Pamana Restaurant, Tagaytay

In the past few years, a number of new establishments have sprouted up in Tagaytay again. Pamana is a fairly new restaurant on the ridge owned by a lady named Happy Ongpauco, who belongs to the family that owns Barrio Fiesta, the Singing Cooks and Waiters Restaurant and a few more others (really good Filipino food). Here on the ridge. they have Pamana and Hawaiian BBQ, and also a 7-bedroom inn called The Boutique.

"Pamana" translates into "inheritance".  Vintage pictures of  family and friends are hanging on the wall, and furniture castaways from their ancestral homes create an vintage eclectic ambience. Some particular items are labeled with names of grandparents, aunts and uncles.

The effect is cozy and well, homey.

 

We dropped by at 10 am on a Thursday morning, so it was empty. But Jim, the waiter who showed us around said that their peak times are of course on weekends.

Going up to the main dining area, passing this gallery wall and this French-looking chandelier..

One one side of the restaurant is the busy 2-lane national highway that leads you to Batangas, and in the other direction, back to Manila. Yes, you read right.."very busy 2-lane national highway"... You have to know the best hours to navigate Tagaytay or you could get stuck on that ridge road for a couple of hours just going from one end to the other!

The other side of the restaurant (and other establishments on the ridge actually) has the view of the beautiful Taal lake. It  is absolutely stunning on a clear day, and on a rainy day, I'm sure it's romantic and cool. There is also a third floor, and it looks like it's more for drinks and hanging out.

The menu features a very extensive list of Filipino dishes. The menu looked old--as in nostalgic, and also old, as in 'can be replaced to look newer'. I think it would be a nicer effect if they paid attention to their menu, made a shorter list of their super specialties and then printed them up nicely. Maybe they have a hard time choosing which are their favorites. Filipino restaurants really pile on the choices.

I also took pictures of the article they had posted on the wall--since I couldn't stay long enough to read through it, I thought I'd just shoot it to read later on. I tend to do this a lot also when I'm traveling. I shoot the text in buildings and museums. It helps me remember things.

They have a little boutique on the ground floor selling little gift and bottled food items. Glad I stopped by. Next time I have to try a meal here.

Powder room on the ground floor

I forgot to take a photo of the frontage, but here is one of their sign along the road.

And look, they even got this award from the Philippine Tatler magazine..