Revisiting the Fatted Calf
A trip back to this gem of a restaurant in Tagaytay
Pre-pandemic, if one was heading south to Tagaytay or Batangas, and would ask for dining suggestions, my recommendations for a casual vibe, family/comfort food kind of place would always include The Fatted Calf Farmhouse Kitchen. While technically located in Silang, Cavite, on Belarmino Road, my stand-by directions would say, head to Anya Resort Tagaytay, and don’t turn left into Anya but keep going down that road, and you’ll see Fatted Calf on your left.
A family-style diner/converted house, the eatery is run by Chefs Rhea and JayJay Sycip, with Rhea handling the pastry side of things, and pet Labrador dog Donut, handling the welcoming committee duties. We first met Donut when she was just a puppy, and it was great to reconnect the other day. It was our first time back to Fatted Calf in close to a year, and we were excited to sample the new dishes of JayJay.
JayJay has always been about taking the familiar, your comfort food menu items, then improvising on them, elevating them to something distinct, and purely Fatted Calf. Borrowing from cuisines from all over the region, he’ll tweak and reinvent, and come up with trumps each time.
A case in point would be the Fatted Calf’s Crab Carbonara. It’s your traditional Carbonara, but topped with morsels of fresh crab meat, herbs, ikura, and nori. So there’s a very subtle Japanese influence working, and giving this Carbonara something unique that you’ll only sample here at Fatted Calf. It’s the familiar made adventurous and distinct. And it’s your farm-fresh to kitchen and to table promise made real!
Order the Spicy Grilled Octopus, because what Chef JayJay has done is soak the octopus in an adobo-like marinade, mixed with sesame seeds, gojuchang, herbs, and their house slaw in the middle. This one is special in a way you just have to taste to appreciate. The Smoked Tomato Soup is made from farm-fresh tomatoes, with a moringa pesto, and Chinese chorizo—a hearty soup that hits the spot!
We then had two of his signature salads. The Pomelo Shrimp salad is made of coconut-crusted white shrimps, Tagaytay mixed greens, cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, red onions, peanuts, radish ribbons, and Davao pomelo, soaked in a Coco Lime Nam Pla vinaigrette. I truly loved the subtlety of this one and how it was different from your straight-out Thai rendition.
More in your face and brazen is the Fruits and Nuts Salad. It’s Tagaytay mixed greens with parsley, dried blueberries, cranberries, and diced pineapples, plus other fresh berries, all mixed with cashews, walnuts, and candied pili nuts, doused in a bracing espresso vinaigrette. This coffee-based vinaigrette was the kicker, and Issa loved how it woke you up.
The Thai Beef Burger is freshly ground beef patty, with homemade Thai yellow curry, kesong puti, on a homemade Brioche bun, a meal unto itself. And the Wagyu “Galbi Jin” Bao is Australian wagyu with ssam sauce, radish, carrots, and house-made mantou. It’s Chinese goes K-Pop in a really invigorating way, a reinvention of your traditional bao.
The Thai Pork Skewers is naturally farmed pork with coconut milk, cilantro, palm sugar, nam pla, with a sauce that’s reminiscent of chimichurri, but a Thai-influenced version. So it’s Chef JayJay taking something traditionally Argentinian, and giving it an Asian facet. Hint for the carnivores, off-menu, you’ll find there are choice cuts such as t-bones and sirloins from Australia. Just ask your waiter what’s available that day.
And please, please, leave room for the desserts of Rhea and her Flour Pot. The S’Mores cake has crushed graham and buttercake substituting the chiffon part of the cake. And the Pili Nut Cheesecake is the cheesecake that isn’t, yet tastes just as good. The pili nut forms the base of the cheesecake, and there’s a caramel glaze serving as the top portion of this delectable dessert.
JayJay and Rhea have turned Fatted Calf into a food haven, one that knowing visitors to the area have marked down as a must-go dining option. As I mentioned, the atmosphere is definitely casual and relaxed. You can’t leave Fatted Calf without saying goodbye to Donut, her totally “guapa,” “maamo” look can’t be beaten as you literally want to take her home.