We were on our annual daytrip to Tagaytay with my parents, and as usual, we were unprepared on where we would eat. I’ve tried bringing them to the Mahogany Market bulaluhan the year before, but they don’t seem to fancy the food being hawked there.
With a couple of hours to spare en route, I Googled for some of the most interesting places to eat in Tagaytay—there are a lot, but I’m particularly looking for a somewhat inexpensive one. What I found was a pancit batil patong place in Tagaytay, with prices that seemed friendly enough.
So, before heading to the Tagaytay City Hall, which is what we really came to the city for, we stopped at MASINGngo Restaurant first for lunch.
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| MASINGNGO RESTAURANT IN TAGAYTAY |
The restaurant is located right along Tagaytay’s main highway overlooking the Taal Volcano. A huge sign announcing that they have Tuguegarao’s Best Pancit Batil Patong and Garlic Longganisa greeted us upon alighting from our car. Being a pancit batil patong addict, this is definitely my kind of place.
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| MASINGNGO’S INDUSTRIAL LOOK INTERIORS |
The main dining hall for MASINGngo Tagaytay is located on the second floor, probably to have a better vantage of Taal Volcano. The restaurant has an industrial modern look with its white walls, huge industrial type droplights, bare concrete floor, and bare insulated ceiling. Wooden fluted wall accent and furniture, and a machuca-esque black and white tiles help cozy up the space.
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| A VIEW OF TAAL VOLCANO |
And of course, being located along the Tagaytay ridge, one side of the restaurant has windows overlooking the Taal Volcano. The only thing missing was a balcony with al fresco seats.
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| INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO EAT PANCIT BATIL PATONG |
MASINGngo in Ibanag, the language in Tuguegarao, means masarap or delicious. And indeed, the restaurant’s owner hails from Tuguegarao. Besides pancit batil patong and Tuguegarao longganisa, they also offer dinakdakan and Isabela’s famous pancit cabagan. I was also on the lookout for packs of Chicharabao chicharon, but they said they have none.
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| TUGUEGARAO’S BEST PANCIT BATIL PATONG IN TAGAYTAY |
After fussing over their menu, we ordered their Sizzling Crispy Sisig, Bangusilog, Budok’s Chicken Inasal with Rice, Tuguegarao Garlic Longganisa, Pancit Batil Patong, and of course, MASINGngo Special Bulalo. Some of the dishes don’t have rice bundled with them, so we needed to purchase a few separately. I kinda didn’t like that they don’t sell rice per cup though—you’d have to get their unli-rice, which is expensive at ₱48.00 for plain rice and ₱68.00 for garlic rice.
Actually, I was a bit surprised with their prices, for it’s a bit far from the bang-for-the-buck prices I saw on menus I found online, which apparently were outdated now.
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| KID A ON MASINGNGO’S FREE VIDEOKE |
The restaurant has a free videoke for guests waiting for their food to arrive. Nevertheless, it didn’t take long before our dishes were slid down our table.
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| SIZZLING CRISPY SISIG ~ ₱388.00 |
First on the table was their Sizzling Crispy Sisig (₱388.00). It isn’t served with rice, and has a typical serving size for sizzling plate sisigs—good enough for two people. The sisig was a mix of crispy and soft pork, really savory with a smoky taste, and wasn’t really that spicy—unless you actually eat the chili. It doesn’t have an egg on top, but was lathered with a generous dose of mayonnaise—Kapampangans might be only half-love this one, but I fully dig it, lol.
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| BANGUSILOG ~ ₱198.00 |
I then tried a bite of their Bangusilog (₱198.00). It’s actually only half a bangus, but the size was big enough for one person. The deep-fried breaded bangus was good enough and was served with fried egg, kropek, and iced tea or coffee.
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| BUDOK’S CHICKEN INASAL WITH RICE ~ ₱198.00 |
Their Budok’s Chicken Inasal with Rice (₱198.00) was also good, although it doesn’t seem to be freshly grilled. It comes with a helping of chicken oil and, strangely, bagoong or shrimp paste. It’s the first time I’ve encountered a chicken inasal with bagoong.
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| SPECIAL BULALO, LARGE ~ ₱888.00 |
And of course, yes, we also ordered the requisite Tagaytay Special Bulalo (₱888.00, large), which was shared by the whole gang—free soup refill too. It has the usual corn, Baguio beans, pechay Baguio, and fall-off-the-bone tender beef. It’s delicious, as bulalo dishes always are.
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| TUGUEGARAO GARLIC LONGGANISA ~ ₱348.00 |
And on to my order of Tuguegarao Garlic Longganisa (₱348.00). According to the menu, it’s supposed to be served with four pieces of Tuguegarao Longganisa, KBL or kamatis, bagoong, lasona, salted duck egg, and bagoong isda or fermented fish bagoong. Indeed, I received four well-cooked longganisa, a small plate of chopped tomato, onion, and halved salted duck egg, but no bagoong isda.
MASINGngo’s Tuguegarao carabeef garlic longganisa was extremely good. And why won’t it be, they said they have it shipped straight from Tuguegarao City itself. The outer crust was crisply fried, the insides were deliciously malabo or soft. It went really well with the KBL and vinegar, sans the bagoong. My only gripe was its serving size—for its price, four pieces is quite measly, definitely bitin! They do have a ten-piece serving of this without rice for ₱498.00 and also a frozen version for pasalubong. Expensive stuff.
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| PANCIT BATIL PATONG SPECIAL ~ ₱288.00 |
And finally, what I went here for, MASINGngo’s Pancit Batil Patong Special (₱288.00). It has no bean sprouts but has a good variety of toppings—carrots, Baguio beans, pork liver, crisply fried pork lechon kawali, lumpiang shanghai, chicharon bulaklak. It has the requisite egg patong and a really good batil soup.
On my first forkful, it does taste like Tuguegarao’s famed pancit batil patong, but I noticed that the miki seemed different. Apparently, they don’t get their noodles from Tuguegarao and use their own homemade miki instead. They also use beef instead of carabeef.
For its price, I find the size to be a bit small, but taste-wise, it is a good enough pancit batil patong fix, especially since it’s in Tagaytay—quite a long ways away from Tuguegarao City. Masingngo, indeed.
MASINGngo Restaurant Tagaytay MENU
Pet Policy: Pet Friendly
Address: Tagaytay Highway, Mendez Crossing East, Tagaytay City, Cavite
Contact Number: +63 (917) 640-2029 | Facebook
Opening Hours: 8:00AM to 9:00PM, Daily
GPS Coordinates Map: 14.098714, 120.922239
