Awesome Antonio's!

There are several pockets of beauty in this country. And by pockets, I could mean experiences, views, inexpensive luxuries, etc. Last week, we were able to experience, for a second time, the most exquisite restaurant we have found in the Philippines, called Antonio's. It is located in Tagatay, 1 1/2 - 3 hours from Manila. Such a wide range as traffic is truly that unpredictable. Last Friday it took us 2 hours to get down there. This restaurant is in the open-air, has amazing food, indirect lighting reminiscent of candle light, and great service. It was a bit of spontaneity that we went there. See, our friend, Corrine, who used to live in Manila, came back for a visit last week. We met her for the first time on our first visit to Antonio's, so in honor of that awesome event, she insisted we take a trip down nostalgia road (no lanes here!).

As per our last trip to Antonio's we grabbed some bottles of wine and some plastic cups and we were off on a road trip at 5:30pm! We pulled into Antonio's at 7:30pm, just in time for our reservations, and were soon greeted by Antonio himself who raved about a few of his appetizers (beef tartar and roasted bone marrow!). Seriously, it is exquisite cuisine, these are the stranger things on the menu. In the spirit of adventure, we tried both of these and an additional appetizer. The tartar was AWESOME! The bone marrow was good as well, but not as good as the tartar.

Bone Marrow Appetizer

We spent 2 1/2 glorious hours enjoying great friends (along with Corrine were Kit and Paul, who also went on the original trip!), great food and good wine. We were fortunate in having exceptional weather as well. I would guess it was 85 with a gentle breeze. The atmosphere is quiet, romantic, soothing and divine all wrapped in one. I thank Corrine for forcing me to be spontaneous as I am usually quite grateful for the experience! We cannot wait to go again and hope we have some visitors to share in this pocket of beauty with us next time!

From Left to Right: Paul, myself, Kit, Corrine and Curt