Reviews Taalena Restaurant

Great ambiance and accommodating staffs!! :) great place to chill they offer beers also. 🥰

Their bulalo's main ingredient is pepper! Lol. We loved the kare kare & canton. Hmm Sisig is fine but not too crispy. I wasn't able to take a photo of their Chicken Bbq because it was served to us after we ate all the food. Kaloka diba. The ambience here is beautiful too, except that there's too many bugs. Ugh. (or maybe its just because we went there dinner time, pero kahit na) rating it 3.5 coz some food are good but there are some No No for me.

We had lunch at Taalena this holiday season. We had sinigang na salmon, inihaw na maliputo, and laing. While the dishes we ordered are pretty much regular Filipino fare, the meals were lovingly cooked. Ingredients were fresh. Restaurant was clean. Service was good. The place also boasts of a scenic view of Taal volcano, which makes it very romantic and had a refreshing ambience.

Taaleña has one of the best sweeping views of Taal Lake from its garden and balcony seating.
Tucked away from the main highway, Taaleña feels like a rundown "barrio fiesta" type of a restaurant which might be appealing for people looking for an unpretentious place to just chill and enjoy what Tagaytay has to offer.

Get their crispy fried tawilis which I like with some calamansi rather than the vinegar dip. The sisig is nice and meaty. And also try the crispy Crablets too.

Pros: The ambience is great, plus good food. Perfect view of Taal Volcano. Great way to celebrate me and my mom's birthday at your place! 👍🏽👍🏽👏🏽

Cons: Waiters are hard to find especially if we want to place an additional order or iced tea refill (sarap ng iced tea eh😂)

Travel + Food? Who will refuse that? Since I've given birth to my twins, I set aside my travel plans. Yeah I miss a lot of travelling especially if you are with your friends but because of a lot of priorities, it can wait. Then enter an invitation from my Zomato family! A foodie meetup not in the Metro but in Tagaytay! Yahoo! So armed with my big appetite, iPhone and a blazer we headed to Tagaytay for a foodie escapade! Our destination was in Taaleña.

For me, Tagaytay is still one of the best places to go to if you want to have a quick getaway and a change of scenery from the everyday city life. It is also, still one of the romantic places in the Philippines, in my opinion. All the green surroundings, the soothing sceneries and the crisp cool breeze are what people from the nearby towns and cities escape to this mountain retreat.

Taaleña commands one of the best views of Taal Lake without obstructing the view from Tagaytay Ridge. In addition, it is a two-level restaurant; the lower level has its own deck and playground area, which Taaleña doesn't charge to access, so you can stay the whole afternoon and let the kids play.

It offers classic Filipino and Batangas specialties - from Ensaladang Talong, to Filipino style fried chicken, crispy pata, tortang talong, and kare-kare. What I recommend you try are their more unique Batangas dishes, like adobong dilaw, made yellow with turmeric, cooked the way they make it in Taal Town, the owners say; their crunchy, tasty crispy crablets, done just right; and authentic tawilis sardines that only come from Taal Lake. In doubt that they're the original? The owners say they'd never waste money on regular sardines, since they order in the hundreds of kilos, and I believe them. The fried tawilis, taste light, with the right amount of saltiness, and their skin doesn't puff up the same way tuyo (also made with sardines) will do. 

Of the other dishes, I liked the bulalo, and the kare-kare; play a little with the flavors of regular bagoong and Bagoong Balayan, which they also serve. There is a squid and garlic rice that is a meal in itself. Buko fried rice is conceptually interesting, but I didn't find it tasted of buko or coconut. 

Desserts are more of the classics, like leche flan, ube halaya, their breaded suman rice pops, and their Suman Batangas, which is cooked in a mix of both salt and sugar. 

And just like the other restaurants on the ridge, they have a combanchero band who plays at each table.  It's sort of touristy, but hey, I love it anyway. They know current pop songs, they know the 60s and 70s standards, and they sure sing the Beatles well. 

Don't forget to bring a shawl or a sweater to keep you cool on windy, rainy days, as they get a fair amount of breeze. The food's not bad - get the crablets and the tawilis. The view's spectacular. 

To my friends at Zomato - and I now find I have many - again thanks for the cordial invitation.

The Food Crawlers | TFC Dennis Carlson Lim | TFC What The F | TFC Richard Allan Co | TFC Nicole Faller Iza Gram EATer.PH Empress Lai Kudarat Neri Ann Sand Under My Feet Trisha Garcia

This place is a one stop resto in tagaytay: Fresh air, Cool temperature, Great View of the Taal Volacno and of course food!

