A Visit to Bale Dutung

Our Bale Dutung Visit - Feb 28, 2011

PIC and I are huge fans of Anthony Bourdain. We love the sarcasm, the biting honesty, the lack of frills and endless ennui that he projects on No Reservations. I've even read his books Kitchen Confidential and Medium Raw, and own his Les Halles Cookbook. Heck, we've even dined at Les Halles in NY and to this day use his onion soup as a true gauge of fantabulous onion soup.

Our table setting with kamias
(instead of lemon) finger bowls

Dalandan juice & iced
muscovado sugar

So when we saw the Philippine episode of No Reservations, we thought, hey! that Bale Dutung segment would be an easy stop. We go home to the Philippines once a year anyway, my mom is half Kapampangan (not that it should matter), and Angeles City is only a 2 hour drive from Manila. So into the infamous IT it went.

For this little excursion, PIC and I thought we'd invite my mom and my two aunts (my mom's sisters) for a taste of Bale Dutung.

While still in Auckland, I started arranging our reservations via e-mail and was surprised to find myself liaising directly with Mary Ann Tayag. Definitely a good start to the experience if I was communicating directly with the other half of the Tayag house. Bale Dutung has a minimum booking requirement of 12. Thankfully there were other folk inclined to make the taste trip as well and this allowed our smaller group of 5 to piggy back on their reservation.

Citronella Candle

The fateful day arrived and after picking up my two aunts, we were all set to go. Armed with a printout of a map we found on their website we drove from our last stop in Malabon on to Angeles City, Pampanga. Not being familiar with the Pampanga landscape, coupled with my terrible sense of direction, and 3 equally disoriented back seat drivers -- we ended up terribly lost. We asked bystanders for directions, called Claude Tayag twice, before we eventually made our final destination. At this stage the other diners have already started their degustation experience and we were left to catch up.

Once there, we discovered that Mary Ann Tayag was the ultimate hostess. She took us through each dish, shared a bit of context, and a few suggestions on how we can enjoy their culinary offerings. She made it a point to spend time with each table, chat, and see how we were all doing. While the house, its art, and even the feel of the place lent to the experience, it was really Mary Ann's expert hosting that made the experience even more worthwhile.

Now on to the food.

This was a hit with the ladies

Being a degustation menu, the portions were small but the courses were many. There were a total of 10 courses plus dessert. The pacing was good, we were never waiting for too long, with just enough of a pause in between for us to comment and wonder what the next course would bring. Each dish was a visual feast and taste wise it was all good. But I would have to admit that our expectations were so raised by No Reservations, the visual presentation, and the media hype that we were just slightly disappointed palette wise.

Overall, the food was good enough to showcase Filipino cuisine but it did not blow my mind away and I think my dining companions shared the same sentiment. We did however all agree that Bale Dutung was a destination worth finding for the experience, the education, and the unique memory to share with your loved ones.

Favorite courses? I'd probably go back for the Sinigang and (as simplistic as it sounds) the Pan de Sal!