Tagaytay is easily everyone's happy place because of its close proximity to Metro Manila, especially for a Southie like this writer.

As children, we often associated the place with horseback riding because this was how the adults introduced the place to us. With the construction of a theme park a few years later, we saw it as a place of expensive recreation because each ride had its own fee.

Growing out of those things made me see Tagaytay's full potential and redefine its happy place aspect.

My recent trip to the area introduced me to three restaurants — Klara's Bulalo Kafe, Gregorio's Restaurant and Hello Café.

Klara's Bulalo Kafe

Klara's serves the quintessential Filipino dishes with a little Italian influence. Its setup is casual, family-style dining that can sit up to 90 people.

During our visit, we sampled the deep-fried dilis served with atsara; the All-Meat pizza that is generously topped with marinara sauce, cheese, ham, olives, bacon bits, mushrooms and green and red bell peppers; kare-kare with the pata served upright; beef salpicao on a sizzling plate; and, the star of the show, beef bulalo.

Klara's takes pride in its beef bulalo because the fat doesn't solidify when it gets cold. It offers soup refills for free to warm it up again.