The cool breeze continously maintains a comfortable temprerature outside the restaurant and so we decided to have our lunch foodie meet up outside ( veranda area ).

It was a feast for everyone. Having the opportunity to go out of town and enjoy the day with fellow foodies!

I started with their Bulalo soup and it was verygood! This was expected since tagaytay is the home of the best bulalo!
Next was their Ensaladang talong - i loved the crunchy mangoes that goes well with the soft talong.
Karekare - I find the sauce a bit thin and sweet. I wanted to add a little thickness. And with their bagoong, They need to improve on this. A good sample is the Barrio Fiesta bagoong.
Torta - I would love to add more salt and I find it just ordinary.
Pancit - Kumpleto rekados! Out of all the dishes served to us, this was the best one for me! ***
Chicken - reminded me of max chicken but the taaleña chicken was better because it was less oily.
Sisig and Adobong dilaw was just fine, same with their Coconut rice, Calamari fried rice.

Crunchy suman sa gata, Ube and Tawilis - are also a must try in this resto. Last but not the least, their Fruit platter - pineapple was not sweet although presentation wise everything passed. They just need to be consistent at some points.

Thank you tita lil and zomato for having us! :)
Food are all Complimentary

Last March 3, 2016, I was invited by Zomato for an exclusive foodie meet up at.. guess where??? TAGAYTAY!! Of course, I wouldn't pass this chance to be able to try restaurants outside Manila.

Taalena is a Filipino cuisine restaurant located in Tagaytay. According to the owner, they've been running this restaurant for already 10 years.

Place is very spacious and has a nice Filipino themed decors.

The restaurant has 2 floors. You'll pass by the nice stairs going down the first floor.

The first floor was unoccuppied when we went there. The garden or open space is also located on the first floor. You'll see the dining area, kitchen, bar and the balcony on the 2nd floor.

We sat at the balcony, overlooking the beauty of Taal. Dishes were immediately placed when we get there. Yay!

Here's what we ate:

*Appetizer
Crispy Tawilis (Php210)
- Crispy. Crunchy. Easy to chew. Yummy.

Crispy Crablets (Php220)
- I do have allergy to seafoods especially if not fresh. I ate lots of their Crispy Crablets as it was tasty and delish. I can say that their crablets were fresh as I didn't experienced any allergies. And yes, definitely my fave from their restau!! :)

Sizzling Pork Sisig (Php275)
- Their sisig was okay, just like a normal sisig we eat.

*Salad
Mangga & Bagoong Salad (Php125)
- The mangga was a bit sour for my taste or maybe because they lack saltiness to their bagoong? I was looking for something more salty and sweet from their bagoong.

*Soup
Bulalong Batangas (Php555)
- I was able to taste the Bulalo soup and yes it was really tasty even for the soup itself. Take note, it wasn't warm when I tasted this one but it's still good.

*Entree:
Adobo sa Dilaw (Php265)
- You might ask, why yellow? Why does it look like a curry? It's because it they put on Turmeric for this adobo dish. I appreciate that it was tasty but I can't help but to think that this is an adobo and not a curry.

Crispy Pata (Php595)
- For me their Crispy Pata is a bit dry.

Fried Chicken (Half - Php340, Whole - Php650)
- Same as crisy pata, I find this dish a bit dry.

Kare Kare (Php450)
- I love Karekare so I was really expecting a lot from this dish as it looks appetizing. But their Karekare lacks the peanut taste and it's a bit liquidy. For a karekare, I want something thick with the peanut taste with it. I find their bagoong not too salty for my taste. Though I really liked the veggies included.

Mixed Pansit (Pansit Bihon & Canton Php260)
- No need for calamansi as their pansit itself is already tasty. This is also one of my fave dishes from them.

Tortang Talong (Php215)
- I dunno what other ingredients they used for this as I find this one tasty than my usual tortang talong. Yum!

Steam Rice (Php45)
Buko Fried Rice (Php265)

Calamares Fried Rice (Php230)
- From the name of the dish itself, I was expecting more calamares flavor on the rice.

*Dessert
Fruit Platter (Php195)
- I really liked the fruit platter for the last dessert served. After eating a heavy lunch, I find the fruits very refreshing to eat.

