Why Sky Ranch is the go-to tourist place in South Luzon

Aside from being near Metro Manila, Tagaytay City has long been the favorite destination of local tourists in South Luzon because of its exceptionally mild climate and excellent scenery, located as it is on a ridge above Taal Volcano Island. This place is, indeed, perfect for those who want a quick escape from the hustle and bustle of the city. 

If you are looking for an exciting adventure around the area, you can never go wrong with Sky Ranch Tagaytay, a well-known theme park owned by SM Prime Holdings. It is a great place to unleash the thrill seeker in you with a ride-all-you-can day pass. Of course, there's the mesmerizing panoramic view of Tagaytay City and Taal Lake and Volcano. 

Visitors can enjoy a wide array of rides that include Wonder Flight, Super Viking, Nessi Coaster, Giant Balloon Wheel, Mini Viking, Sky Cruiser, Toy Swing, Boat Parade, Rocking Tug, Log Coaster, Drop Tower, Express Train, Grand Carousel, Red Baron, City Rail, Zipline and Bumper Car.

Sky Ranch also boasts its 10-minute ride Sky Eye Ferris wheel, which is 63 meters (207 ft.) tall, with 32 gondolas. The amusement park offers an amazing and memorable bonding moment with your family, friends, or your special someone.

After the tiring yet fun-filled activities, travelers can choose from several shops and restaurants inside the theme park that include The Canopy, Tsuke-Men, Practical Coffee, Mama Lou’s Italian Kitchen, and Pier at Clawdaddy.

There are many other stores, such as StrEat Market, Turks, Koomi PH, Tender Juicy Hotdog, Buko Juan, Master Siomai, Monster Wings, Famous Belgian Waffles, Bee Healthy Lemon, Potato Corner, Venechz and Tickler Souvenir Shop.

Mama Lou’s Italian Kitchen 

What started as a passion for serving home-cooked delicious dishes—made with a mother's unconditional love—has become a business venture called Mama Lou’s Group, comprising two Italian concepts: Mama Lou’s Italian Kitchen and Nonna’s Pasta & Pizzeria.

Mama Lou’s Italian Kitchen was born out of a real kitchen, a modest one, in a family’s home at BF Homes in Las Piñas City. Thanks to Malou “Mama Lou” Tremblay and her Italian husband Richard Tremblay, two of the founders of the family-run business, for creating meaningful connections through their Italian dishes and Filipino hospitality. 

The flagship neighborhood Italian restaurant opened its doors in 2010, welcoming guests with its promise of providing them a “memorable experience of coming home to comforting food prepared by a loved one.” 

During the #HappyEatsFoodCrawl event at Sky Ranch Tagaytay in Batangas last Sept. 29, Roberto Hernandez, restaurant manager of Mama Lou’s Italian Kitchen, revealed that they were planning to open five more branches within Metro Manila and Rizal, in addition to their 14 existing stores nationwide. 

“We create good memories, good experiences, and excellent food,” Hernandez told The Philippine STAR.

The restaurant pays homage to all-time favorite Italian cuisine, such as pizza and pasta, giving customers a nostalgic taste that makes them feel at home.

Mama Lou’s Italian Kitchen prides itself on serving its specialties like seafood ollio, Lucio’s truffle pasta, Mama’s pesto al pollo, mussels fennel pasta, and pasta alla angela.

The Italian restaurant also serves best-selling dishes like caesar salad and oriental salad, spinach goat pizza and mamamia as well as truffle fries, mushroom chicharon and Italian meatballs for appetizers. The main dishes include rib eye steak salpicao, chicken alburo and porkchop. 

"Here, we make you feel at home," the restaurant manager emphasized.

Mama Lou's restaurants are located at Ayala Malls, UP Town Center, Circuit Makati and Evia Lifestyle Center. 

Pier at Clawdaddy’s

Another option for dining in around the theme park is Pier at Clawdaddy’s, perfect for those who crave seafood, ribs and steaks.

The restaurant is owned by businessman Raymund Magdaluyo of The Red Crab Group, who founded Pier at Clawdaddy’s in 2006. Currently, the company has two branches located at Bonifacio Global City in Taguig and Batangas.

Diners can make their family lunch sizzle with Clawdaddy’s best-selling rib eye steak, served on a sizzling plate with their favorite side dishes and gravy. They can also enjoy a plate of crabs and seafood boil. 

Fill those hungry tummies also with popular dishes, such as Kansas ribs, clam chowder and chicken or salad paired with the flavorful pasta.

The Batangas experience of a traveler won’t be complete without sipping Clawdaddy’s hot bowl of Bulalo Cocido, slow-cooked tender beef shanks, vegetables, corn, forest ham and chorizo bilbao served with Berenjenas sauce. 

“Basically, our specialty is we really sell crabs so that's where Clawdaddy got its name. The owner is really very creative on concepts,” said Charlene Soriano, operations director of Pier at Clawdaddy’s. 

According to Soriano, building connections with their guests is the company’s edge over other restaurants in the country. 

“We do our best to achieve the service with a heart. We’re not really by the book, we build connections with our guests,” Soriano said. “That’s what we really want to share with our customers.”

Soriano described the restaurant’s menu as “original” because their recipes on ribs and crabs come with imported spices.

“We are the original, we are the best on crabs,” the restaurant operations director stressed. “Our recipes on ribs are the recipes way back. We don’t change anything about the ribs, it’s an original recipe.” 

“[The spices are] not locally sourced so they can't be imitated. We started the concept of seafood boil when boiling bags did not yet exist. We were also the first to have shrimp buckets [nationwide]. That was our menu from way back,” she added.

Asked about the challenges they encountered in their business due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she cited manpower and their menu as some of the issues during these trying times. 

“Actually, it was hard. We really stretched our manpower. And our menu consisted only of dishes that sold well so we could control our inventory and survive," she shared.

Thus, even when times are bad, Clawdaddy always manages to claw its way to the top! 

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Editor’s Note: BrandedUp is designed to provide you with insightful, inspiring and educational content created by PhilSTAR L!fe in collaboration with brands like SM Supermalls.