LZM restaurant, a Filipino lutong bahay specialty restaurant, recently opened its doors in Magallanes Square, Tagaytay City. LZM started as a backyard operation in the owner, Mrs. Zenaida Anciro's, home in Silang, Cavite eight years ago. Her scrumptious, authentic pinoy dishes have gained a loyal following through the years and the fruits of her labor have now given rise to a new branch right along Tagaytay’s Aguinaldo highway, right off the rotunda.
LZM stands for Luzviminda, Zenaida and Manolita, three sisters who opened a tiny eatery in the veranda of their home along the highway in Silang. Luzviminda Anciro, 68, the oldest and most skilled among the sisters in all matters culinary, is the heart and soul of this operation. Stories have it that she hardly left the kitchen in the eight years that LZM has been open in Silang, so she saw no need to change out of her duster, her everyday uniform. Until one day, when a table of appreciative customers clamored for her presence, she was forced to grace them tableside in her duster. The duster has since gained as much popularity as her cooking. Along with this, customers christened her with the moniker “Mommy” because of her maternal inclinations and her doting personality. Thus, the restaurant exudes a casual family atmosphere, where customers repeatedly come back as much for the good food as for the familiar, warm and welcoming ambience that comes with the dining experience reminiscent of one’s childhood.
Some say that her “magic” duster is the secret to her delicious dishes but she says it is the sangkap and the timpla—her trade secrets that make her concoctions stand out.
LZM is famous for its outsized bangus Dagupan, and by this I mean serving-platter sized, really huge and thick. The length of one open-faced bangus is over 12 inches and the thickness is never less than one inch, a good portion of it being the belly. “Talagang mataba,” as Mommy says. One fish is enough for a family of six and comes only at P220 per order. They serve their bangus in various ways: daing style, sinigang style, even sisig style. LZM is also well-known for its unadulterated bulalo at P280 with the broth simmered with beef bones for days in gargantuan cast iron vats. The chunks of meat are so tender that they crumble off the bone when pierced with a fork. The bulalo soup tureen is refillable so one can have one’s fill of this comforting broth. There is their chicharon bulaklak priced at P160 per huge platter and which everybody claims has a clean taste (no unappetizing aftertaste of innards). The secret, Mommy confides, is in the meticulous, multi-stage cleaning process.
The success of LZM has prompted a structural extension that ate into the back lot of the sisters’ property. The continued surge of clientele inspired Mommy to open up another branch, and this she has entrusted to her daughter Merle, who like mother, is a genius in the kitchen. LZM’s second branch now sits on the second floor of the Magallanes Square Building along Tagaytay’s Aguinaldo Highway. Merle Anciro Caliskisan, LZM’s charming second generation proprietor says in jest that although the restaurant is not along the ridge where one gets prime view of the volcano and the lake; she is unfazed. “Pag view ang hinahanap ng customer, doon sila sa kabila kakain pero pag ulam na masarap and hanap, dito sila sa amin kahit na walang view.”
Mommy visits both restaurants everyday but Merle is quick to add that she changes from her legendary duster when she visits the Tagaytay branch. Mommy still cooks and overseas all operations and goes to market with Merle day in, day out.
If you are only driving through Tagaytay and do not have the luxury of time to dine in the restaurant you can just their ready-to-cook bangus Dagupan and enjoy it at home at your leisure. If you are staying within the area, LZM will deliver to your door step.
Other must-try dishes at LZM are the bulalo steak at P220; the sisig, a personal favorite at P150. The kare-kare at P270, peanutty, thick and just heavenly and the boullabaise soup at P190 are house specialties. Their sweet and sour lapu-lapu, P270 and crispy pata P270 are totally irresistible. Forget your diets when you find yourselves at LZM. Be prepared to be thrown back to your childhood of comfort food and of familiar lingering kitchen aromas with LZM’s excellent home cooking and the doting presence of Mommy, Merle and their staff.
LZM stands for Luzviminda, Zenaida and Manolita, three sisters who opened a tiny eatery in the veranda of their home along the highway in Silang. Luzviminda Anciro, 68, the oldest and most skilled among the sisters in all matters culinary, is the heart and soul of this operation. Stories have it that she hardly left the kitchen in the eight years that LZM has been open in Silang, so she saw no need to change out of her duster, her everyday uniform. Until one day, when a table of appreciative customers clamored for her presence, she was forced to grace them tableside in her duster. The duster has since gained as much popularity as her cooking. Along with this, customers christened her with the moniker “Mommy” because of her maternal inclinations and her doting personality. Thus, the restaurant exudes a casual family atmosphere, where customers repeatedly come back as much for the good food as for the familiar, warm and welcoming ambience that comes with the dining experience reminiscent of one’s childhood.
Some say that her “magic” duster is the secret to her delicious dishes but she says it is the sangkap and the timpla—her trade secrets that make her concoctions stand out.
LZM is famous for its outsized bangus Dagupan, and by this I mean serving-platter sized, really huge and thick. The length of one open-faced bangus is over 12 inches and the thickness is never less than one inch, a good portion of it being the belly. “Talagang mataba,” as Mommy says. One fish is enough for a family of six and comes only at P220 per order. They serve their bangus in various ways: daing style, sinigang style, even sisig style. LZM is also well-known for its unadulterated bulalo at P280 with the broth simmered with beef bones for days in gargantuan cast iron vats. The chunks of meat are so tender that they crumble off the bone when pierced with a fork. The bulalo soup tureen is refillable so one can have one’s fill of this comforting broth. There is their chicharon bulaklak priced at P160 per huge platter and which everybody claims has a clean taste (no unappetizing aftertaste of innards). The secret, Mommy confides, is in the meticulous, multi-stage cleaning process.
The success of LZM has prompted a structural extension that ate into the back lot of the sisters’ property. The continued surge of clientele inspired Mommy to open up another branch, and this she has entrusted to her daughter Merle, who like mother, is a genius in the kitchen. LZM’s second branch now sits on the second floor of the Magallanes Square Building along Tagaytay’s Aguinaldo Highway. Merle Anciro Caliskisan, LZM’s charming second generation proprietor says in jest that although the restaurant is not along the ridge where one gets prime view of the volcano and the lake; she is unfazed. “Pag view ang hinahanap ng customer, doon sila sa kabila kakain pero pag ulam na masarap and hanap, dito sila sa amin kahit na walang view.”
Mommy visits both restaurants everyday but Merle is quick to add that she changes from her legendary duster when she visits the Tagaytay branch. Mommy still cooks and overseas all operations and goes to market with Merle day in, day out.
If you are only driving through Tagaytay and do not have the luxury of time to dine in the restaurant you can just their ready-to-cook bangus Dagupan and enjoy it at home at your leisure. If you are staying within the area, LZM will deliver to your door step.
Other must-try dishes at LZM are the bulalo steak at P220; the sisig, a personal favorite at P150. The kare-kare at P270, peanutty, thick and just heavenly and the boullabaise soup at P190 are house specialties. Their sweet and sour lapu-lapu, P270 and crispy pata P270 are totally irresistible. Forget your diets when you find yourselves at LZM. Be prepared to be thrown back to your childhood of comfort food and of familiar lingering kitchen aromas with LZM’s excellent home cooking and the doting presence of Mommy, Merle and their staff.
LZM is on the 2nd floor of Magallanes Square, Aguinaldo Highway corner Magallanes Drive, Tagaytay City. Tel. no. (46) 413-4593. Cell phone no. (0918) 368-7947
1 comment:
Hello just want to find out is Merle Anciro the owner of the restaurant is the same who studied in Lyceum of the philippines Intramuros in 1983 (from Silang, Cavite)?
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