Nicolas is back! (part 3)

[Clockwise from top left: Josephine's pinakbet (vegetable dish), bulalo (marrow soup), kare-kare and bagoong (ox tripe in peanut sauce and fish paste) and fried chicken]

Amidst monsoon rains, we decided to push through with our trip. Leaving Manila at about eight in the morning, we went to Nasugbu in Batangas to give our friend Nicolas a view of the beach. Knowing however how uncooperative the weather was for the day, we also planned our alternatives as we drove out of town.

True enough, as we reached Nasugbu at about eleven in the morning, the rain was still pouring. The beach was soaking wet, and the wind was whipping the waves to heights unseen in the normally calm Batangas waters. Entering the beach, we were actually warned against swimming too far from shore, as the undercurrent was dangerously strong. But then, with the rain pouring down like there’s no tomorrow, it was enough to make us abandon our original plans to take a dip, and decided to head back to Tagaytay instead.

Arriving at Tagaytay a good twenty minutes after we left Nasugbu, we went to the commercial complex where Robinsons Supermarket was. We got intrigued by a little shop upstairs (we forgot the name, sorry), which sold Filipino handicrafts and products. Our friend Nicolas took this as a chance to purchase a shirt with a Filipino flag (Php 320.00), while we purchased a Pinikpikan CD (Php 450.00), which was hard to find in usual stores.

We proceeded straight to Josephine’s Restaurant at the other side of the road. What was very interesting about Josephine’s was Nicolas actually read about it on his travel guide, and was quite intrigued by it. Of course, since we knew that food at Josephine’s was good – it was actually cited by the Philippine Tatler as one of the best restaurants in the country – we brought him there, confident that he would like it.

So, for starters, we had some bulalo soup (Php 425.00, good for 3-4 people), which was composed of choice beef, bone marrow and vegetables in stock. Josephine’s bulalo was really good, and it warmed us up as the rains came on full blast outside. The beef was just tender, the soup so flavorful, it whetted our appetite for more.

We also had some fried chicken (about Php 400.00, good for 3-4 people) and pinakbet (Php 195.00, good for 2-3 people), which had native vegetables like squash, string beans, bitter gourd, among others, bound by a shrimp paste sauce. By my request, we also ordered my favorite dish of all time, kare-kare (Php 360.00, good for 2-3 people), beef with tripe and tail, added with eggplant, banana hearts, and string beans, in a thick, delicious peanut sauce.

With perfectly steamed rice (Php 70.00, good for 2-3 people), and their own iced tea (Php 70.00 a glass), I proceeded to feast on the kare-kare. Their kare-kare was just divine, and it reminded me of special occasions (like my birthday, for one) where my only wish was to have it with rice and bagoong (shrimp paste). Being my absolute favorite, I consumed almost half of it before having the other food on our table!

As usual, having Nicolas on board, we had another long, satisfying meal. Starting our lunch at about 1:30 in the afternoon, we stayed for more than two hours, just whiling away our time exchanging stories, laughing and enjoying our food. It was just a refreshing change from our busy lives, so we wanted to stay more in Tagaytay. Hence, we went somewhere else for our coffee and dessert, and we proceeded to Bag of Beans.

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