Looking for your next scenic Tagaytay food destination?  You've got to visit Rosario by Vikings!  

When I was invited to Naimas Taste of Home, the name clued me in that it would have Ilocano dishes.

It had a cozy and native-influenced al fresco area.  

What awaits inside is a more spacious area.  They even have a second floor.

Food


Mga Pulutan/Appetizers

Sizzling Sisig (260 php)

Crispy Garlic Isaw (240 php)

The Sizzling Sisig and Crispy Garlic Isaw is worth the cholesterol.

♥ Crispy Tawilis (220 php)

But, I liked the Crispy Tawilis more.  It was very crispy and not too salty.

♥ Sizzling Litid (250 php)

I also loved the Sizzling Litid.  I think I enjoyed most of this sizzling plateful.

Naimas Nachos (260 php)

Naimas Nachos is deep fried wanton with the usual nacho grande toppings.  This is the perfect bar chow as it doesn't get soggy even after a long period of time.


Mga Paborito/Favorites

♥ Adobong Hipon sa Aligue (360 php)

One of my favorite is the Adobong Hipon sa Aligue.

♥ Paksiw na Mata ng Tuna (280 php)

But, the Paksiw na Mata ng Tuna is just as good.

Pigar Pigar (380 php)

I was expecting the Pigar Pigar to have some liver.  But, I guess it was all beef which was good too because it was tender and flavorful.

♥ Kinulob na Peking Duck (460 php)

Definitely save some space for the Kinulob na Peking Duck.  For the price, this is a steal! 

Mga Gulay/Vegetables

Gising Gising (210 php)

The Gising Gising is the healthiest among all our orders.  This is good but I guess everyone prefer the more sinful ones.

♥ Sinigang na Bulalo (380 php)

Well, I haven't had a Bulalo I didn't enjoy so I was also comforted by the warm and savory Sinigang na Bulalo.

♥ Sinampalokang Kambing (320 php)

This is my first time to try a goat dish here in Manila.  Trying the Sinampalokang Kambing brought me back to my childhood memories.  

I've spent some of my summer vacations at my mom's ancestral home in Ilocos Sur.  Every time we'd go there, my uncle would have our staffs buy a goat.  By the time we'd reach the house, there will be a live goat tied to the wooden post by the well.  The dried well was said to bring good fortune to the family.  The goat will be served to us for dinner as a special delicacy.  

How I miss those care-free days.  Everyday we would play with the neighborhood Ilocano boys (who used to bully and tease us by climbing up and make noise on our bed room window only to find out they just wanted to be playmates).  We would run or bike towards the tobacco fields to play hide and seek, luksong baka, patintero and our favorite of all: tumbang preso.  When we hear the church bell rings at 6 o' clock echoing across the entire town, we would head home for dinner which was the highlight of each day.  The manangs would set up our marbled folding tables and pair it with plastic stools by the window side so we could have a wonderful dinner with scenic view of the night sky wonderfully lit by stars, plaza light and church light.

Pancit Canton Regular (350 php)

I think this is hands down the tastiest Pancit Canton I've ever had.  And, look at the toppings... so many!

Pang-himagas/Desserts

Turon sa Saba (120 php)

Tsinoy Foodies Verdict
If you're looking for heart warming dishes from the Northern Philippine provinces, Naimas Taste of Home should definitely be on top of your list.  Just expect the dishes to have a bolder taste and flavor than its native counterparts.  But, based on the impressions of my fellow diners, they seem to like it better.

It was a holiday break and I would personally love to enjoy a relaxing day at home.  But... that's not what happened because my mom spontaneously informed us that we are going to Tagaytay in search for the best bulalo.  No, we're not trying all the bulalo places in Tagaytay in a day.  We just take our time and try one bulalo place in every visit.  On our way to Tagaytay, the siblings and I googled for the best bulalo place in Tagaytay and there seems to be many mentions on Mer-Ben Tapsilogan.

Because of the term tapsilogan, we were looking for a low-key small-scale canteen like place just like the humble taposilgans in Manila.  But lo and behold, Mer-Ben Tapsilogan seems to be a huge enterprise.  There's a big space for parking lot.  There are lots of dried tawilis vendors.  We actually bought some 3 for 100 php packs.  We were told by the vendor "Madali lang lutuin yan maam.  Tabang yan walang alat basta lagyan lang ng itlog at flour" (That's easy to cook maam.  That's not salted so just put egg and flour).  When we cooked it, we were surprised that it was saltier than dried tuyo so we gave it away.   Anyway, back to Mer-Ben... There's another restaurant beside this but with no parking space and it's also Mer-ben.
 
There's also a souvenir shop. 



There are a lot of huts from small to big where you can dine.  If you decide to eat in the huts, you can be serenaded by the these guys.

We opted to go inside.

We passed by their food display.

This is where we settled in. 


It has a good view as you can see the lake at the distance.



We would see the huts from there.  And being higher and open-air, it was so cold!

Food

Specialties

Extra Special Bulalo M (360 php)

Number 1 on our agenda list is to order the Extra Special Bulalo.  We ate this fast without a moment to spare because it got cold pretty fast.  We loved the tenderness and portion of the meat.  But, the family was not satisfied with the flavor of the broth.

Fried

♥ Crispy Tawilis (160 php)

We also ordered Crispy Tawilis.  Surprisingly, the family enjoyed this more than the bulalo.  We ordered another of this.

Tsinoy Foodies Verdict
Sad to say, the best bulalo is not here in Mer-Ben Tapsilogan. Being on the upper floor, we also found it difficult to call the staffs attention.  I'd only recommend this place if you're all for the ambiance or no place is open yet because this is open 24 hours.