Calasiao: Dagupeña Restaurant

CALASIAO, Pangasinan - Since we had not eaten breakfast before we left Dagupan City for Calasiao, there was only one thing we were thinking of after we visited the Calasiao Church. Food. As recommended by a friend from Dagupan, we opted to have breakfast in Calasiao before returning to our hotel in Dagupan City.

In front of Calasiao Church, we hailed a tricycle and asked the driver to bring us to Dagupeña. The tricycle ride took only less than ten minutes. The original restaurant was located along A.B. Fernandez Avenue in Dagupan City and was later moved to its new location along Urdaneta Junction-Dagupan Road (San Miguel Highway) right beside Robinsons Place Pangasinan in the neighboring town of Calasiao.

From the outside, the restaurant looked like a big house with a spacious parking lot. When we entered, we were greeted by the waiters with a Sunday morning smile and were offered a table inside the Salón de Refrescos, the air-conditioned section of the restaurant, which wasn't a bad choice for a summer day.

The restaurant'a interior has a Filipino-Hispanic theme. The cozy place is accentuated by warm lights and vitalized by the sunlight waltzing in through the capiz and colored-glass window panes.

from left: Daing na Bangus, Brewed Coffee, Corned Beef

The time has come to order breakfast. Ramil sticked to his motto "When in Dagupan, eat Bangus" and ordered Daing na Bangus. Edgar, who is on a perpetual non-fish diet, ordered Corned Beef. We also ordered brewed coffee and were surprised to get our coffee served in a French press.

There was no better way to conclude our visit to Pangasinan than a breakfast at Dagupeña. We have to confess. A trip to (Metro) Dagupan is never complete without dining at Dagupeña Restaurant.

Dagupeña Restaurant
Urdaneta Junction-Dagupan Road (San Miguel Highway)
beside Robinsons Place Pangasinan
Calasiao, Pangasinan
Tel. No. +63-75-5222752
www.dagupena.com


See complete photo album on Facebook

How to get there: from Dagupan: take a jeepney bound to Santa Barbara and tell the driver to drop you off at Dagupeña Restaurant. It is on the left side of the road, right before Robinsons Place Pangasinan. from Calasiao: take a tricycle and tell the driver to bring you to Dagupeña.

How to get back: to Dagupan: On the same side of the road as the restaurant, take any jeepney bound for Dagupan City.

Calasiao: Calasiao Puto and Kutchinta

CALASIAO, Pangasinan - The town of Calasiao is also known for its puto, a bite-size cake made of rice. The people of Calasiao takes pride in their prime produce that a puto festival is celebrated every May 5.

Right across the Calasiao Church (Sts. Peter and Paul Church) are the Calasiao Puto Producers stalls where you can find different variations of the Calasiao puto, as well as other products of Calasiao and its neighboring municipalities. Most notable of the stalls is Bella's Calasiao Puto which offers puto in various flavors, including strawberry, ube, pandan, mango, just to name a few.

from left: puto kutchinta, ube-flavored puto with cheese, original plain white puto

We did try the fancy flavored puto variants, but for us, nothing could be better than the original Calasiao puto (plain white) and the puto kutchinta. A kilo of the Calasiao puto and puto kutchinta sells for Php100.00 while the flavored ones cost Php120.00 per kilo.

See complete photo album on Facebook

How to get there from Dagupan: along A.B. Fernandez Ave. or Perez Blvd., take a jeepney bound to Calasiao and tell the driver to drop you off at Calasiao Church (simbahan ng Calasiao). Across the church are the Calasiao Puto Producers stalls.

How to get back to Dagupan: in front of the church, take a jeepney bound for Dagupan.

Calasiao: Sts. Peter & Paul Parish Church

CALASIAO, Pangasinan - It was our last day in Pangasinan and as planned, we would make a quick visit to Dagupan's neighboring town of Calasiao. In front of our hotel in Dagupan, we boarded a jeepney with a Calasiao signage. First on the day's itinerary was Calasiao's Sts. Peter & Paul Parish Church.

We usually schedule church visits on weekdays to avoid the "crowd" and capture postcard perfect photographs of the edifice. This time was different as we scheduled this visit on a Sunday when the faithful flocks to the church to hear mass.

The Pangasinan language is very much alive in Calasiao as the mass was said in the province's vernacular tongue. Though we did not understand a single word, we could still feel the solemnity of the celebration.

