Filipino Cuisine with the Tayag Touch

When I first moved to Manila it took me a few months to fully appreciate and endorse the food scene in the Philippines.

That full appreciation came with an epiphany moment...well, more like an epiphany meal at Bale Dutung. So, thank you, Claude Tayag.

A 1-2 hour drive away from Metro Manila into the province of Pampanga, Tayag and his wife, Mary Ann, open their home to locals and tourists to experience Filipino and Kapampangan cuisine.

Tayag offers a Lechon Five Ways menu (which we had twice already), a Kapampangan menu (which we enjoyed this time around - check out the pictures below), and an Anthony Bourdain menu (which will be our next visit). The food represents the Philippines, with Tayag's touch.

His food reflects tradition, talent, technique, and his travels.

Two years later, I can now properly host visitors to show them the great eats around Manila and beyond. I have a growing list of restaurants, markets, and food adventures (Bale Dutung is definitely on that list).

Place your cursor above "Notes" below to read the captions for each photo.

The slide show here runs on Flash. If you can't see it, check out my Flickr album: Bale Dutung

Finding a Plan B

A spontaneous day trip to Pampanga! We planned to have lunch at Abe's Farm (pronounced, "Ah-beh" and not like the former U.S. president) then drive around the province. The latter plan worked out well, the former didn't work out too well. We drove up on a Tuesday, and Abe's Farm is closed every Tuesday. Whoops, next time, I guess.

At this point we were all pretty darn hungry, so we drove back to where we knew there was food, at the Marquee Mall. Unfortunately, it was mostly fast food and chain restaurants. We settled on Ikabud, where the atmosphere looked decent enough to produce tasty enough food. It was ook and enough to satisfy our hunger but not our palates.

Just a side story. One of the soup items on the menu was Soup #5. My mom asked the waiter was for the description (in Filipino). My mom was grossing out to his response, but my brother, cousins, and I didn't understand the Filipino word he said. Apparently Soup #5 is pretty common and even found on Wikipedia - Soup #5 on Wiki.


The Inside
Clean and bright because of the big windows.

San Miguel Premium

Fresh Buko
Fresh whole coconut juice.

Family Garlic Rice
Family size, indeed. It was good enough for our table of six.

Grilled Talong
Grilled Eggplant.

Crispy Tentacles
The best order of our meal. Crispy and well-seasoned.

Dinakdakan na Baboy
My brother went outside to look at the pictures in front of the restaurant, and then came back inside to order this. He didn't know what it was exactly, but he said the picture looked good. Fried Pig Ears with Onions. Very very chewy.

Seafood Chopsuey
A bit on the starchy side with overcooked seafood.

Gising Gising
"Gising" means to wake up. This is a spicy beef dish that really wasn't too spicy and made with the same sauce as the chopsuey.

Hito
Fried Catfish. Pretty decent, but I prefer the smaller size of catfish which is more tender and tastier.

Adobong Pugo
Quail cooked in the classic Filipin "adobo" method, with vinegar and soy sauce.

Crispy Pata
My brother was in town so we had to continue our crispy pata tasting. This was all right, but definitely nothing as good as what we found in Makati.