] 540-4799), which whips up surprising fusion dishes. Dig this: a plate of pasta bulalo on linguini, bangus (milkfish) carbonara, or marinara with tuyo (sun-dtied salted sardines) starting from 150 pesos. If you have heard of pahimis, the famous bittersweet blend from the nearby coffee town Amadeo, this is the place to try it.
A little off the highway but still worth the short drive is the Spanish restaurant Carlos ([63917] 951-4393). Its bright comedor or dining room, which can sit around 50 people, is furnished with big round tables, Texas longhorns, and a small collection of knives and flintlock pistols hanging on the walls. Must-tries include the creamy Prawns and Steak Thermidor (prawns with garlic steak, tomato salad, and pesto pasta) and the delicious Relleno de Polio (stuffed chicken with chorizo, paprika and herbs). Their mango cheesecake is so good we took one home. A set menu starts from 450 pesos. Carlos also has clean rooms with antique beds for rent—one even has a turn-of-the-century four-poster bed, a collector's item, made by a Chinese artisan named Atay.
TAGAYTAY'S COLORS.
(CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT)
The spaghetti western touch of RSM Restaurant, flowers at The Flower Farm, Carlos' Spanish-theme dining room, Massimo's rustic Italian restaurant, Taal Vista's famous view, and Nurture Spa's new cottage.
Sonya's Garden ([63917] 532-9097) is still a must in your culinary itinerary. The quaint dining place that has mothered the boom now offers Roasted Chicken Rosemary (450 pesos / per whole) and Salmon with Capers (250 pesos / per slice) on top of her freshly picked salad and flavorful pasta in sun-dried and olive oil or chicken cream with mango sauces. However, you must order them in advance. The lovely cottages, which she started renting out for 2,500 pesos per head a night last year, have just expanded to accommodate smaller groups of four to six people.
ON THE BUDGET: Luckily, the fastfood chains—Chowking, Greenwich, Jollibee, Max's and McDonalds, all on Silang Highway near rotunda—have already settled into Tagaytay since the mid-90s. But hey, there's Mushroom Burger ([6346] 413-1330), a local institution, where for 42 pesos you can have regular burger and soda. Meanwhile, locals swear by the small eatery—read: tapsilogan (Filipino set meal of fried beef, egg and rice for 45 pesos) place—where the Mahogany Avenue and Batangas via Tuy Road converge. For bulalo, nothing beats the legendary Diner's Restaurant near Silang rotunda.
What to Do
PICNICING For a 25-peso per head entrance fee plus another 150-peso hut pavilion rental, enjoy the whole day at the government-run Tagaytay Picnic Grove ([6346] 860-0216). Although some of the facilities need touch ups, the unobtrusive view of Taal Volcano here is unbeatable. The closest place where you can get a similar sweeping view is in Taal Vista Hotel's ([6346] 413-1000) viewing deck, accessible only if you dine in its Cafe on the Ridge. A good alternative is the vacant lot right beside the hotel where you can park your car and cherish the view on the cliff's edge. There are no fences, seats or tables so you just have to make do; however, there are horses and bikes for rents nearby. For a 360-degree view of Tagaytay, Taal Lake, Balayan Bay, Manila Bay, Laguna de Bay and, on a clear day, Makati City, come to People's Park in the Sky ([632] 542-2502), the highest point of Tagaytay City at
750 meters above sea level. The aging former Marcos presidential guesthouse has been spruced up a bit and now includes gazebos, picnic tables, function rooms and a cafeteria. Entrance fee is at 15 pesos per head.
RIDING Horseback riding is available at Tagaytay Picnic Grove and the lot beside Taal Vista Hotel. The fee ranges from 125 to 200 pesos depending on the horse's size. But if you fancy handsome cow horses and thoroughbreds, the newly opened Coffee Creek Farm ([632] 888-0043) may just be the right place for you. If you're already a good rider, you can choose from their stable of 16 horses for a ride along their bridle path or the longer horse trail through their coffee plantation. If not, take the packaged riding lessons on horsemanship because that's the only way owner Nicky Matti, a longtime horse breeder, will allow you to ride.
DE-STRESS With revitalizing spa sessions starting from 500 pesos, Nurture Tropical Spa & Cafe ([6346] 413-0804) offers treatments like Indian Head Massage, Foot Spa, Derm Stress Facial, and Floral Body Soak. Its charming garden is a popular venue for romantic dinners and wedding banquets. Nurture Spa has recently opened a new stone cottage for overnight stays but we still prefer the old authentic Ifugao (a northern indigenous tribe) huts. The former medical director of The Farm at San Benito, the renowned wellness center in Batangas, has just moved to Tagaytay and put up Neomedix Wholistic Healing Institute ([6318] 341-7204). It offers relatively the same detoxification and spa treatments—colema, organic diet, aromatheraphy, and iridology to name a few—albeit in a spartan setting. For a quick relief, try any of their therapeutic massages for 600 pesos.
