Buko Pie and Ube Halaya at Rowena’s in Tagaytay
Posted by Noemi | Under Cakes, Pastries & Desserts with 4,330 views
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Thursday Sep 4, 2008
Whenever I go to the southern areas outside Metro Manila, like Laguna or Tagaytay, it’s not uncommon to see vendors and stores selling edible pasalubong you can bring back home with you. The most popular item for sale is buko pie, followed by the usual native delicacies like pastillas de leche, cookies, ube, etc. I don’t normally buy any of them though. I bought a buko pie off a random store once and I was extremely disappointed at the poor quality. It wasn’t so much buko pie as a-lot-of-starch pie. There wasn’t even a single sliver of young coconut in the filling!
Buko Pie costs around 180 pesos a box
Then I discovered the buko pie awesomeness from Rowena’s along Bgy. Francisco in Tagaytay City. The first thing that impressed me was that the pie had real young coconut flesh inside! And they weren’t cheap about including actual buko in it too – there were layers and layers of buko slices, sandwiched between a creamy macapuno filling.
The thickness of the crust was perfect, too – thick enough to neutralize the sweetness a little so you don’t get sick of the pie after your second bite, but not too thick.
Ube Halaya costs around 140 pesos a tray
Besides buko pie, Rowena’s also offers the best ube halaya I have ever had next to Good Shepherd of Baguio City.
Real ube chunks in a thick paste of sweet milk and coconut. You can eat it by itself or use it to top other desserts, like what I did to my slice of buko pie. The whole family devoured two boxes of the ube halaya in mere days!
I found out Rowena Mendoza started out with just a fruit stall in the year 2000. Business must have been so good that she slowly opened a delicacy shop along the main road. You will also find other Pasalubong from Bulacan, Iloilo, Cebu and other provinces. Be wary of the Bulacan pastillas as the actual size is much smaller than the packaging.
But still, you can find lots of goodies in Rowena’s and she offers many tarts like Apple, Mango, Pineapple, Egg and Blueberry cheese Cake, Mango Cheese Cake, Cassava Cake and Ube Espasol.
Where to Find Rowena’s
152 Brgy Francisco
Tagaytay City
Tel No. (046) 860-2481
Mobile No. 0920-9080318
Email: rowena_tarts@yahoo.com
You should try the Los Banos, Laguna Buko Pie. They started making it since 1950 and I’m telling you, you’ll love it.Just be careful in choosing the right store that says its the original, because many store has the same tag on their shops. Nevertheless, just by the look of the buko pie, you’ll find it. Usually the original stores are the ones located on the right side of the road coming from Laguna . I use to buy there when I was still unmarried, working in Manila and used to buy as many as i can carr, y so I can have pasalubong to my office mates. Enjoy!
corazons last blog post..Only in the Philippines..pinoy na pinoy
We never fail to stop by Rowenas everytime we go to Tagaytay. I also like their sylvannas and their apple pies
Cookies last blog post..Litratong Pinoy : Tanso
This is a must buy whenever we go to Tagaytay
Haven’t tried the buko pie coz we always buy the BUKO TARTS and UBE TARTS! soooo yummy!! 
the buco pie looks lovely. the crust seems heavenly light and the filling looks decadent.
sorry forgot to ask, is this easy to find? are there any landmarks or anything like that? thanks.
Visiting Rowena’s bakery(Tagaytay) is the most unforgetable memories my daughter had touring Philippines. Laura(16yrs) could not forget the oh so delicious ube tarts and the ambiance of this place. She said it inspires her to take cooking lessons(desserts only)someday so she could whip them up whenever she “drools” thinking about Rowenas. Here’s an idea, how about offering short cooking lessons for tourists. She enjoyed short cooking lessons, incorporated in her tours to Italy & Greece before. Maybe then our visits to Phils will be sooner & frequent.
Ang sarap sarap! the best talaga siya!