Chasing Daylight

The Palaisdaan Restaurant. Found at the Lucban-Tayabas road, the Kamayan sa Palaisdaan restaurant will let you experience how it is being one with nature.


Palaisdaan Restaurant's official site gives a quick overview of the place:

Palaisdaan Restaurant is one of the best country dining restaurants in the province of Quezon. It is located at foot of mystical Mt. Banahaw in Sitio Lanzonesan, Brgy. Dapdap, along the Tayabas-Lucban provincial road (a declared tourism zone) in Tayabas, Quezon. It is approximately 136 kms. from Manila and 8 kms. from Tayabas town proper. Sitting in a 1.3 hectare-land of idyllic beauty (at 750 feet above sea level), it is blessed with cool climate, bracing mountain breeze, lush vegetation, and spring water that flows abundantly into its fishponds and waterfalls. The 34 bamboo huts (24 of them floating) 4 pavilions, and other structures are designed and built to complement the rustic ambiance of the restaurant. But its best attraction is still the food. With tilapia raised abundantly in the fishponds, fish dishes like grilled tilapia, sinugno and ginataan are their specialties among others. Native delicacies like longganisa, budin and nilupak are also available. For an authentic feel of the country life, these are eaten with bare hands. However, spoons and fork are available upon request.

I ate at the Palaisdaan Restaurant since I was a kid and loved it ever since. Everytime there's celebrations for our family like weddings and reunions, we usually hold it at this restaurant. Just last May 2007, my parents held the reception of their 25th wedding anniversary at the Palaisdaan. See related post: [My Parents Turn 25]

Last week, Anne and I ate here again as part of our "Lucban Getaway" weekend. Nowadays we can't seem to go home to Lucban as often as before (special thanks to our respective workloads) so we went to all the places we could visit when we went home last week. And of course, Palaisdaan is at the top of our list. Ü

The Lucban-Tayabas provincial road. The Palaisdaan Restaurant is a 15-minute drive from both town centers, whether Lucban or Tayabas.

Kamayan sa Palaisdaan. Welcome! Ü

Floating Bamboo Huts. Each hut could accomodate a group of 12-14 guests. Pavilions serve groups with more than 14 people.

Finding Nemo. Fishes freely swim the fishponds. Guests are allowed to feed them.

The Fishpond. This is just part of the hectare-wide fishpond. Kids love to stroll around the stone pathways that allow them to cross through the pond areas.

A portal? A fascinating stone structure. Reminds me of the gateway portals in sci-fi movies. Ü

Sinks all over. The restaurant encourages eating with the use of bare hands for optimum experience. Thus, handwashing stations are all over the place.

Swing away. That's Anne, obviously enjoying one of those wooden swings found inside the restaurant.

The menu. All items are reasonably priced. Anne and I paid just a total of PHP 380.00 for our lunch. Ü

Inihaw na Pork Chop. Be good to your heart, eat grilled.

Garlic Rice. Anne ordered for 3 cups of garlic rice for us but it looked like they used mugs instead of cups. Ü

Full tanks. Stomachs filled and sleepy; if only we could have a quick nap at the bamboo huts. Or, why not?


For reservations and more information, visit Palaisdaan Restaurant's Official Site.

Labels: Dining, Discover Philippines, Travel