After the mass came the usual scenes: mothers buying flowers for their home altars and children holding a balloon on one hand and a bag of popcorn on the other.


See complete photo album on Facebook

How to get there from Dagupan: along A.B. Fernandez Ave. or Perez Blvd., take a jeepney bound to Calasiao and tell the driver to drop you off at Calasiao Church (simbahan ng Calasiao).

How to get back to Dagupan: in front of the church, take a jeepney bound for Dagupan.

Dagupan City: Matutina's Seafood Restaurant | Inihaw na Bangus

DAGUPAN CITY, Pangasinan - Bangus (milkfish) is the main product of Dagupan City and is claimed to be the tastiest in the world. There's no better time to have your first taste of Dagupan Bangus than during the annual Bangus Festival and there is no better place to feast on Dagupan Bangus dishes than in Bonuan-Tondaligan district of the city.

Matutina's Seafood House & Restaurant is one of the many seafood restaurants in Bonuan Tondaligan and probably the best in the area. From its first branch in Bonuan Tondaligan, Matutina's already has a number of branches.

Chefs consider bangus a very versatile meat that it can be cooked in more that a hundred ways. Matutina's for example takes pride in its sinigang na bangus belly (milkfish belly in tamarind soup). We also heard restaurants in Dagupan serving bangus sisig and even bangus pizza. But for his first taste of Dagupan bangus, Ramil wanted it plain and simple, a dish in which the natural flavor of the fish is preserved and not overpowered by spices and seasonings - the inihaw na bangus (grilled milkfish), see image above.

If bangus were to be compared to gold, then Matutina's inihaw na bangus would be a 24 karat gold. So to answer the question, is Dagupan bangus the tastiest in the world? The answer is, perhaps. But there is one thing we are very sure about, Dagupan bangus is definitely the tastiest bangus we ever had.

It was no surpise that, When in Dagupan, eat Bangus, has become Ramil's motto during our trip to Dagupan.

Bangus Festival 2012 | Gilon-Gilon ed Dalan

DAGUPAN CITY, Pangasinan - The Gilon-Gilon ed Dalan street dance competition is one of the main events of Dagupan's annual Bangus Festival. 31 barangays demonstrate their artistic interpretation of harvesting fish (gilon-gilon in the Pangasinan language) through dance and costume.



The street parade started at 3:00pm and took a counter-clockwise route from the City Plaza to Perez Blvd., turning to M.H. Del Pilar Street and then to A.B. Fernandez Avenue, and finally back to the City Plaza for the final showdown.



Despite the summer heat, the participants tirelessly entertained the crowed with their performances. As the parade drew more and more spectators to the street, the more energetic the delegates became with their dancing.



This year, Barangay Lucao bagged the Php100,000 grand price and defended its title as Gilon-Gilon ed Dalan Champion for four straight years.



We consider this event as the highlight of our visit to Dagupan and will definitely revisit the city to experience Gilon-Gilon ed Dalan again.

Dagupan City: Pigar-Pigar at Galvan Street

DAGUPAN CITY, Pangasinan - Next to bangus (milkfish), pigar-pigar is another delicacy very popular among Dagupeños. When most restaurants and stores are about to call it a day, Dagupan's Galvan Street comes to life as people start to flock to the pigar-pigar stalls lining the street.

Preparing a dish of pigar-pigar isn't really complicated. It all starts with beef or carabeef cut into strips and marinated in soy sauce. They are then sauteed with onion, cabbage and cauliflower. The freshly cooked dish is then served with a dip of soy sauce, calamansi and chili. It's an interesting mxiture of tender meat and crunchy vegetables. Pigar-pigar may be paired with rice as a meal, or with beer as a side dish.

A serving of pigar-pigar is measured in kilos of meat. A quarter kilo of it is enough to be shared by two persons. Being first-timers in Dagupan, we ordered two servings of the dish: a quarter kilo of the basic pigar-pigar with onions, and a quarter kilo of pigar-pigar with onions, cabbage and cauliflower.

The city government of Dagupan organized an annual event to promote this local delicacy, the Pigar-Pigar Festival, which runs side-by-side with Dagupan's Bangus Festival. Activities include culinary competition among stall owners and nightly concerts.

How to get there from Downtown Dagupan: take any tricycle and tell the driver to bring you to Galvan Street.

How to get back take any tricyle and tell the driver your destination within downtown; for destinations outside downtown, jeepneys pass by A.B. Fernandez Avenue and Perez Boulevard.