Tagaytay Food trip with Audrey & Azon

One of the many things I don’t exactly like about the Philippines (don’t believe me on this one!) is my tendency to eat a lot of food!!
Well, last Saturday, Audrey texted me if I am available because Azon can make it that day. May bagong recruit sa mga roadtrips si Audrey! Azon is a friend way back …hmmm…basta dalaga pa ako. Since I’ll be back to Vegas in less than 2 weeks medyo sinasamantala ko na.

We don’t have any plans so we decided to just drive to Tagaytay area. What’s nice about not planning a trip is spontaneous decisions are often times not boring! For sure, boring is not a word you can use for this road trip as this turned out to be a Tagaytay food trip!!



1st stop – Balinsasayaw. I saw a blog about this restaurant and it was a nice review so I suggested we go and stop by this place for quick lunch.

Balinsasayaw is a bird found in Palawan so naturally, bird’s nest soup is one of their specialties. We don’t have plans of getting stuffed right away on our first stop – so we decided for barbecue chicken and liempo.

Audrey and Azon had chicken liempo and buko juice to go with it! Yummy


I ordered pork liempo. Presentation of the food is a little boring but taste is not bad.

They have separate dining areas for diners. So you get your own nipa hut! If you need privacy while dining - this is the place to go. Perfect place for meetings and family lunches or dinners!

They have a souvenir shop as well! I actually found some nice items here at very reasonable price.



2nd stop – Starbucks Tagaytay. I really like going to this place. How much better can it get – drinking your favorite coffee, with great company and with the spectacular view of Taal Lake! I love getting my coffee kick in the morning at Starbucks in US and glad that we have them here. Starbucks is definitely different here though - coffee is consumed anytime of the day. Imagine a 24 hours Starbucks in Tagaytay! Wow ... love it!

Enjoying my favorite cup of coffee, having great conversation with friends and the view of Taal lake ... what a life!

In this part of Tagaytay, there's clusters of food places to go. There's Pancake House, Antonio's Grill to name a few. This is the place to go if you want to eat and get to enjoy the view of Taal as well.



3rd stop - Bag of Beans.

On this trip, I rediscovered this beautiful place. I have been here before but never had the chance to go to their coffee/dining area. I just always stopped for their cinnamon rolls (really yummy ...move over cinnabon!) and for some bags of coffee beans. This time, we went to their coffee/dining area to have a little something. The place is naturally beautiful. Nicely set-up in the midst of the well-maintained garden! This is one of the best coffee shop/dining place to stop by when you to Tagaytay.



Entry way to their coffee shop/dining area.

Pa-picture with Azon




Their dining place.

Yummy cheesecake!


4th stop - Mahogany Market and Carinderia.

This got to be the most fun part of this food trip. Sure I love all the places we have been so far - but this one is a riot!! First, we reaaally enjoyed the food - super mega busog kami and at what cost?? Siyempre, carinderia price! I don't exactly remember our exact bill but maybe just a little over 500 pesos (that's a little over $10.) What did we have? If you are in Mendez area of Tagaytay, beef siyempre. So we had bulalo, okoy, fried tawilis, with pineapple, saging and kakanin for dessert! If you are really starved and you are looking for a good place to go in Tagaytay - this is it!! There are clusters of food stalls in typical carinderia setting - so make sure you check out each offerings but almost always, order bulalo - it's their specialty in Mendez.

After dinner since we are already in the market, medyo namalengke na rin kami ng konti.






I know to some this picture may be offensive but hey come on ... this is the Philippines, here you see the real deal. Fish is not just fillet - they have heads and tail :-) Beef is a cow's meat and its got head, feet and tail. This is where hamburger comes from :-)



5th stop - Gourmet Cafe. I'm a regular customer of this place. See my other posts on this place. This is where I buy my coffee beans, fruits, sauces and even some of my planting materials!

We wanted to have another cup of coffee before we end our food trip but unfortunately, their coffee machine is not working that night! They offered to get us some coffee in their restaurant area but we decided that its okay. Bought some of my favorite items to shop in this place and head to our next destination.

Scouting for more planting materials to plant. I bought my calamansi, avocado, santol, makopa, etc. on this place!


6th stop. Abundant Place. It's probably a blessing that we didn't get the chance to have our coffee at Gourmet Cafe. Otherwise, we would have missed this little gem of a place in Silang, Cavite. If you prefer a cocoa kick than a caffeine kick - then you should not miss this place! I have seen this place featured in one of GMA show and I'm really glad we stop by. It was almost 9 pm and I'm worried that they'll be close already but they accommodated us and I have tasted the best palitaw ever served with hot cocoa!


Azon, me and Audrey in the Abundant place. They have a little gift shop where you can buy delicious tablea, and other native products that they actually produce in this place. This beautiful kulambo is made by them. For those who have been in Sonya's place, you probably have seen these products.


7th stop - Loumar stand. According to Azon, this is a popular place to pick-up some pastries for pasalubong. So siyempre pa, maski super busog na - we decided to make a final stop, so we can buy some pasalubong. Of course, it will not be complete kung walang kodak moments. That day, Audrey is so engrossed learning her camera that she wants to take a lot of photos and she used me and Azon as her subjects!! So most of the photos here are courtesy of Audrey.

