Discovering people's choice at People's Restaurant

August 2019 · 4 min read

I joined a travel for a cause and outreach trip few weeks ago. It was an outreach for indigenous people at Batad, Banaue, Ifugao, Philippines which I will write about the trip separately. For now, let me share the amazing restaurant where we had our lunch on our way back to Metro Manila.

From the middle of the mountains where we had the outreach, we came to the town proper of the municipality. Instead of going straight to the restaurant, we took time looking around stores for souvenirs when our coordinator said we need to get inside the restaurant and place our order first before we look around. That is because restaurants in the area take time in serving orders. This People's Lodge and Restaurant happens to be right beside where we parked so we got in.

From the front, you can not readily say that there is a restaurant inside the building because what's so obvious is a variety store. Though when you look farther pass the ice cream freezers along the hallway, you can notice the dining area inside.

The dining area is fairly spacious. They have small tables for four and tables for larger group. However, there were more than 30 of us volunteers so no one table can accommodate us all.

We have to spread in to different tables. Majority opted to dine in the veranda and enjoy the fresh air outside along with the view.

I was curious to take a look at their menu. Since we were in a Cordillera province, I was expecting something that is native in there, at the very least the pinikpikan. It is a chicken menu which common in the Cordillera region. The chicken is killed through repeated beating of the neck so its blood is brought to the surface. The process of letting blood that way is believed to improve the taste of the chicken meat when cooked.

To my surprise, there was no pinikpikan in the menu. All the dishes in there are the common ones that I usually see in restaurants here in Metro Manila. That gave me the impression that the restaurant's target diners are their locals who may not have the dishes in their menu as their regular dishes at home.

Since majority of dishes in Metro Manila are fried, I looked for something with soup and spotted the fish sinigang. I asked the crew what fish is it and she said "bangus" or the milkfish. I ordered for one serving and she said it is actually good for 2 to 3 persons. One of my fellow volunteers offered that we share one serving and I agreed.

Serving of our order was indeed a long wait. The scent of food being cooked came out from one side of the dining hall. That explains the long wait because they cook as and when an order is placed. I stopped being conscious of the time after 20 minutes. Instead, I focused on taking photographs inside and outside of the restaurant. The photos will come later on a different post.

When our order was served, the size is indeed big and more than enough for one person. My bangus sinigang looked tempting on top of the fact that we are hungrier now. With the price of P175.00 (US $3.42), it may sound expensive unless you realize that it is a big serving. It is actually a bargain if we take a look at the price ratio to the number of people it can serve.

Another one of my fellow volunteers have ordered People's Rice and she was also reacting as to how bounty the serving is. It is a set meal which is acombination of rice, fried pork chops, vegetables and a fruit side dish. At the price of P190.00 (US$3.72), it is also well worth it. The menu said main viand is a chicken but she said she asked and was able to have pork instead. She was saying she can not finish all and she offered that we share specially the pork chop.

It was a good full meal with many volunteers whom I met almost all of them for the first time. We enjoyed the chat and socializing while waiting for our orders and even after that. We did not immediately leave the restaurant. We stayed for a while for siesta before hitting the road again back to Metro Manila.