Nanay Cirilas' Kapeng Barako — Restaurant in Tagaytay

It is one of the best restaurants in Tagaytay in my opinion. I appreciate the fact that they only accept reservations and that you need to pre-order your food 6-24hrs beforehand. This limits the food waste of the restaurant, which is always good, and increases the freshness/quality of the food since it's only prepared for you instead of mass produced.

We just had breakfast here (8am) a few hours ago and found the food to be exceptional. Our order consisted of Daing na Bangus, Hamonado Longganisa, Bulalo, Kapeng Barako and Ube Halaya. The bulalo broth was rich and flavorful with tender meat and crunchy veggies. The meat could have been more tender (I prefer it when the meat just falls apart while still in the serving bowl) but this was tender enough to make it enjoyable. And it still had the marrow intact, which I devoured and probably lost a few hours of my life to. I thoroughly enjoyed the Longganisa. It's not as sweet like most of its kind but sweet enough that my relatives and I would fondly say "di masyadong matamis" (in a good way). The Daing na Bangus was perfectly fried. It's nothing spectacular or out of this world but an overall enjoyable dish. The ube halaya was also good. Not too sweet and had a smooth consistency. I think I enjoyed this more versus others because there was a bit of butter spread on it. Butter makes everything better (almost).

We enjoyed the food so much that we decided to make a reservation for dinner tonight so that we can try more of their food. We were also greeted by the chef/owner who took our reservation/order for our dinner tonight. Seeing that the owner was also the chef who prepared our food just added to the already homey experience. She was very nice and pleasant and offered some recommendations. Definitely looking forward to our dinner later!

TLDR; Ate here for breakfast a few hours ago. Loved it so much that were going back for dinner later. Definitely try this place if you're...

We visited Nanay Cirilas yesterday. We had a memorable birthday lunch and will definetly visit it again. The place was serene, clean and homely. Fantastic food by Chef Mel. Staff are couteous and efficient.

Hassle-free reservation and pre-ordering of food. I did reservation via text. They respond quickly. Nanay Cirila's menu is available at their website. It's a plus their website renders well on my phone and is easy to use.

It was our first to taste the combination of kare-kare bulalo. YUMMY! Tender beef shank with a tasty kare-kare sauce. Even the veggies were cooked right. The alamang goes well with the beef.

Our first to savor Raindrop Cake. It was visually appealing and very light to the palette. Chef Mel used polvoron, natural gelatine, gumamella leaf and syrup. Just right after a hearty feast. You need to try it to aporeciate our expetience.

Their crisp fried vegetable lumpia and crisp fried tawilis are crunchy outside and "fresh" inside. The vegies were sweet. The tawillis meat was soft. A thumbs up for us.

Another appetizer we tried is the thai-beef salad. If you are fond of salads, this is a meal by itself. It's a bit spicy (I have Bicolano blood, so i liked it a lot).

Their calamansi iced tea is one of the best i've tried. I drink freshly squeezed calamansi almost daily and i liked it that the calamansi flavor was not overpowered by the tea.

We dined next to an open kitchen. This made the expeirence like visiting family. The dinning hall had a couple of well placed art works that made the place feel a bit "artsy".

Half-way through our meal we met Chef Mel. She is very warm and made us feel at home. I believe her personality was infused in her food creations.

We were so full that we didn't have space for the kapeng barako.

That said, we will visit again. See you soon Chef...

One of the best dinners i have ever had!

Now there's another place i can call home in Tagaytay! From the amazing hospitality and culinary passions of Tita Medy, the Chef / Owner, and her Staff -- to the delicious food, Nanay Cirila's Kapeng Barako will let you feel that every dish is made from home. It is very special because they are all unique yet very familiar.

We ordered the following: Appetizer: Butter Shrimps =Nicely done 👌 Shrimps are inteed butterly, soft, garlicky but subtle. A must-try!

Beef: Bulalo =One of the best I've tasted. Not oily or ma-sebo. They patiently remove the oily stuff so all you get is the tenderest beef and most flavorful broth. With fresh veggies too!

Pork: Grilled Liempo =Another hit! Soft and just the right balance of flavors/seasoning.

Fish: Crispy Daing na Bangus =Fresh, well seasoned, crispy and no "gilik" taste. Just the way you want your bangus to be.

Veggies: Fresh Lumpia Gulay =Joy!!! Just JOY! The generous vegetables inside this Lumpia with it's peanuty sauce will make you smile!

Dessert: Halo-Halo =There's a special twist that i would like to share but you better try by yourself. The Ube Ice Cream is good, but the "twist" elevates it to an "Aha! That works fabulously!" experience.

Beverages: Hot Tarragon Herb Tea & Brewed Iced Tea with Calamansi =Nothing artificial here. They are all natural, all fresh.

Truly a gem in Tagaytay!

Do contact them and discover the flavors for yourselves! And a wonderful chat with Tita Medy makes everything heartwarming. I'm so happy to have met her and now call her a friend.

Special Info: *Pre-booking and pre-ordering is required. Check their website for all your needed details (Menu, Address, etc.) Check also Google Maps and/or Waze for driving...