Kainan sa Dalampasigan 01.31.2014

A restaurant serving good filipino dishes was featured in a TV program. The restaurant is named Kainan sa Dalampasigan and it is located in Nasugbu, Batangas. We had an opportunity to visit this place during the Chinese New Year which was declared a special public holiday. The holiday fell on a Friday making it a long weekend. So off we go to Nasugbu and had a lunch at Kainan sa Dalampasigan on our way to Bernabeach Resort which was 3 minute drive from the restaurant.

Kainan sa Dalampasigan has a garden setting both in and out.

We were greeted by the female owner who was helping in serving food to a large group of guests. The place was roomy and had big windows. The cool air was blowing and coming in from the windows and it added a provincial touch. The tables and chairs/bench were made of heavy wood.

The menu was your typical Filipino dishes and we asked the owner what her recommendation was because we were just two. She suggested getting the daing na bangus. So we did and we also ordered Binalot. My husband had soda and I , sago and gulaman.

Binalot consisted of pork-chicken cooked adobo style with some shrimps and rice wrapped altogether in banana leaf. It came with a dipping of bagoong isda and tomato. It cost Php260, if I remember it right.

The boneless daing na bangus was huge and good for four persons. It lacked the sour-y taste of daing and tasted like your ordinary fried bangus. Cost us Php350.

We took away the left over bangus and we also ordered grilled pork for our dinner at the resort.

The restaurant has ample parking space although the entrance was quite narrow. One car has to give way for the other car to get out.

The comfort rooms were clean and had filipino motiff. There is a mini waterfall separating the male and female toilet.

I am not sure why it is called Kainan sa Dalampasigan when there is no dalampasigan (waterway) in sight. Maybe it should have been called Kainan sa Hardin.

Overall, the ambience is very good , service needs a little improvement (bill out was kinda slow),  food experience is regular. Maybe we have to go back and try the other dishes for us to fully rate the food offering.

To get to Kainan by private car, we drove via Tagaytay -Nasugbu route, upon reaching the T road ,turn right to Nasugbu. (The left road leads to Matabungkay. ) We turned left to Martinez street. One can ask where Batangas State University is. Kainan is on the left side before reaching the University.  It is easier if you have GPS.

Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar - A Heritage Tour 12.29.2013

The long holidays gave us time to go on a road trip. Been wanting to visit Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar due to the many blogs I read. We planned for a overnight stay Dec 29-30 but all rooms were already booked so we opted for a day tour . We left Manila at 5am and drove to Bagac, Bataan via NLEX-SCTEX-Dinalupihan exit. We passed several towns of Bataan and surprisingly, the road were all paved. Traffic was smooth because people were all on holiday mode. There were zigzag roads much like in Baguio. With the help of gps, we arrived safely at around 9am at the resort.

The day tour cost Php650 per head inclusive of the walking tour and beach. Swimming pool is exclusive to checked-in guests. Our arrival was timely as the 930am tour was about to begin. We registered at the reception and was given a stub for face towel to be used after the tour.

Reception House

Our tour guide was Dexter . He's quite young and in his early twenty's I guess. He's very charming, knowledgeable and funny. He has this portable speaker device which was loud enough for the tour-ist to hear.

We were toured inside  some of the houses which served as a museum.

wooden bed at Casa Lubao

very nice ceiling of Casa Lubao

clothes were ironed this way during the olden days

ancient ironing board

toilet in the early days

 Casa Hidalgo - this mansion was then used as the first campus of the University of the Philippines School of Fine Arts in 1909. One can see some of the original columns battered by nails and little decay. The room was huge as classes were once held in them.

wide wooden stairway  (be careful as it was slippery)

notice the nail battered wood and the old paint

spacious area used as classroom

original column on the left and replica on the right

UP seal

ground floor of casa

Casa Meycauayan

Casa Jaen I

intricate art on the ceiling

Casa Escolta which served as the resort's hotel has 17 rooms fully equipped with modern amenities. The rooms were designed by the owner's wife Mrs. Tess Acuzar.

Casa Escolta

 

Casa Bizantina according to the brochure,  was built in 1890, leased to Instituto de Manila from 1914-1919 and to various tenants after WWII. In 2009, Casa Bizantina was home to 50 squatters families. It was later demolished , transferred and reconstructed in Bagac to form part of the heritage house collection.

Casa Bizantina

The walking tour ended here at Casa Bizantina at past 11am. Despite the scorching sun and the long walks on cobblestone walkways, the tour was well worth it. It was very informative, interesting and amusing. Of course, the tour wont be complete without a posterity photo with Dexter.

Here are other photos taken inside the resort.

swimming pool 

beach front accommodation

beach

Jones bridge replica

My thoughts on this trip:
1- wear sunblock, wide hats, comfy shoes; kinda difficult to walk on uneven cobblestone walkway.
2- bring water during the tour
3-some of the houses were shiningly waxed; remove your socks and be extra careful , tends to be slippery especially at the stairs
4-booka  room way in advance if planning to stay overnite; rates vary on weekend, weekdays and holidays
5-email address is useless; i enquired via their email twice and no response; call the land line instead
6-there are cheap resorts near Las Casas if you're not able to get accommodation; but dont set high expectation; for me,  it's safer to stay in one of these cheap resorts than to drive at nighttime
7-bring map if you dont have GPS; you can google the place in advance and just print it; or if you have 3G phone, you can use google map app
8-food items are not allowed inside; the fil-spanish resto is quite expensive; allow a budget of Php700-1000 for 2-3 persons; we ordered kare kare and it was good for 3 persons, tortang talong was big serving and good for 3 persons also.
9-Dexter is highly recommended tour guide; he's funny and animated.

How we got there:
took NLEX-SCTEX-Dinalupihan exit and followed the GPS; you will pass by Mt Samat /Dambana ng Kagitingan

Website: www.lascasasfilipinas.com
Manila Office:  332-5338, 335-3032