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I
received an invitation to go to
Palaisdaan Restaurant in Tayabas, Quezon. On
the day of the trip, it was a cool and gray
Saturday morning. I didn’t want to leave the
comforts of my bed. I would rather go back
to sleep since it was the weekend but I
successfully resisted the urge to snuggle
deeper under the covers and not hit the
snooze button of my annoying alarm clock.
Besides, I wouldn’t dare be late and face
other members of the media looking
disheveled or worse, they would go without
me.
Going South
The trip from Makati to the province of Quezon lasted for four
hours with a few pit stops to take bathroom
breaks and relieve achy butts. Quezon, Metro
Manila’s gateway to Southern Luzon and Bicol,
is considered as the longest and sixth
largest province in the country. It is
located in the Luzon island group,
specifically in the Southern Tagalog region
(Region IV). Its boundaries are: the
province of Aurora to its north, Camarines
Sur to its south, Polillo Islands to its
east and Laguna, Rizal, Bulacan and Batangas
to its west. Quezon is composed of 41 towns
and a highly urbanized city, Lucena. The
town of Tayabas is situated at the
southeastern foothills of Mount Banahaw, an
extinct volcano famous for its mystical
attributes. During Holy Week, thousands
flock to the site and unique religious rites
are held. Pilgrims even believe that Jesus
walked this mountain.
Despite the driver’s heart-stopping driving skills (such as
overtaking blind curves and all of us would
scream for our lives), the vast scenery of
trees, fields and mountains were
breathtaking. It was a sight to behold since
there is hardly anything green and natural
in the city. However, my admiration for the
unspoiled provincial surroundings was
occasionally broken as I constantly checked
the highway for incoming buses (some which
we narrowly escaped) and threw looks of
loathing at the driver. I stiffly sat on the
edge of my seat throughout the trip and was
immensely relieved upon seeing the
Palaisdaan Restaurant signage.
Country Dining
Palaisdaan Restaurant has an impressive land area of 1.3 hectares
and can accommodate up to 1,000 diners.
Water which comes from Mount Banahaw flows
abundantly into the fish ponds and
waterfalls of the restaurant. Thirty-four
bamboo huts (24 of them are floating), four
pavilions and other structures give a rustic
feel. Each hut can sit 12–14 people while
pavilions have room for 15 people or more. I
was amazed to see floating bamboo huts on
rafts. It is a creative and beautiful
concept.
Everyone was clearly having a good time. Families in huts
highly enjoyed their meal. Children walked
the stone pathways and peered happily at the
fishes swimming in the pond. I even saw a
customer in one of the huts fishing for
tilapia. Yes, it is possible to fish here!
Fishes caught are charged by the kilo and
may be cooked. Customers may choose among
the restaurant’s special cooking methods
such as inihaw (grilled), ginataan (cooked
in coconut milk) and sinugno (grilled and
cooked in coconut milk).
The four hour trip caused mild butt |
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aches and
hungry stomachs. A couple of waiters led us
into a floating bamboo hut located at the
restaurant’s rear end (no pun intended).
Walking on the bamboo raft required extra
care since it was unsteady. My steps were
slow and careful. I didn’t want to go
swimming with the fishes that day. I also
noticed that each hut had a piece of bamboo
hanging called kalatong. Rene de los Santos,
owner of Palaisdaan Restaurant, explained
that these were used to call waiters. He
added that in the province, since houses are
distant from each other, a kalatong was used
to communicate and a special code was used.
A few minutes later, waiters served plates of santol (wild
mangosteen). Santol is a tropical fruit
which has two varieties: red and yellow,
which is more common here in the
Philippines. Both have a skin that goes from
a thin peel to a thicker rind. Its juice is
milky and the fruit may be sweet or sour.
The brown seeds are inedible. But I didn’t
eat any since I wanted real food that’s warm
and comforting.
In no time, waiters were back and served us the restaurant’s
specialties: Sinigang na Sugpo (prawns in
sour soup of tamarind base with tomato,
radish, string beans and swamp spinach),
Inihaw na Pork Chop (grilled pork chop),
Pritong Pla-pla (fried tilapia), Sinugnong
Pla-pla (grilled tilapia cooked in coconut
milk and mustasa or mustard greens) and
Sautéed Sugpo (prawns cooked in butter and
Sprite). Plates of steaming hot, white rice
arrived and small bowls of the favorite
Filipino condiments—calamansi (local lime),
siling labuyo (hot pepper) and toyo (soy
sauce) — were also served. Large tilapia
fishes are often referred to as pla-pla
while the smaller ones are referred to as
just tilapia.
I dug into my favorite dishes: Sautéed Sugpo and Sinigang na Sugpo.
Ah, prawns. My favorite! I also ate the
fried tilapia. It was delicious but its
crispiness made me think of the fish bathed
in too much oil. I skipped the green mango
salad with tomatoes, onions and bagoong
(shrimp paste) and Ginataang Suso na may
Pako (shell cooked in coconut milk with
fiddlehead fern). I am unadventurous when it
comes to unfamiliar food but someday, I just
might get out of my shell. The restaurant
actually encourages eating with bare hands
for the best local dining experience. Hand
washing stations are all over the restaurant
but I was content to use a spoon and fork.
For dessert, I had leche flan, a popular
custard dessert in the Philippines. Rich,
sinful and smooth, it ended the meal
perfectly.
A band called Kwerdas ng Tayabas came to our hut and sang various
songs including Besame Mucho, Spanish Eyes
and other OPM hits such as Kamikazee’s Narda
and APO Hiking Society’s Yakap Sa Dilim. The
band had been playing for four years. These
gentlemen are very talented as they gave
their own rendition of classics and popular
favorites.
From Poultry Farm to
Restaurant
“Palaisdaan Restaurant used to be a poultry farm back in the 1970s.
Then in the 1991, my parents Marianito “Eto”
de los Santos and Filomena “Luming” de los
Santos shifted to raising and selling live
fish due to low profit
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