Hawaiian Bar-B-Que
Back in the old days, Tagaytay was known as the back yard of the rich and famous. With weather that is almost like Baguio, it has an unraveled view of Tagaytay Volcano and its lake. And just when you thought, that Tagaytay changed with the massive development it has undergone, guess again. It still is, on average, an expensive place.
Unfortunately, high prices don’t necessarily mean great food. Thankfully we stumbled upon Hawaiian B-B-Q on our way home from Canyon Cove. It provided a refreshing take on barbecued food in a very conducive environment.
Table of Contents
Lousy Restaurant
We actually had that dilemma on our return to Canyon Cove as we ended up eating lunch in an expensive restaurant that prepared badly tasting food and delivered with terrible service. And though the view from the restaurant was spectacular, it really won’t lessen your hunger.
While we could have tried lunch at the multitude of restaurants that have mushroomed all over the place, the traffic just moving from one place to another just wasn’t worth it. So we buckled down and tried to order food that could not go wrong. But we didn’t have luck there as it the only thing that was good was the Bulalo Soup. And that was free.
After such a horrible meal, we just swore off eating lunch in Tagaytay on our return trip down to Metro Manila. We decided to eat lunch at Rose and Grace Restaurant down in Santa Rosa, Laguna.
But then we got caught in a combination of heavy traffic and of buying food from stalls by the side of the road. And before we knew it, it was nearly two o’clock in the afternoon.
[So much for eating somewhere nice.]
Desperate Measures
Not wanting to go back to the lousy restaurant the day before, I was open to suggestion. Then I remembered passing a colorful Hawaiian B-B-Q sign on our way up.
When I asked my wife if the place was any good, she said that her co-workers gave her positive feedback on the food.
So when I spotted the sign on the right, I parked in an empty space behind a car on the sloped parking area.
Before even getting down from the car, I will admit that I was intimidated by the front. It’s not that it looked bad, on the contrary, it looked expensive. And when I say expensive, it looked like someone would need to donate an organ to pay for the food here.
[But if we didn’t eat right now, we might start losing body parts to each other.]
Being famished beyond belief, we hungrily piled out of the car and made our way up the steps to enter the black doors within the white frontage.
My worry was that it would cost around PhP5,000 or more for five adults and a kid. And at that price,
I’m sure everyone was willing to wait another hour to get to Rose and Grace Restaurant.
[Sure, a couple of us may be missing a body part or two, but that’s what they mean by paying an arm and a leg for food.]
To our relief the food wasn’t in that range. And while it was pricey with meals being between PhP250 to PhP850, it wasn’t something to lose an organ over.
Dining Area
The covered dining area is roomy as the tables are spread far enough apart to allow people to walk. And since part one of the three sides is open to the mountain below, it takes advantage of the cool air. Not that it will be hot as there are four ceiling fans that were constantly running while we ate lunch.
The open dining area is composed of several-rattan style seats. There are large umbrellas to provide shelter from the sun or light drizzle. This one is the cozier of the two because of the seats that allow people to spread out and even put their feet up.
Service
The waiter that attended to us was very friendly and patient, allowing us to take our time in going through the menu.
When we asked for suggestions, he pointed out several options and ended with the one that gets ordered the most.
The other waiters were also quite attentive, making sure that our water glasses never stayed empty for very long.
Even preparing the food didn’t take a lifetime, which was our experience during lunch the day before.
Food
The name says it all, as the style of cooking is Hawaiian, which is just a fancy way of saying there are going to be a lot of Pineapples in our food.
[Yup, that’s me being blunt because I’m grumpy from all this hunger.]
Ah, but to our delight, the food didn’t look like a Pizza over decorated with yellow Pineapple just to balance the red Tomato sauce and yellow Cheese. The Pineapple were used skillfully used to add a different flavor to the food.
Since we were five regularly adults and a small child with big appetites, we wanted volume. Lots and lots of volume.
For the men, we ordered the Barbecue Platter that had a sample of everything in it. It contained smaller portions of Pork, Ribs, Chicken, Mussels, Corn, a Banana, and of course, slice of Pineapple.
We also had a medium order of Baby Back Ribs. The ladies balanced out our meal with an order of Stir Fry Vegetables and an order of Tawilis Fish, also called Taal’s Own. Then we rounded it off with just one order of pineapple rice.
[The idea was if the Pineapple rice was good, we’d get another order. If it wasn’t, then plain rice here we come.]
Well, the Pineapple rice was great and it only lasted one round. So before it was polished off, we made sure to order another one. And since the food didn’t take too long to prepare, we were happily on the final stretch of our extremely late lunch.
By the time the last spoon was laid to rest, the only thing that remained of the food was the banana.
Price
If you were as worried about donating any vital organs, then you can rest easy. You should be able to exit the place with everything intact.
However, that is not to say that the food was cheap. The way I see it, you don’t get to eat something this good without having to pay for it.
For five adults and a child, our bill was a tad under PhP 2,300, putting it at about PhP 460 per person; not exactly cheap.
But like a relative said to me a long time ago, eating tends to make-up a person’s most vivid memories. Just look at weddings. Years onward, no one really remembers how beautiful the bride or how dashing the groom was. But they will, more often than not, remember if the food was any good.
[I also helps that the lobby is very picturesque.]
So for this day, I will say that we made one heck of a memory that we’ll be referring to it for years to come.
Final Thoughts
Well, there you have it, a place that is finally worth going up to Tagaytay for. While it may not be cheap, the food is very good and you will end up making good memories in the process.
So if you happen to be staying in Tagaytay, or simply be passing through, try dropping by Hawaiian B-B-Q.
Don’t worry, they don’t take organs. They do, however, take credit cards if you are short on cash.
Till the next time, keep your appetites up, camera batteries fully charged, and your memory free because you may need them for the next place you visit!
