The Legarda Mansion

Tuesday, 22 March 2011

The Legarda Mansion

Hello, Friends!

"Welcome to my ancestral home," I gestured grandly as we ascended the staircase of the Legarda Mansion. Like everything else in Old Manila, the mansion is really old. It has been refashioned into a touristy restaurant where you simply must book 24 hours before your intended meal. "Tita Moning," the Legarda matriarch, has supposedly passed down her recipes and these are exactly what we were meant to find on the menu.

The mansion is super snobbish. It's got paintings by Hidalgo, Luna, and other really old Filipino masters. The entire house is still outfitted in its original furnishings, and each room has been transformed into a unique dining area for the different groups that come for a meal.

We were first welcomed into the sala with drinks and pica-pica, as though we were coming into the mansion for a proper party. And then our hostess, Ellen, took us around on a tour of the house.

The Legarda patriarch was a doctor, and we found a human skeleton in his clinic.

"That must be someone who didn't enjoy the food," Chris smirked.

After the tour, we were led into a private room. The table was decorated with rose petals, pine needles, and crystal-ware. A little bit OTT, I thought, but hey, that's what we were there for.

"Please don't take photos of the food. Who cares!" Richard sighed as I happily snapped away at the dishes on the table.

The crockery was beautiful, the service was exceptional, and the piped in music was an old standards-Broadway mixed tape, so what else can you ask for. We sang along, of course, because this was Manila and singing along is something you simply must do.

We were happy guests, all in all, and in my mind, I know that Tita Moning would always welcome us back.

With Affection,
James