RAPELLING Carlo Callejo ([63917] 402-5577) and other mountaineers can take a small group to day hike through lush vegetation and rural villages culminating in an exhilarating hundred-feet rappel down a waterfall (150 pesos per head, plus 60 pesos for packed lunch).
SAILING Wouldn't it be cool to brag that you have sailed in what used to be the base of an 18,000-foot high volcano? Just a
Complete Retreat
Tagaytay Highlands, the spectacular exclusive leisure club and vacation paradise, keeps transforming into something more sensuous and enlivening
EVEN NON-GOLFERS will find the Tagaytay Highlands golf course just literally over-the-top. Perched on the eastern ridge of Tagaytay at 600 meters above sea level, the par-71 Richard Bigler golf course has been naturally shaped to follow the jagged rim and steep foothills of the area. The result is simply breathtaking: one side of the fairways overlooks Taal Lake and Taal Volcano, the other side the sweeping view of Laguna de Bay, Mounts Makiling and Banahaw, and on clear days, Manila, Batangas Bay and the island of Mindoro. Golfers will find the elevated terrain and man-made lakes extra challenges; however, it's the cool mountain wind they must contend with, for one untimely gust can blow their golf balls to never-never land.
It's easy to get lost in the exclusive Tagaytay Highlands Golf and Country Club, especially when the thick fog—or is it a low cloud—clears up after sunrise to reveal the wonderful amenities. The big traditional log house that is The Spa & Lodge, near the entrance, mirrors the country elegance of other cabins in The Woodlands, a village of its members' luxury log cabins. Three other residential projects, which have become first class vacation homes, sit on the 400-hectare land developed by Belle Corporation: Pinecrest Village, a complex of condominium units similar to Swiss chalets; The Villas, a community of Spanish-Mediterranean style singe-detached homes, and The Belle View, a hillside condominium development built on a ridge overlooking Taal Lake. Soon, the
10- to 15-minute drive from Tagayatay Picnic Grove, Taal Lake Yacht Club ([6343] 773-0192), through its pleasant commodore Peter Copotosto, opens its doors to non-members (100-peso entrance fee) who want to learn how to sail. There are topper, sunfish, escape, Hobie 16, and Hobie 21 boats for rent starting from 800 pesos a day inclusive of a life jacket. If you want to go trekking to Taal volcano, TLYC is also the best place to book your guided boat trips as their motorized bancas (1,400 pesos/per day for a maximum of 6 people) are the only ones with safety equipments such as cellphones, lifejackets, fire extinguishers, and a rescue boat. What's more, TLYC allows you to use their hut for free when you come back to eat and rest. GAMING There's always the usual card games and slot machines but Casino Filipino Tagaytay City ([6346] 413-1508) has recently welcomed the additions of three new games: Pontoon, a modified version of Black Jack, offers more chances to win; Pop Pera, which plays like a scratch-and-match sweepstake only this time with pull-tabs or pop-open cards; and Casino Wars, where dealer and players try to outrank each other's single card. SOUL-SEARCHING Tierra de Maria, near The Japanese Garden, offers a quiet respite from the busy world. Its chapel houses a replica of the miraculous Our Lady of Manaoag and is conducive to prayer, reflection and meditation. Then there's the
Adoration Convent of Divine Mercy ([6346] 413-1216) near Aguinaldo Highway is always open. Both hold regular masses every Sunday.
SHOPPING The cool climate of Tagaytay, hovering at around 22.7 degrees Celsius, allows for plant nurseries, which sell many flowering ~x                           plants and bonsai on the side of the
highway. The biggest that we have seen so far on the Sto. Domingo-Sta. Rosa Road has a garden restaurant and the flashiest restrooms in the city. The four-hectare Ming's Garden ([63920] 570-6085), owned by the former First Lady Amelita Ramos, has an extensive collection of herbs, ornamental and flowering plants, including a 25,000-peso palm tree. Our favorites are the 40-peso chrysanthemum and the 1,000-peso catleya orchid in pots. If you can book early, the visit to The Flower Farm ([632] 840-3915), which has opened its 16 greenhouses for limited tours, is worthwhile since you'll get chance to see uncommon blooms as Ammi Visnaga, Callistephus, and Celosias. Of course, there are the usual roses and mums but in colors not many of you would have seen them in.
