Chateau Hestia: Worth the wait

Sorry, haven't been posting.  I actually have a confession to make.  I’ve just seriously started attempting (take note, attempting) to lose some pounds.  Yes, I’m trying to cut calories… again.   So, have I been successful? Not when I’m eating out in a resto like Chateau Hestia. Oh my goodness, I threw the diet out for an indulgent meal and frankly, it was worth every calorie!

Chateau Hestia is a cozy, off-the-beaten path house /resto of an Austrian named Johannes in Tagaytay, Cavite.  Save for its website, http://chateauhestia.com, you’ll never see large advertisements of the place.  It's just that type of  place people discover solely by word of mouth.  And just like Sis, who’s probably one of its biggest fan, a lot have fallen in love with its food and service.

Let's not start counting calories, ok? But here's my food confession, everything we had that lunch.  For starters, we were served an assorted slices of their homemade breads paired with smoky eggplant pate.   So simple, yet so flavorful.  For me, this signals nothing but more good things to come. 

Next came the Assorted Sausage plate.  It's made up of  three kinds of Austrian and German sausages served with sauerkraut and mustard This is actually a first for me, kinda heavy as an appetizer but if you’ve traveled far and already hungry, this is perfect.

Thank goodness the pizza was fast.  We couldn’t decide if we wanted a cheese or a meaty pizza so our solicitous waiter suggested we halve it.  I won’t argue with that.  Their Say Cheese pizza (P690, 12 in) is probably the epitome of what a cheese pizza should be. It's made with 6 types of cheese, asiago, mozzarella, pecorino, scamorza, taleggio and the controversial gorgonzola, need I say more?  I was in cheese nirvana!  Couldn’t decide if I enjoyed the cheese or the Reale side (that’s the meat pizza made up of 7 different meats.

Other Sis is a Carbonara fan  so she ordered a plate to share. It was the real thing, pasta tossed with fresh eggs and parmesan. Unfortunately, too rich for me. Unfortunately, didn't get a good pic.

For entrees, we tried their traditional Osso Buco Milanese, the Chicken Geschnetzeltes and Crusted Salmon, all served with mashed potatoes and buttered vegetables.  I’m not a fan of Salmon since I’ve had too many horrible experiences ordering it but theirs was perfectly seasoned and cooked.  The chicken, on the other hand,  reminds me of our chicken with mushrooms, nothing spectacular. But it was the Osso Buco Milanese that made this meal special.  It was a generous cut of shank, fork tender and flavorful, clearly slow-cooked in its own sauce.  And though the meat was superb, the marrow was hands down the best part of the meal.  Heavenly!  Why does anything taste this good so calorie-laden? 

The flavorful Osso Buco Milanese  

Crusted Salmon

Chicken Geschnetzeltes

They gave us complimentary shots of their Limoncello and Orange wine.  If you’re not used to the alcohol, steer clear of that Limoncello, the alcohol is at least 25%, the Orange wine, on the other hand was mellow and sweet.  Perfect as an accompaniment to the dessert.  

After everything, yes, we still managed to find an itsy bitsy space for dessert. Just to cap off the heavy meal, I ordered a slice of their Mario’s Ciocollato Souffle (P135) to share.  It was a different type of  soufflé, warm at the bottom and chilled on top.  I’m rendered speechless, it was THAT good.    They also gave us a complimentary piece of their Pannacotta topped with homemade passion fruit jam.  I sigh.  Can’t get any more perfect than this.

Pannacotta topped with homemade passion fruit jam

Mario’s Ciocollato Souffle

I had to walk off this meal so we headed to their spacious function room upstairs and the deli and wine shelves at the far end of the resto.  Lo and behold, saw this in the freezer.   I don’t think I can take anything more than water at this point so this homemade Limoncello ice cream will have to wait.  Definitely something to look forward to on my next visit.  Hope it won’t be too long.

Chateau Hestia

Tagaytay, Cavite, along the same road as Bawai Vietnamese Cuisine and Toscana Farms

For a map on how to go there, http://chateauhestia.com/

Call to reserve.  Opens from Wednesday to Sunday