THE DRUNKEN PIG: Road Trip To Near The Sky Bulalo

Last weekend, T and I met up with some of our best buddies and went to an impromptu road trip to Tagaytay to visit our favorite bulalo place which for us, serves the best bulalo in this part of town. A hole-in-the-wall type of joint candidly called Near The Sky Bulalo.

If you have been following my blog, you might have noticed that hole-in-the-wall places always had a special place in my heart. Near The Sky Bulalo is one of those places, it's a no-frills joint that offers affordable and delicious food combined with an amazing view of Taal Lake.

You'll enjoy this view while eating inside the restaurant along with the cool Tagaytay breeze. The place is located at the side of the road adjacent to the Tagaytay Radar Station which I think is one of the highest areas of the cliff.

The dishes are served family style and everything is good for sharing. We started off with my favorite Crispy Tawilis (P175). The crispy crust on the outside provides a good coating for the soft and delicate meat inside. (Oh BTW, I might be a bit off with the price of the dishes as I lost some parts of my notes but its right around that spectrum).

Next was their Inihaw na Liempo (P250). It was a huge piece of uncut liempo marinated and grilled to perfection. It was well marinated that you don't even have to dip it in the accompanying sauce. The meat was so soft and succulent that this dish got demolished in a matter of minutes.

And of course we had to order one vegetable dish to lessen the guilt of eating these sinfully delicious dishes LOL. We ordered Chop Suey (P175) and it was surprisingly good and I liked it. And that's a lot coming from a carnivore like me.

Up next is the star of the long Sunday lunch, Near The Sky Bulalo cooks their Bulalo (P365) in a claypot using woodfire. The best thing about this is the claypot is able to retain the heat of the fire and keeps the soup boiling even when after being served at your table.

The soup is deliciously rich and packed with flavor. The beefiness of the hot soup is really good and is truly comforting and the nice thing about this place is you can even ask for a soup refill with no extra charge.

The beef was HUGE and can easily be shared by a group. The beef was full-flavored and meaty which is how a true bulalo should be. The meat was so soft, you don't even need a knife to cut the meat on your plate.

And of couse, a bulalo meal wouldn't be complete without the marrow which is oh so sinfully delicious. It's something that you know is bad for you but you still don't wanna stop eating it because it's just so good. A little drizzle of spicy fish sauce and calamansi dip and you're in heaven.

Overall, we all agreed that Near The Sky Bulalo is still our favorite bulalo spot in Tagaytay. The food was affordable and delicious. The dishes were served family style, the servings were huge not to mention the view and the laid back ambiance coupled with the cool breeze of Tagaytay. This place is definitely a winner.