LZM Restaurant

There was a long holiday coming up and I decided to take some time off from work to go the Philippines. I just joined the company for less than a year, fortunately, they allowed me to take some time off. I’m glad that they are flexible with that, other companies probably only let you take leave after a year of service. I was also glad to know that my new colleagues were very nice and friendly folk. It probably helps that I already knew some of them even before I joined. Anyway, I hastily purchased a ticket back to the Philippines to get away from Singapore for a while. Yes, I had just been to China six months back but the routine of work was really getting to me.

The trouble with going back to the Philippines, is that most of the people I know here probably don’t have time to meet up with visitors since they will be working. So I normally time my vacation one the weekend so that I would be able to drag them out to eat or something. A friend of mine who has been raving about this place in Tagaytay was free and I had to go all the way to his place in Alabang to meet up with him. Horrible traffic at Bicutan aside, I managed to find my way to Alabang in one piece. We picked up another friend of ours in Sta. Rosa and we were off to Tagaytay. It has been years since I have been to this city on the edge of a volcanic ridge. I always liked coming here but it wasn’t exactly very easy without my own car. Fortunately, we have one and within a short time we were there.

LZM is to the right of the roundabout at Tagaytay city, opposite the just as famous Leslie’s restaurant. We came here for LZM so I can know how good this place really is. My friend knows that Filipino food isn’t exactly my favorite food, but I won’t shy away from it either. The boneless milkfish here in LZM is very famous so we had that an some beef bone soup or bulalo, which is a Tagaytay specialty, and of course more healthy stuff, crispy pork leg or crispy pata probably one of my favorite Filipino dish of all time.

The star of the show was the boneless milkfish or bangus. This was probably the largest boneless milkfish I have ever seen. And to quote my friend, it is just like steak. True enough, it was larger than any steak I have seen. The fish is fried to a wonderfully golden brown and the meat itself is very tasty. I think it was lime they used hear to give it such flavor but I may be wrong. There is no need for sauce on this one as it is already very tasty. Probably the best boneless milkfish I have ever had. No wonder my friend who doesn’t like boneless milkfish says he come here just to eat it.

The beef bone soup or bulalo is a wonderfully sinful dish made from boiling a large beef bone. The resulting broth is a flavorful concoction of beef essence and the best part, marrow. The marrow of the bone here is the most coveted/derided part, depending on who you are asking. The marrow is shaken or scooped out of the bone and it has a jelly like consistency. It is also very tasty just bear in mind that this is very unhealthy. Once in a while surely won’t hurt. Beef bone soup is famous in Tagaytay and it is probably available everywhere in the city. It is nice to be sipping your warm bulalo soup while overlooking the beautiful Taal volcano in the nice cool mountain weather.

Last but not the least is the crispy pata. While it wasn’t exactly their specialty. I think they did a decent job for the crispy pork leg. An entire pork leg is deep fried until a crispy golden texture. The meat is marinated beforehand to give it flavor. I have had very good crispy pork leg elsewhere and the meat we so nice. The meat here in LZM didn’t have that nice flavoring but the meat was still very tender and as some people say, still very porky.

I enjoyed my visit at LZM Restaurant. I have only been to this branch but they have another branch in Silang, Cavite. I only caught a glimpse of the restaurant as I groggily woke up in the bus. However, both restaurants are still not easy for me to get to as both require long travel times and possibly a car. I will have to remember that when I next drop by the Philippines, to make a beeline for LZM.

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