If anybody needs company for this kind of food trip - just email us :-)

Gourmet Cafe in Cavite

Bob wants to drive through Tagaytay from our Pugad Lawin Adventure in Batangas, so we did. We stopped by Gourmet Café because Bob wants to buy some local coffee for pasalubong. Gourmet Cafe is owned by Gourmet Farms Inc. Their Refresher's section if I am not mistaken used to be what they call Gourmet's Deli. All the pictures in this blog are taken by Bob.

They have the Refresher's section where you can get your freshly roasted coffee, teas, and freshly organic produce such as romaine lettuce, lolo rossa, green ice lettuce, etc. They are all organically grown in their own farm which is right behind their separate Dining area. If you have time for lunch or dinner, go to their restaurant. If you are just there for a quick coffee stop - then their Refresher's section is perfect.

We tasted several pestos they have (yummy!) Bought several coffee beans in different bean variety. We found a real nice French press (love it and I been using it since then!). Bought several fruits and vegetables and the best mango wines! I still have to taste all their sauces and dressings but so far I can say that their products are one of the best in town!

For balikbayan, this is a highly recommended place to buy some pasalubong. They carry mostly their own products but also carries other Philippine-produced products that you will be proud to carry back with you. Personally for me, their coffee and teas are great pasalubong!




Bob is one of the founding member of Slow Food Las Vegas Chapter (to know more about it visit www.slowfoodlasvegas.org) The mission of Slow Food is to counteract the disappearance of local food traditions and people’s dwindling interest in knowing where their food comes from, and how our food choices affect the rest of the world. Slow Food is dedicated to bio-diversity (preservation of food variety) and sustainability (meeting present needs without compromising those of future generations). Also, Slow Food works to support the small farmer, local artisans and preserves cultural food traditions. So for him, this place is very impressive as it is in line with Slow Food’s advocacy.

Gourmet Cafe's Dining area. I have eaten on their dining area several times in the past and I remember being very satisfied with their food. Too bad that day, we already had our lunch.

Behind the dining area is their farm. Most of their produce are sold in high-end restaurants and hotels. They are also available in their Refresher's section.
















Bob is very impressed with this place especially after taking the tour in their farm. If you get there before 2 pm – stop by the Refreshers section and asks their staff if you can have a tour in their farm. They have the nicest and friendliest staff. They are all knowledgeable about the products they carry and they provide great customer service!


If you want to know more about this place visit http://www.gourmet.com.ph/farm.html. I found out that they also have a place they call the Sanctuary - a place that offers wholistic retreat but is exclusive to its select clients only. Hmmmm... how do I qualify as a select client???

It doesn't matter :-) Their coffee is one of my primary source of antioxidants!

Cebu trip

We went to Bohol the week of Sinulog Festival, so I thought it would be nice to visit Cebu as well. I made arrangement for us to take a fast ferry from Bohol to Cebu so we can be there for the grand parade. One has the option to use either OcenJet or Weesam from Tagbilaran, Bohol going to Cebu. If I am not mistaken both have 3 schedule trips every day. Your hotel in Bohol can help make those arrangements for you if you are not on a package tour and travelling on your own. We used the Weesam. The departure schedule was not on time so by the time we got to Cebu it is already 2:00 pm. We were a bit tired and never really get to enjoy much the rest of the day. It was nice to visit Cebu again after maybe 14 years??? The last time, I was there was with my sister, Mimi and we toured Cebu with our church friends. This one is really a short stay - the next day is the parade and we are also scheduled to fly back to Manila in the afternoon.

We stayed at the Cebu Waterfront Hotel and Casino. http://www.waterfronthotels.net/cebu/index.html . It is one of the nicest hotels in Cebu but is not the most convenient hotel to stay if you are there for the Sinulog Parade. For someone who lives in Las Vegas, the hotel is just one of the casino hotels we are used to. For me the only nice thing about the hotel is their nice pool and the kids always enjoy the pool.

Bob never really get to see much of Cebu except for the hotel and the Ayala center downtown. In fact, even the kids mostly stayed in the hotel until we are ready for our flight back to Manila. Bob volunteered to babysit the kids while I and Cherrie explore the town for the Sinulog fest. My sister, Cherrie, enjoyed the Cebu trip because she gets to see local showbiz celebrities who are in town for the Sinulog festival. In fact, quite a lot of them are staying in the same hotel we are in. All in all, I wish I scheduled a separate Cebu trip. It was getting a bit too long for the kids and they are getting a little difficult to handle. We are ready to go home!
While waiting at the Pier in Bohol.
Robby and Bobby at the hotel lobby with a Police Dog.
Sinulog Grand Parade
Robby and Tita Cherrie posing with Raymond Gutierrez, a local celebrity.
Robby and Tita Cherrie with Will, another local celebrity.

Bobby was a little upset because Robby and Tita Cherrie were the only ones having pictures with "celebrities". So I told him, he can pose with a very famous international celebrity ... no other than his Papa, the very famous Bob Morris of Las Vegas! :-) So he happily posed with his dad.

Bohol trip _ Part 2

Bohol have a lots of things to offer. The highlights of our trip to Bohol are the following:
- Trip to Chocolate Hills
- Trip to Baclayon Church
- Dolphin-watching
- Trip to Balicasag Island
- Meeting a tarsier
- Visit to Bohol Bee Farm
- Most of all, lots of fun together!!

I will just let the pictures do most of the "talking"