When there’s no time or budget to book a flight out of town, Tagaytay is an easy escape for Manila and Cavite dwellers such as myself. Depending on what day and time you go and how fast you drive, Tagaytay is between one to three hours away. My top restaurant choices there include Antonio’s, Sonia’s Garden, Tootsie’s, Memory Lane, and Bag of Beans. Two weeks ago, my family and I found a new restaurant to add to our list—Café Voila.
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After it opened in early 2015, this café and restaurant garnered positive reviews. The restaurant name didn’t actually come from the French exclamation, but from the Vietnamese word, “boi la,” which means “to cook with leaves.” That explains the Asian fusion menu and oriental interiors.
We first laid eyes on Café Voila en route to Tagaytay Highlands, where we spent the day swimming. For dinner, my sister suggested we try out that new restaurant at Crosswinds Swiss Luxury Residences.
Our menu picks—classic Thai dishes such as chicken satay and pad thai, longganisa pizza, and Vietnamese coffee. For dessert, we got Nutella cheesecake and Belgian chocolate gateau.
Like a true millennial Instagrammer, I went around the venue and snapped photos of resto owner Ica Manalo Sebastian’s collection of Southeast Asian souvenirs and furniture from her travels. If you read her letter on the first page of the menu, you’ll learn that she personally sources exotic ingredients from her travels, giving the recipes an authentic taste.
The manager asked me if I wanted a tour of the place, and of course I said yes. He took me to The Go Down, the tapas, wine, and beer bar next door, and humored my need to photograph every nook and cranny of the establishment.
We went there for dinner, but I’d love to come back during the daytime to enjoy the area’s lush landscape, a far cry from the eyesore that is SMDC’s Wind Residences, which has defaced the view of the other side of Tagaytay.
Café Voila is located at Crosswinds, Barangay Iruhin, Central Calamba Road, Tagaytay City. Tel. nos. +63905-331-4457 and +63918-372-7499.
Date of visit: April 24, 2016
🌴 Explore more of Tagaytay
Take this combination tour that allows you to drive to the city of Tagaytay for a panoramic view of Taal Lake and Volcano as well as see the highlights of the city.