Good Food in Antonio’s

I was 45 minutes late for my luncheon meeting last Thursday. I was supposed to pick them up from their office at 11:30 am but I arrived at 12:15 pm.

Although there was no traffic in EDSA and Slex, there were several trucks crawling along Sta. Rosa- Tagaytay Road. We couldn’t overtake because of incoming vehicles, tricycles.  Kaya ako na late.

I brought the three ladies to Antonio’s last Thursday to treat them to good food. I wanted to have a nice and quiet lunch with them while we finalize a pending transaction.

I’ve met with them a couple of times in the past three months and I was hoping this would be our final meeting. We usually meet at their office and this was the very first time that we’re meeting outside, upon my invitation.

We’re not close friends (yet), I’ve just met them a few months ago. They couldn’t order baka nahihiya kasi acquaintances pa lang kami.

Actually, if one is new or first timer in this restaurant and not familiar yet with Antonio’s menu list and prices, you could have a traumatic experience especially if you think you would be the one to pay for your meal.
The first thing that your eyes would notice when you open the leather-bound menu is the P15,400 (+-) price tag for a steak meal. Dyan pa lang, ma-cho-choke ka na.
Atras, retreat and surrender. Do not attempt to bring a date to Antonio’s if you don’t have 10,000 cash in your wallet and make sure you have 3 credit cards with you with at least 20,000 credit limit. Remember, Antonio’s is the number one restaurant in Tagaytay. It’s fine dining, which means fine paying. Kung wala kang ibubuga, magpansit lomi na lang kayo sa may Rotonda. Mabuti pa yan mainitan ang sikmura mo. Bulalo? Mas mahal yan. Lomi na lang.

We had no reservations but we got a table. The place was quiet, not full.
Advise: Always make prior reservations. Many people have been turned away.

Nene and I ordered pasta with seafood, while Annette and Nida ordered organic fried chicken with french fries.

I finished my salad. I looked at all their plates, nope, plenty of left-over.

I scooped my soup up to the last drop. The bowl naman was considerably small.

I finished this up to the last strand of pasta. Nene ate only a third.

After Annette saw how big the chicken leg was, she told Nida “dapat pala naghati na lang tayo”.

Our meals came with salad, soup and dessert. Their guyabano sorbet is my favorite.

Annette ordered this divine-looking dessert but she didn’t finish it.

Nene didn’t eat this. She only tasted the mango puree. Matamis daw.

Nida only ate two small bites of this chocolate cake.

Annette gave birth to her first born inside their Mitsubishi Pajero while on their way to the hospital. She nicknamed her baby Paji.

I didn’t anticipate that they eat like birds. I was the only one who finished my food.

Our bill was P7,750. My credit card was rejected. They inserted a printed note together with the returned credit card in the leatherette bill holder. Very good sila ha, very discreet so as not to embarrass the customer. Me naman, nagtaka lang ako, I brought other cards but I just paid in cash to be sure. Much as I would like to bring only one card, things like this could happen. Eh imagine if I only have one card, tapos na reject, tapos kung wala akong perang dala? Tatawag ako kay Edmund para tubusin nya ako kila Antonio’s. I would just wait for my husband to pick me up and bail me out rather than offer to pay them back with my services. Ayaw kong magwalis dun ano, ang laki-laki nung lugar. Mahingal pa ako. Ayaw ko ding maghugas ng pinggan, maka basag pa ako, madagdagan pa ang utang ko. Lalo namang ayaw kong maglinis ng toilet nila ano, wala ako sa mood.