And if there are flowers, can bees be too far behind? After more than 20 years of arduous research and experimentation, the husband and wife team of Hog Maria Honeybee Farms ([6346] 865-0018) has perfected the production of
rustic houses of Plantation Hills will rise to fill in demands for a leisure organic farm estate that has gained popularity among weekend farmers. In its bid to become a complete leisure paradise, Tagaytay Highlands built The Country Clubhouse, home to a host of specialty restaurants such as Japanese, Thai, Italian, Mongolian, an Irish Pub, and a French Cafe. There's also the two-storey Highlands China Palace, which boasts of authentic Chinese furnishings and service wares, plus a Hong Kong master chef. On the second floor of the Golf Clubhouse are six specialty restaurants namely: Bali (Indo-Malay cuisine), Ginza (Japanese Noodle House), Chosun (Korean cuisine), La Belle Brasserie (French cuisine), Marbella (Spanish), and Salzburg (Swiss-Austrian). However, three of our favorite restaurants are lovingly tucked away
take of the popular Sonya's Garden, which serves tropical salads, pastas, and herb teas.
The Sports Center has gotten every activity covered with an indoor lap pool, a squash court, a basketball court, a badminton-volleyball court, a fully equipped gym, and a computerized bowling alley. Outside, there's lawn tennis, skating rink, mini-golf links and a fishing pier. There are walking and hiking trails through lush greenery and, if you wish to commune with nature a bit longer, there's Camp Highlands, a one-hectare camping ground complete with cowboy cottages and secret pool and waterfalls. Don't miss the Animal Farm, home to a bevy of miniature animals from all over the world.
But still there's the prevailing devilling wind. Belle Corporation solved the problem exactly four years ago for golfers who can't handle the
from the concourse. The Highland's
CLUB HIGH. A view from the veranda of The Highland's Steakhouse and (OPPOSITE) the traditional log house of The Spa at Tagaytay Highlands with The Highland's Peak on the background.
Peak, which stands on top of a hill at 700-meter above sea level, is the second highest point in Tagaytay and
swoop: Tagaytay Midlands, another Bigler masterpiece in a lower, gentler rolling terrain. The harsh mountain
gives a superb 360-degree panoramic view. Like The Country Clubhouse, it's conveniently connected via a Swiss-made cable car system to the Golf Clubhouse. The Highland's Steakhouse combines romantic balcony views with fine wines and succulent steaks. And of course, there's the newly opened Greenhouse Bistro, the club's
wind may no longer be there but still
there's the closer, bigger and more breathtaking view of Taal
Lake and Taal Volcano.
FOR MEMBERSHIP AND OTHER INQUIRIES, contact Tagaytay
Highlands (Tel. [6346] 413-0888, 413-2033/
Email:aong@pacific.net.ph).
handcrafted health soaps, shampoo and other products infused with beeswax, honey, propolis, high grade essential oils and other natural extracts. Price starts from 35 pesos. Riding on the success of its products with the Japanese market, Joel and Violane Magsaysay hopes to finish the first bee museum in Asia (the 8th in the world) by the end of the year. As of now, we toast to Hog Marias very own honey-mango liquor. Yum.
Mahogany Market remains a good and relatively cheap source of fresh produce and beef—probably the reason why salads and bulalos have become regular fares in Tagaytay. However, be warned that some fruits and vegetables actually come from Baguio and even Divisoria in Manila so you may not get the savings you expect. Fresh beef sirloin cuts at 150 pesos a kilo, is a steal; and so are the pineapples at five for 50 pesos for the small ones and four for 100 pesos for the big ones. If you really want freshly picked salad ingredients, head to NETAFIM Demo Farm ([6346] 414-1583), a regular supplier of lettuce, honeydew, bell peppers, tomatoes, and other herbs to grocery chains and hotels in Manila. NETAFIM uses and sells breakthrough Israeli agriculture technology.

Ever wonder where home accessory stores get their supply of chic stoneware—oil burners, incense holders, vases, wind chimes, and other trinkets? Chances are, they probably came from Cornerstone Pottery Arts & Crafts Shoppe ([6346] 413-0645),http://www.cornerstone.ph . Here, you'll get the same products sold in Manila but cheaper by 20 to 30 per cent. Ask for a few of the late expressionist Filipino painter and sculptor Inday Cadapan's pieces on display. Also an interesting place to visit just down the road is Ilog Maria Honey Bee Farm (http://www.ilogmaria.com). They make honey based soap and honey-cider vinegar and lots of other cool stuff.

 
NICE CORNER. Make sure to drop by Cornerstone's showroom and outlet store where home accessories are always on sale, (opposite) The giant replica of Our Lady of Manaoag in Tierra de Maria.
