KAINAN SA DALAMPASIGAN

Finding this off the beaten track restaurant was the first task, as you had to veer off the main road and make your way a few hundred meters to get there. The second task was navigating your way through the dark and under lit path from the parking area that frogs have invaded and now call home. My first thought upon seeing Kainan sa Dalampasigan was, "this could be the type of restaurant that tourists from Manila have horror stories about". My first impression of the place was not really great: it was dark- with the only sources of light being white bulbs that gave you the impression that you were in a warehouse (The restaurant used to be a warehouse in its former life) or being interrogated by the NBI. It also didn't help that our party were the only guests there (that would change as we were only the first to arrive). However, a companion who had previously dined there assured me that the food was great...only if it were available. Their specialty, Tanigue Steak, was nowhere to be found (they had run out). The second specialty, Ginisang Kangkong, was out of stock as well (I was really doubtful about this restaurant at this point - who runs out of Kangkong, of all vegetables!) . Being the impartial, trying hard, amateur food critic that I am trying to be, I had to suspend my judgment until the rest of the meal had been finished.

The meal started off with an "amuse bouche" serving of sinigang soup and a side dish of fried tomato in bagoong. The soup was perfectly sour. If it was made from an instant mix, they did a very good job of cooking it. The fried tomato however, was even better. It wasnt fried all the way through, so that when you broke it with a fork, the tomato juices came rushing out and blended well with the salty, home-made bagoong. I would probably blame this dish for making me go through almost 2 cups of rice when I shouldn't even be having rice for dinner.


The first to arrive was the Dalampasigan Platter, which was a sampler plate of their specialties which included fried shrimps, fried bangus, inihaw na baboy, baked mussels, salted egg and bagoong. The best part of this platter turned out to be the Baked Tahong, which is another of their signature dishes (Thank God it was available this time). The mussels were entirely covered in a cheese mixture and gratinated until well-browned and melted. There was a hint of saltiness to the dish, which I could only speculate as to what it was. Bagoong in the mixture, perhaps?

The second dish was lechon kawali which was a bit on the oily side. Why eat lechon kawali and not expect it to be oily, right? I've eaten quite a number of lechon kawalis and there were a few I remembered that didn't leak out oil whenever I sliced it. This one did. Taste-wise, it was juicy but it could have used more crisping up.


Their Chop Suey leaves more to be desired. First of all, the vegetables weren't blanched, so the green beans were still undercooked, the cabbage had a pale color to it, while the snow peas were just about ready to give up. I'm a big fan of liver, so while I appreciate that this dish had lots of liver in it, I would have enjoyed it more if they had decided to cook it well. It was overcooked and tough.

The dessert came in the form of Halo-Halo, which my companion had been raving about on the way there. I'm quite hard to please when it comes to Halo-Halo because I don't enjoy most of the ingredients they put in it, such as beans. Dalampasigan's Halo-Halo, however, passed my taste buds. There were lots of nata de coco, my favorite topping of all time, the leche flan was creamy, and most of all - there were no beans! Halo-halo purists might find this fact sacrilegious, but that's how I like my Halo-halo. The only downside was that the ube was hard to chew, but I can forgive that.

I'm still at odds over what I think about Kainan sa Dalampasigan. On one hand, I did enjoy the meal we had, some hiccups on availability withstanding. I'm not discounting the fact that there were a lot of items in the menu not available for ordering, house specialties at that. I find it both absurd and amusing that they would run out of Kang kong, which is a ubiquitous vegetable in my opinion. On the other hand, I don't know what to say about the ambience, most especially the lighting, which also plays a part in the overall dining experience. Lighting was so bad, that I feel I didn't even do justice to the food pictures I took (although I'm no professional). I'd like to think that this place would be more charming in the daytime with its rustic appeal, however, I think they should also give importance to dinner patrons. This place is perfect for tourists coming from Batangas where dining options are few and far between. Rather than resort to driving straight to Tagaytay where restaurants abound, try this one for a change. Don't expect a great meal, but you'll be pleasantly surprised anyway.