Mano’s Greek Taverna in Tagaytay
Posted on 06-15-10 · Food trips & events Tags: restaurants
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We’ve passed Mano’s Greek Taverna in Tagaytay so many times in the past but we never dined there. Many reasons. First, I’m wary of restaurants that claim to serve authentic regional cuisines but are nothing but trying-hard copycats. Second, my daughters are even more wary than I am. Third, we are relatively unfamiliar with Greek food and we didn’t really know what to expect.
Then, last Saturday, we finally decided to try Mano’s Greek Taverna. We arrived in Tagaytay at around 2.30 p.m. for a three day-stay, we hadn’t had lunch yet, so, after dumping our bags in the house where we were staying, by 3.30 p.m., we were off for a very late lunch.
The lateness of the hour proved fortunate since there were very few diners and parking was ample (Mano’s Greek Taverna has meagre parking space on its frontage).
The dining room is not air-conditioned — not many restaurants in Tagaytay are air-conditioned since tourists flock there for the naturally cool air and it shouldn’t have been a problem, really, except that we’re in the midst of El Niño and it was humid.
The interior is simply designed. Blue and white tablecloths — the colors of the Greek flag — which echo the facade.
Empty bottles of Green wine, and posters and prints depicting Greek sceneries adorned the walls.
I ordered the chicken a la Corfu, a sweet and slightly sour stew with a succulent whole chicken quarter topped with greens which appeared to be spinach and leeks. Raisins provided the sweet flavor.
Since my chicken a la Corfu came with neither bread nor rice, I ordered Greek bread on the side. It was 3.30 and I hadn’t had lunch — I needed the bread.
Sam had the beftekia scaras — grilled patties made with minced beef, French bread, milk, red wine, olive oil, egg, salt and pepper.
Speedy opted for the koptoupolo scaras — grilled chicken marinated in olive oil, vinegar, salt and oregano.
Alex, the pasta fiend, had baked macaroni with minced meat.
And how was the food? Except for Alex who said my baked macaroni is better, we were happy with what we ordered. I tasted Sam’s patties and Speedy’s grilled chicken and I loved them both as much as I loved my stew. In fact, if Mano’s Green Taverna serves authentic Greek food, then, I can say that I’ve fallen in love with Green cuisine — to the point that I will try and make the stew, patties and grilled chicken at home. Very soon.
And the price? All four dishes but two extra orders of French fries came to a little over a thousand pesos. Not bad.
And the service? Ah, now that’s where things fell short of my expectations. When we wanted more drinking water, Speedy had to walk up to the waiters’ station to ask. After our orders were served, no one was checking if we needed anything else. Apart from that, well, we were happy. Happy enough to go back there.
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greek cuisine has become a part of daily meal here as there is a huge greek community here. the most common greek dish we usually have here is dolmades ( hope i spelled it right), it’s a stuffed grape leaf. it’s stuffed with meat and vegetables or for vegetarians, stuffed with rice and some greens, then steamed. the other one is moussaka. it’s similar to lasagna, fried eggplant is layered , each layer is topped with a sauce made of ground lamb and beef with tomatoes, onions, garlic, bouquet garni ( a combination of laurel leaf, thym, parsley and leeks all tied together like a bouquet) and broth then baked.
hi connie,
i liked this entry kasi my workmates and I were just there last week! In fact, for my main dish I also ordered the very same dish that Sam had. I also loved their Dolmades and the freshly-baked bread paired with tzatiki. Mano’s greek salad (lots of ripe tomatoes and feta cheese!), Mousaka and greek yogurt with honey were unforgettable. I would definitely go back there with my husband for another round. Got a little tipsy with Ouzo and red wine. Thank God we had a driver on that day. cheers!
Hope to get a chance to eat at this place next time we go to Tagaytay.
If you want to try more Greek food, I recommend Cyma restaurant; they have several branches – been to the ones in Trinoma and EDSA Shangrila Plaza.
Always wanted to try Cyma, kaso, the girls balk all the time. Now that they’ve tried Greek food at Mano’s, they might be more amenable to dine at Cyma.
hi,
I am browsing you site since yesterday, by chance i found your site when im looking for an everyday filipino food. kudos to you this site is very informative. I know personally the owner of the restaurant. Mr. Manos and his Filipina wife Mrs. Estrella. so happen they are friend of our ex boss which is also a greek that’s how we knew them, but we did not try yet to eat in their restaurant because like you we are hesitant if we may like the greek food. thanks to your site, we might try when we visit tagaytay. I heard also that they are serving lamb meat.