The Cliff House, Tagaytay

Pasta Pronta

During one of the weekends where I surprisingly had nothing to do, I tagged along with my dad and mom (to their annoyance of not being able to have that quality time date they had wanted) when they drove to Tagaytay. Not only was I a third wheel (haha) but at the same time a spoiled kid with a big appetite :) And since my mom did not hear the end of me making her kulit about her promise of taking me to Cliff House (or is it Cliffhouse) and having dinner there, she finally gave in and the 3 of us, my dad, mom and I went there after Highlands.

Cliff House is the new ‘The Ridge’. It is further down the road, after ‘The Ridge’ and Leslie’s coming from Manila. Pretty tight parking space but very well made. The Cliff House is quaint, classy and quite romantic (at least at night) with the dimmed lights, nicely paved path walks, trees and plants beautifully landscaped and neat looking restaurants. Other than the 2 restaurants we ate at, Buon Giorno and Fire Lake Grill, Breton, Massimo and this art gallery are also to be found in that area. I would think that this place is better than the other side because it has one look, is more organized and beautifully conceptualized, very clean and neat as well. And not to mention, the good food.

We first had our dinner at Buon Giorno, an Italian restaurant. It actually had the most number of customers the night we were there, about 5 tables occupied, including ours. The uniqueness of their menu is brought about by its big wooden board or ‘base’. I ordered risotto (of course, to compare its taste with the others I have tried and to see if its better than mine :)) and my parents ordered a salad, spinach soup and minestrone. As usual, my health conscious parents would normally just order salad, soup or fish.

The server we had was very efficient and so was the over-all service. Our food arrived instantly. First we were served bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar in colorful dispensers. Yummy. But for some reason, Italianni’s version still tastes better. You can put parmesan cheese in your olive oil- balsamic vinegar mixture, mmm… yum! The spinach soup, of course colored green, surprisingly tasted good. Now that I have made and learned to love spinach artichoke dip and spinach cannelloni, anything with spinach, this soup really appealed to me. It was not too creamy and not bitter or had no bitter after taste. It was soothing and very appetizing. My dad’s minestrone soup was so-so… I’m not much of a fan and have only tried it once before so I really can’t say much but I would think the minestrone in Capisce, Metro Walk, is better.

Next that came was my chicken risotto. Pretty big serving for a very reasonable price of Php200 or Php250 per serving. Their risotto was ok. Well- made and had a very subtle taste as compared to those I’ve tried and made. But then again, it was just ok. Adding parmesan cheese, which the waiters will readily give you, would be a good idea. The chicken strips that went with it were soft and cooked well but lacked taste. It didn’t even taste like it had salt or pepper. So bottom line is, I like mine better hehe… and so do my mom and dad. :)

Nothing much to say about their interiors, only that the place was nice, very homey, specially the dining area outside with the nicely arranged plants and the view of the lake. The music was also very nice and sets the mood of the place.

I wasn’t gonna leave without eating dessert. I decided to try the desserts at Fire Lake Grill instead. And boy did I make the right decision!

Fire Lake Grill, owned by Mr. Paul Wong, is an upscale restaurant which offers fine dining and exquisite food. The interiors of the restaurant is very modern, maybe I could compare it to LoloDad’s? White walls, neatly arranged tables with white linen and with its kitchen readily viewed through a big panel of glass. It also has big windows with the view of the lake.

Their servers were very well dressed and were very efficient. Our server recommended the pineapple carpaccio. He said that is their best-seller. So, we ordered the pineapple carpaccio poached in Malibu rum with pink peppercorn, candied lime peel and home-made coconut ice cream in a brandy snap basket and the poached pear served with cream cheese maple filling and almond flakes together with coffee.

The pineapple carpaccio was beautifully plated on a big, white and round plate. The best way to eat it is to put a little of everything in your mouth all at once, the coconut ice cream, brandy snaps and pineapple. The crunchiness and sweetness of the brandy snaps together with the sweet, citrusy taste of the pineapple and its added peppery taste and the coconut ice cream made me wish my parents weren’t splitting with me and hoped they would remember their diet! Hehe… My only complaint for this dish is that they could have placed three pineapple carpaccios, one slice after all is very thin and 3 slices won’t even reach the typical thickness of a slice of pineapple :)

Our other dessert was just as exquisite and delicately made. Not a very appealing plating to me but the thought of poached pears with the cream cheese maple filling made me not care at all. A bit shocking on the tastebuds the first time you try it but after really tasting it… mmm… :) The pears were not as soft as I thought they would be, given that the taste of the wine and the sauce were so infused and so strong in the pears. They were firm and still a bit crunchy but very tasty. The sauce was just wonderful. It had that slight tannic taste of wine but already sweetened, maybe due to the pear’s juice. It was also kinda carbonated, which made my dad and I conclude that they must have used a sparkling red wine… maybe :)

What a way to end a meal! My only regret is that we didn’t get to try their other desserts hehe… but then again, I was so full that another bite of anything would lead me to the check in counter to hell.