Boiled Beef Meat is Not Bulalo

I have different expectations when I go to a restaurant. The more expensive the restaurant, the more I expect to taste delicious food. I will not complain to eat a so-so meal if I'm at a turo-turo (economy class restaurant). Expect me to grumble if I'm at a relatively expensive restaurant eating a so-so meal. So, here I am to grumble.

We had our first family outing at Tagaytay City. Lunch time came while we are strolling at Olivarez so we searched the area for a place to eat. Olivarez serves as the junction of roads that from Nasugbu, Dasmarinas City, Talisay and People's Park Tagaytay. Located at Olivarez are the usual restaurants like Mang Inasal and Jollibee. We were looking for a restaurant that could not be found in Metro Manila. What we found is Eli's Barbecue.
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Eli's Barbecue, Tagaytay City

Eli's Barbecue is popular, according to the cashier/waitress, for its barbecue. The waitress said that Eli's Barbecue uses real Angus Beef. There are no other customer at Eli's Barbecue during that day. The cashier/waitress said they had been busy during that week because they had busloads of customers that are in Tagaytay for a gathering of sorts.

We are very hungry so we ordered Eli's unlimited meal that costs around 2,000+ pesos. This meal doesn't only have unlimited rice but also unlimited viand. The only thing that is not unlimited is the drinks, which I think is a sly way getting even with a glutton customer. Cooking Eli's unlimited meal takes time so we just enjoyed the view of Taal Lake.

What I like with Eli's Barbecue is its rooftop that gave us a good view of Taal Lake. The cashier/waitress allowed us to climb to the rooftop to take photos of the world-famous lake and its volcano.
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Taal Lake as viewed from Eli's Barbecue rooftop.

Eli's unlimited meal is composed of Java rice, barbecue, pork ribs, pancit canton, and fried chicken. A cup of macaroni salad served as our dessert. Our sabaw (soup) is bulalo.
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Eli's Barbecue smorgasbord

The food on our table are mostly OK. We noticed that the barbecue and pork ribs were rushed. Some parts of the fried chicken is not well-cooked. I have no complaint with pancit canton and I think that it is the best of the food on our table. What got the ire of the family is the “bulalo”.
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Eli's Barbecue bulalo, sort of
This is Eli's "bulalo".

The real bulalo is stewed bone marrow with vegetables. What we got is just boiled beef meat without the bones. The meat is stone hard and the flavoring used is Magic Sarap. In short, even their boiled beef meat is not good.

All in all our lunch at Eli's Barbecue is not satisfying. The food is rushed and the lowdown is the bulalo. The cashier/waitress asked us to eat again at their restaurant when we return to Tagaytay City. I think that we will not grant her wish.

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15 comments:

  1. Bulalo? At first I read 'Buffalo'! hahaha!!

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  2. I will also complain if the food is not nice but the price is expensive! How come you didn't complain to the waitress about the buffalo, I mean bulalo? : D

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  3. But the view over Taal Lake is nice right? I think I like Tagaytay City - more relaxed than Manila City : )m

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  4. Foong

    LOL! It is bulalo not buffalo. It is beef meat that is palced in bulalo not buffalo meat. Oh well, beef and buffalo are almost the same kind of four-legged creatures.

    I am not the one complained. It is my father who told the cashier/waitress that their bulalo is not satisfactory.

    Oh yeah, Tagaytay City is more relaxed than Manila. This is the reason why many people buy house and lot their to serve as their home during vacation season.

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  5. Ay frustrating namn yan! Kami naman may nakainan ang order namn namin e chicken noodles. Ang ginamit namn e lucky me chicken instant noodle soup na nilagyan ng chicken wings. Tapos ang mahal. hay naku nakakadala talaga pag ganyan. Anyway, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year sayo and your family!

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  6. Expensive? Looks like a classy place. Real frustrating to pay more than usual...and then get shortchanged with not so nice food. Feeling like being cheated...

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  7. Anney

    Yung inyo ang grabe. Luck Me noodles as in? Mura lang ang isang pakete nun sa grocery ah. Eh mas maganda pala nagluto na lang kayo ng Lucky Me sa bahay nang nakatipid.

    Nakakainis nga ang mga ganyang restaurant. Yan ang mga hindi na dapat balikan.

    STP

    Yeah, we felt like we were cheated. We might not come back unless the food improves.

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  8. wow paborito ko iyang bulalo Ish.. but haven't tried that yet in Eli's

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  9. 2000+ ???? wahhh ang mahal naman.. hehe dun na lang ako sa mga carenderia LOL

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  10. have a great day Ish and happy blogging

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  11. Very bad! I agree with you. For that price you should have been served a good quality feast.

    I remember when I was still in HS and the soup that comes with the cafeteria lunch meal was just boiled water passed through a sieve containing cooked beef and veggies. Maybe that's also how they did your bulalo. Hehehe!

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  12. Bluedreamer

    Matipid akong tao bro at madalas akong kumain sa carenderia. Pero kung magiging maayos ang pagkain sa Eli's then I will go back there and thry their bulalo.

    Tin

    Hey, that's the first time I heard about that gimmick. You are being served boiled water? Well, at least at Eli's the beef meat is there. ^_^

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  13. Hello,
    I just read your interesting post. My family was just at Eli's BBQ early this year and had the all-u-can-eat for P295 per person, which is the cheapest I believe in the area. By the sound of it for P2000+ there must have been 5+ in your group. I am just not sure if the price has gone up, but with that pricing they can go bankrupt if they are not doing a good job serving quality food.
    As for the bulalo, our family ordered the alacarte version of the bulalo, and to our surprise was really good. I am not sure about the magic sarap you mentioned, but by the taste of it, it did not seem to bother us. Magic sarap has a load of msg, and beleive me, my family is sensitive to it and we would have known.... You may want to try the alacarte version next time. I have to agree the buffet version was not the full version of what we are accustomed to having, but our family was cool with it and we understand the business.
    That's about it..... you have a great week!

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    Replies
    1. I agree with this one, my girlfriend and i went there a few months ago and after eating decided that this is a "Mauulit" meal. We got the 295, pancit was really good, chicken was ok, barbecue was really good and for the bulalo, it's a version that is somewhat different from what you order usually at 600php per bowl but nevertheless really good .

      Suggestion: try using 1tsp of salt per 3 Kalamansi sauce for the bulalo meat and you'll love it ^^,

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  14. Anonymous

    We visited Eli's late last year. It seems like the food at Eli's improved, based on your comment. That is good news.

    It is possible that my terrible experience with Eli's is an isolated case. I hope to eat at Eli's again and see how they improved their dishes.

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