I was so hungry after our trip to the Underground River that on the way to Sabang Beach, I had been munching on some chips and was looking forward to a good lunch. Thankfully, the meal that came with our tour was really sumptuous.
There's inihaw na baboy (grilled pork) that was deliciously done. The meat was tender and succulent. I especially love the taba (pork fat). It was especially savory when dipped in a mixture of soy sauce and calamansi (calamondin or acid orange).
There's Chicken and Pork Adobo (Adobo is a style of cooking that uses vinegar, soy sauce and garlic and is almost the Philippine's national dish) too. The adobo that I had in Sabang went well with rice. It also had just enough saltiness to it. Its meat was also tender. Of course, my choice part of the chicken was the hita (thigh) which I ate with gusto. Yum!
It wasn't all meat though as there was inihaw na talong (grilled eggplant). I am not really fond of eating vegetables but eggplant is one of my favorites.
There's stir-fry kangkong (swamp cabbage) too which was cooked just right that I could hear the crunch when I bite into it.
Lastly, there's grilled fish. I am not really familiar with the types of fish so I do not know what the fish is called (my definition of fish is limited to bangus or milkfish, tilapia, salmon and dilis). What was served to us was really delicious (this is actually quite a compliment from me as I am a meat-lover and have never been fond of eating fish). Unlike most fish menu I had, this did not taste bland maybe because it was cooked fresh.
For my drinks, I had buko (young coconut) juice. It's been so long since I had fresh buko juice that I really relished my drink. I love its taste - sweet and refreshing.
And for dessert, I just ask them to halve the buko where I took my buko juice from and voila, there's coconut meat for dessert. Yummy!
All in all, it was a great lunch. The food was really good and the ambiance was just as appealing - what with our having to dine under a thatched hut with the great view of Sabang Beach and gently swaying coconut trees.
Sigh. I wonder when such a great dining experience will happen again as I'm sure it is impossible to have it in highly urbanized Manila where the view isn't that of trees or the sea but of buildings, skyscrapers and people rushing headlong into their fast-paced lives of meetings and only-they-know-what.