BEDSIDE MANNERS. Cocoon in Taal Vista's renovated rooms or take a dip in Hotel Dominique's lagoon-like swimming pool.
SOMETHING NEW FROM AN OLD FAVORITE: Good Shepherd ([6346] 413-1346), the popular pasalubong (take-home presents) place, now sells suman latik (sticky rice with sweet coconut jam / 100 pesos), mango jam (125 pesos), and the delicious ice sarap, your usual halo-halo (mixed fruits and beans in milk) with shaved iced mixed with bits of their famous ube (purple yam). Of course, there's their best-selling ube jam (starts from 90 pesos) and the extra meaty buco (coconut) pie (100 pesos).
Where to Stay
There are numerous places to stay in Tagaytay depending on your budget and needs. The Tagaytay Picnic Grove ([6346] 860-0216), operated by the Philippine Tourism Authority, has clean rooms and good views and is popular among big groups. They have an affordable package starting from 1,760 pesos per person on triple sharing and includes one set breakfast, packed lunch for the complimentary Taal Trek, set dinner and entrance to the butterfly sanctuary.
Right across is Development Academy of the Philippines ([6346] 413-1290), which has dormitory-type rooms at 500 pesos per person. Also within the area are rooms with a decent bed, an air-conditioner and cable TV starting at 1,200 pesos (Keni Po / [6346] 413-4231) or 1,300 pesos (Fortune Duck / [6346] 413-4231). One of the newest additions is Tagaytay Dacha ([6346] 413-3304) with 28 standard rooms for 1,500 pesos for non-airconditioned rooms and 2,000 pesos for airconditioned ones. For bigger groups, it has four tastefully furnished villas for 7,000 pesos a night, which comes with three bedrooms, a car port and a kitchen with gas stove, full-sized refrigerator, and microwave oven.
On the western side of Silang rotunda are the trusty Days Hotel ([632] 843-6841) starting from 5,200 pesos, and the charming Taal Vista Hotel ([6346] 413-1000) starting from 4,950 pesos, which has recently been renovated. All of its 72 guestrooms provide nice views of the verdant gardens, Taal Lake and Taal Volcano.
However, the best value hotel that we have found is the newly opened Hotel Dominique ([6346] 413-0531) on Aguinaldo Highway. Although it doesn't have any breathtaking views, the room rates (starting from 2,500 pesos), its spick-and-span facilities such as swimming pool, videoke room, and game room. For families or large groups, its Cabana, a free-standing cottage with three beds includes an attic, at 4,900 pesos is unmatched in town for value of money.
Old tourist brochures describe Taal Volcano as a volcano within a lake (Taal Lake) and a lake within a volcano (Luzon, a volcanic island). Thomas Hargrove, author of the book The Mysteries ofTaal, can't help but agree. His decade of research confirms that Taal Lake is actually once the base of a towering 6,000-meter cone-shaped volcano.
"Mt. Macolot (the nearby mountain) is another mystery," adds Hargrove. "Some think she's the highest part of the caldera rim that was not blown away in ancient eruptions. Others think that Macolot is part of another extinct volcano. An underwater volcanic crater lies, at 160-meter depth, in the lake directly to Macolot's west. Its depth is unknown."
There's also scientific evidence that shows that Taal Lake's waters were once salty since a wide channel once connected it to the South China Sea.
"Lake Taal is also a biologic enigma," Hargrove continues. "Her waters protect an incredible array of marine life that, by laws of nature, have no right to be there... deadly sea snakes, sponges, sardines, eels, mackerel, and, until 50 years ago, sharks."
One enigmatic critter may just have been served to you during lunch—deep-fried or grilled but nevertheless tasty. The famous tawilis (s.n. Sardinella tawilis), an endemic sardine found only in Taal Lake, is believed to have migrated from Balayan Bay to the lake when it was formed in the course of volcanic eruptions some 240 years ago. It belongs to the class Actinopterygii or ray-finned fish, order Clupeiformes and family Clupeidae together with herrings, chads, sardines and menhadens, and is the only species of Sardinella that is apparently found only, or even mainly, in freshwater. Adult size could reach up to 15.2 centimeters long and 27.3 grams in weight.
Unfortunately, the tawilis has yet to thrive outside of Taal Lake. Tawilis doesn't thrive long after being caught, making it difficult for scientist to find ways of transplanting this specie. A Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources experiment showed that it could only thrive for less than an hour inside an aquarium with water from the Taal Lake. It also dies instantaneously after being caught by fishnets.
- CESAR E. TORDESILLAS
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