meeting Marcia Adams ~ Passionately Pretending

Here comes the obligatory preamble: It's a Saturday and I am thisclose to panicking about stuff for work that is due in 3 days, and which I have not yet done. I told myself I'd get some early sleep today, build my energy, then face the daunting tasks tomorrow.
It's now 1030pm and I'm up, blogging.
Why?
Because, dagnabit! I deserve a decent weekend.
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To know Joe is to be in the presence of a gourmand. You discover that very early on in your interaction with him. Food is his passion. He enjoys food, he loves food, and more importantly, he knows good food.

That's an important distinction because not everyone who likes food, knows good food. Some just like to eat. Not that there's nothing wrong with that. But gourmands... they know how to enjoy food and to savor the flavours. I trust Joe's taste in food. If he says a restaurant is worth trying, I'll be willing to try it.

There was a time many many moons ago (I know, this is a late post. But hey.. it's my blog. :P) that I found myself in dire need of something good in my life. A distraction, good company and a new experience. What better than a food trip answer life's temporary problems?

Having seen pictures of Joe's recent trip to a quaint little restaurant in Tagaytay, we quickly made plans to have him introduce us to Marcia Adams. And blessed as I am to have kaladkarin friends, we were soon on our way. Now a proper food blog would tell all about the place and the food so you can get there on your own if you wanted to. A proper food blog might even throw in some interesting tidbits about the owner and the history so you could appreciate the ambiance and the decor. Unfortunately, this is not that blog. But I hope you keep reading anyway.

Surrounded by good friends, beautiful surroundings and trying new food was the perfect way to spend a lazy Sunday.

Kaladkarin #1 by the entrance

Kaladkarin #2 by the lush green garden

Our table was at the smaller end of the restaurant, separated from the rest of the dining hall by a short hallway. By taking the table at the center of the room, we managed to discourage any other group from joining us, thereby commandeering that corner for ourselves.

the great divide

our own private enclave

Left alone, we felt like we weren't in a restaurant at all, but our own private resthouse enjoying an intimate gathering of friends. We laughed so much that day. :) Just what all of us needed. In fact, there were comments made that day that have been sworn never to be repeated in the presence of others. ;)

I don't remember how long we actually had to wait before our food arrived. It could have taken forever but I honestly don't think we would have noticed. We were just happy chilling out and experiencing the day to be counting minutes to lunch. Besides, the decor of the place was interesting enough to occupy us for a while.

The other table in our area

an interesting chair by the interesting wall

the glass window where overlooking the kitchen

Not being a gourmand, there is little in my vocabulary that I can use to describe the food. Suffice to say I found it tasty and satisfying. I don't think it wow-ed me (I use the word think because it has been so long I am hard pressed to remember) but it is a place I'd like to visit again. I'm just looking for the right occassion. This would also be one of the places I'd recommend to friends who were looking for different dining experience in Tagaytay because after a while, you'd like something new besides LZM, Leslie's and Buon Giourno.

This was a particularly good starter. I think it's just cheese and jam on wafers, but I have a strong feeling that if I tried this at home, it would fail to taste anywhere near as good. I have spectacular powers of food prepartion failure. Hahahaha... ask the girls from SE3 who joined our cook-off. :P

yumm...

Ooooh.. Now this shrimp appetizer was good! My only complaint was that there were only 3 on the plate. Hahahaha.. You try to make it last by biting it in half so that you could have more. But it'll crumble and you end up popping the whole thing in your mouth anyway. This could be the meal itself.

yumm yumm...

Francis has the octopus dish. I had the pork belly. I could have probably tried a more differently-prepared dish but I had just finished a personal sacrifice of giving up pork and beef so I was very, very excited to try meat again. Hahahaha... I've never had octopus before so I took a bite from his plate and I remember the meat being real soft and easy to eat.