Adobo Pasta – Php228
Another must-try at The Wild Juan is their Adobo Pasta, which piqued my interest… This one has hints of coconut cream, which they used as base and served with adobo flakes on top.
If you’re into crispy adobo flakes, you have to come here at least once because they serve them really crispy and flavorful.
Gumbo-Lalo – Php528
We also had their house original Gumbo-Lalo. If you’re looking for something beyond the “Special Bulalo” or “Extra Special Batangas Bulalo”, then you’re in the right place. Gumbo- Lalo is a chunky, beef shank stew with bone marrow, but with a beef-based gumbo sauce. It’s kinda weird at first, but the mix of spicy gumbo and beef will definitely grow on you. It’s great with rice, but I prefer it partnered with their handcrafted beers as pulutan, particularly with the Juan Brew.
Chef Marcial shared that Tagaytay may be famous for bulalo, and that every other restaurant you will encounter going up to Tagaytay will have some sort of “Special Bulalo, Extra Special Bulalo”. That’s why they decided to go original, with their wordplay dish of Gumbo-Lalo coming to life.
As I said earlier, The Wild Juan offers craft brews, and they are currently retailing The Juan Brew and Pedro Brew. I’m not an expert on beer, as all I know is to chug the thing, but I did taste the Juan Brew and thought it was a 100 times better in flavor (bitterness?) than the usual Pinoy beer.
We had lunch there, and the best thing about this restaurant is that, if you get too clingy with Tagaytay’s cool breeze and awesome views, you can opt to stay the night. The Wild Juan has an affordable Bed and Breakfast Inn, which caters to walk-in guests and is perfect for big groups or family getaways who want to chill. I recommend that you make a reservation for peak seasons like we did, by the way.
We got a room with a king-sized bed, and asked for a foldable one for my kid’s nanny. The suite is quite roomy, even with 3 adults and a couple of makulit na kids on the side. It comes with a mini bar, cable flat screen TV and an electric fan.
We didn’t really get to use the said electric fan, though, because the breeze of Tagaytay was enough to ventilate the room and keep it cool. The CR is great, too, because it has the usual essentials, except for toothbrushes and toothpaste. It also has a heater and is well maintained.
A room in The Wild Juan’s Bed and Breakfast Inn gets you complimentary breakfast for 2.
They have an array of breakfast dishes to choose from, but what I recommend (these are also kid friendly) are the Adobo Flakes Breakfast Combo (Php 198.00), their Chicken and Pancakes (Php 228.00) and Risotto sa Gata (Php 218.00).