Lunch at Lime & Basil in Cavite

OMB reader Dinna, who’s an established interior designer, agreed to come with me to Tagaytay to look at my kubo. I talked her into making this long trip so I could pick her brains and benefit from her years of studying at UP Diliman further honed by years of designing condo and house interiors. She might have some suggestions on how I can make my cottage house look nicer.

My driver picked her up at 9 am and brought her to my office.

Her husband was very sweet. He made some pasta carbonara for me.
I opened the container right away, perfect timing, I didn’t have breakfast.

I bought two dozens of hilaw na mais, supposedly one for our household, and one pack for Dinna but when I dropped her off at her house in Pasig that evening, I forgot to give her the corns.

Notice the very pregnant mais vendor. She’s only 16. That means she was only 15 or younger when she started engaging in makamundong gawain.

We had several stop-overs, before deciding to have lunch. Dinna has no preference but she didn’t want fine dining. She wanted something more casual or informal. I picked na lang where to go. When we turned right supposedly to explore some new restaurants, I saw the karatula, Lime & Basil. I haven’t been there too so it’s time to try something new.

We entered the drive way not sure if this is the one

Doorway

I was attracted to this mirror. I like Indonesian and Thai wooden furniture and decor, except that my house style is not Asian.

According to the waiter, the owners, Mae Sarmiento, and her daughter Sigrid, live next door. They also own two other restaurants in Manila, namely Jatujak chain of restaurants mainly in SM Malls, and the Tamarind Restaurant at the SM Aura.

There’s a small room with merchandise and souvenir items for sale.

Dinna ordered this Lime and Basil Salad — fried organic betlogs, basil, lettuce, peanuts, fried shallots, tamarind dressing.

Their Tom Yum Goong is worthy of praise.

Shrimps in blanket appetizer with plum sauce. It’s also good.

Dinna ordered Phad Thai. This came. Their menu calls this dish Pad See lew. Oh this was an utter failure. Waste of money. P315.00
The noodles were soggy or over cooked. (Buti pa ramen, merong choices: soft, semi hard, hard or super hard?). Dito wala, they just presumed we wanted super soft. Oh no sir, we prefer hard.
Not only were the noodles pasty, there was practically nothing in the dish, no shrimps, or chicken. I only saw streaks of egg, ground peanuts, togue. Hindi ito sulit.

We skipped the dessert because there was an impending thunderstorm.
See those dark clouds?

There were several people dining at the lanai, Dinna said sikat daw yung isa dun, she has a column daw in a newspaper, but Dinna couldn’t remember her name. I remembered her. If I am not mistaken, she was one of the respected speakers at the blog convention organized by Nuffnang. I forgot her name but I still recall she was nagmumura lagi. Pag-akyat pa lang nya ng stage, sabi nya agad putang ina. I told Dinna what if I say hello to her, batiin ko sya na pabiro by saying “tangna mo, narito ka rin pala”. Dinna didn’t know how to react. Would she get mad? Men do that all the time among friends. I’ve heard Edmund say that pag sila-silang magkakaibigan lang –“Putang ina mo brod, nadito ka pala”.
Pero hindi siguro matutuwa itong girl, kasi total stranger ako. Baka batuhin ako ng silya na merong kasamang mesa.

Back to this restaurant. The food was good except for the noodles.
I forgot how much I paid, tila P1,600 +.

I will have plenty of chances to go back and try their desserts because I am in Tagaytay often. Ay hindi pala pwede, I just had my blood test yesterday, lampas na talaga sa borderline. Dapat goodbye dessert na.

Lime & Basil
Brgy. Sikat, Alfonso, Cavite.
Coming from Sotogrande Subdivision along Aguinaldo Hway, go towards Alfonso, go straight till you see Residence Inn and the big arch with different kinds of fruits. Turn right, its located maybe a hundred meters from Marcia Adams Restaurant.
Contact # 0915-6276393.