*Drinks
Taalena Iced Tea (Php75)
- I liked that their Taalena Ice Tea is very tasty and has a distinct flavor. Most of the foodies find this iced tea very delish but I find it a bit sweet for my taste.

*Extra
Suman sa Lihiya (Php115)
Leche Flan (Php115)
Ube Macapuno Medley (Php140)
Suman sa Gata (Php115)
- I find ALL of the desserts served very GOOD. Not too sweet for me. But the best one for me is the Suman sa Gata that comes with a chocolate dip. Grabe heaveeen!!!!

The were also lots of positive thoughts I wanna share about this restaurant.
1. I'm a very picky eater and I'm not into Filipino foods but surprisingly, Taalena offers us different Filipino dishes to which I did liked.
2. They still have wide variety of Filipino dishes to choose from besides from what we ate.
3. The food was served immediately upon our arrival and all of us took photos of the dishes before eating. Even though it took us a while before we ate the food, all of the dishes served were still good. Even the Bulalo was good even if it's not that hot anymore.
4. We didn't use any condiments as the dishes were already good as it were.
5. The ambiance, the breezy wind and the view at the balcony is a great factor for me.
6. The 3 musicians who sang for us were very entertaining for me. They really represent how Filipinos are, musically inclined and jolly.
7. And last but not the least, the owners were very nice, approachable and hospitable.

Honestly, I've read negatives reviews of their restaunt even before we came to this place. So I wasn't really expecting that much from their restau. But suprisingly, I think most of us find their dishes really good. Very nice place and superb foods from Taalena. This place is perfect for balikbayans, foreigners and for family. But of course, I would really recommend Taalena to everyone.

Thank you so much Zomato for bringing us for an out-of-town trip at Taalena in Tagaytay. And Thank you also to the owners of Taalena for being so kind to us. Can't wait to be back :) Neri Ann Empress Lai Kudarat EATer.PH Dennis Carlson Lim | TFC Richard Allan Co | TFC Sand Under My Feet What The F | TFC Marianne In Manila

Even though Tagaytay is one of the "gasgas" destinations out of the metro, I still love going there every now and then because of its breeze and because of Good Shepherd! No need to go to Baguio! :p Anyway, I was extremely thrilled when I received the invite to Taaleña! Many thanks, Zomato! 

Food is generally best eaten when newly cooked or freshly prepared, and at Taaleña, a lot of their dishes tasted good even when already cold. I particularly enjoyed the adobo sa dilaw, which I thought was curry at first because of its color (due to the turmeric). I also loved the bulalo Batangas, grabe, the soup alone is so good, I consider it ulam (viand) na! I love how it pairs with the calamares rice and buko rice! I also appreciate the fact that the vegetables in the bulalo weren't soggy and had a nice crunch to them. 

Another indication that a dish tastes great is if few or no condiments are used, and I believe no one at our table used any, save for calamansi for the mixed pancit. The crunchy crablets and tawilis didn't need any vinegar as they were already flavorful on their own, and even though they're listed as appetizers, I gladly ate them with rice! (Grabe no naenjoy ko talaga kanin nila haha) The tortang talong is also worth mentioning because of its meaty goodness and I enjoyed making "papak" this! 

I find the mixed pancit a little salty, while the fried chicken and crispy pata were a bit dry, in my opinion. I was also disappointed with the pineapples in the fruit platter because they weren't sweet. The mangoes and sunkist, however, were quite good and refreshing. I am not a fan of suman lihiya, but I truly enjoyed the suman sa gata, especially when dipped in its chocolate sauce!

Overall, it was such a pleasant dining experience, made more special by our hosts - the people behind Taaleña, including THE Taaleña herself. It was also enjoyable because of the band who could still improve in terms of their knowledge of lyrics and variety of songs. And of course, being with fellow Zomato foodies is always a great plus!

Been in this place 3 times already, I really love the view and the ambiance. 

Food:  We enjoyed the Bulalo here, but the serving wasn't that many. The Calamares though was good so as the Sinigang na Sugpo. 

Service: Service was okay, though some of the staff were absentminded, we had to repeat our requests (like water, slice the eggplants, extra spoon and fork etc.)

Place: They have a great view of Taal Volcano. The place is also huge, it's like a big house. There are lots of seats available, perfect for events. The place is clean.

It's a bit pricey, but it's not just the food you're paying for, it's also the ambiance. If you wanted to enjoy your Bulalo while relaxing and staring at the scenic Taal volcano, this is the place to be.