Are you looking for:

a restaurant with wonderful ambience, with a magnificent view of the Taal Volcano and Lake, and the tastiest, juiciest steaks ever?

The answer is here: FIRE LAKE GRILL in CLIFFHOUSE, Tagaytay City.



Archie took me here for my birthday dinner. :) The moment we saw the place, we fell in love with it! Quiet, romantic, classy, and definitely a far cry from the tumpok that is Starbucks, Hen Lin, Pancake House and Cafe Lupe nearby. As for Fire Lake Grill itself, grabe. I was never a fan of steak, but when I had a taste of their house specialty, I knew I'd gladly eat a whole slab anyday. Ang sarap! Our very gracious host, Gilbert, recommended our dinner: Archie had the porterhouse steak, which had a red-wine demiglaze sauce, and "made it a meal" together with potato wedges for siding, and pumpkin soup. At first, Archie wanted the steak well-done, but Gilbert offered that the beef would be juicier and tastier if it were made medium-rare. I, on the other hand, wanted to try their pasta: Gilbert recommended the new pasta their chef made, which was linguini in cream sauce with white truffle (OMG!) and mushrooms...

Wow. Wow wow wow. Wow.

The only downside for those who would like to dine on a budget, however, is that the food is a bit expensive. I won't mention how much our dinner cost that night but all I can say is, it was worth every cent. :) Also, parking's a bit expensive if you're going to just park and enjoy the not-so-crowded area: it's P100 per hour, and a fraction of an hour is considered an hour, anyway. But if you dine in any establishment, parking's for free. :)

Need I say more? Super-duper, very highly recommended!

Portuguese Egg Tarts

My cousin Kat and I went on a trip to Macau late last year. Aside from taking in the sights - the Ruins of St. Paul, The Venetian Macau, the Macau Tower, and the numerous churches and museums, among others - we also had the time of our lives sampling Macanese cuisine Portuguese egg tarts became our favorite.


These egg tarts are made with a puff pastry casing, with caramelized custard centers. One store which sells them in Macau makes exceptionally good ones, with a very generous sprinkling of cinnamon to add to the flavor. This lovely pastry originated from Lord Stow's in Coloane island in Macau, established by Andrew Stow, a British, who modified the original Portuguese recipe to make the ones which are now commercially sold.


The Lord Stow's branch in Mall of Asia has since then become a haven. Archie is himself a convert. You probably will be, too.

Honeyed Squash Muffins

On a recent trip to Bohol, I discovered this unique, tasteful, and organic pastry specially made in Bohol Bee Farm. My friends and I had our first taste when we were each served a piece right after we had checked in. To go with this delectable pastry as our welcome snack was their special blend of lemongrass juice, also a resort specialty.


A friend of a friend, to whom I gave a few pieces when I got back home, liked it so much that she searched the Internet for a similar recipe. I say "similar" because I knew that even if asked, the people at Bohol Bee Farm would never give out the recipe, being a trade secret and all. This friend, however, only managed to get ahold of a zucchini muffin recipe. I told her that maybe she can try to substitute the zucchini with squash, as the recipes would probably have the same concept. Not sure if she'll give it a go but I told her I'm a willing guinea pig, just in case.