On several occasions going north I would always notice Isdaan along Gerona, Tarlac with all the giant fish and monkeys beckoning travelers to stop. It looks like a theme park along the highway. I finally got the chance to try it out on our way to Pangasinan.
We were welcomed by the “resident guard” reading a newspaper.
He also has a partner who was sleeping on the job.
Admittedly, it was not the most comfortable stopover. Isdaan is an open air restaurant and under the scorching summer heat, I was thinking, stopping here for lunch is not exactly the best idea. Yes, they have electric fans inside the cottages but still the heat was a bit unbearable.
We were immediately welcomed with a harana, a trditional Filipino serenade.
Then during lunchtime there’s a cultural show.
We ordered Inihaw na Liempo which was pre-cooked adobo style then grilled until tender. The meat really melts in your mouth. I was just bothered by the sweetish undertones of the marinate. I was expecting something garlicky, salty and vinegary. Maybe it’s just me, but everyone enjoyed this dish.
The Grilled Pla Pla came with three big fish, but there was nothing really special about this dish considering it was freshly caught.
The Vegetable Tacsyapo looked interesting on the menu and when we asked the waiter about it, he told us that it was a house specialty so we had that. There's no other way to describe this dish except it looked so “kawawa”. The steamed vegetables looked like they’ve seen better days and the serving was really small. It had about six leaves of kangkong, four slices of eggplant, one okra, a few cucumber, singkamas and one, yes one, cherry tomato. I guess vegetables must be expensive along these parts. The sauce though, was a winner. It was made with fish bagoong plus some spices and chilies, lots of chilies.
Rice is a bit expensive. I forgot the actual price but one serving is more than fifty pesos! This rice in a kaldero is more than 100 pesos. 
The Tacsyapo area where you can vent out every violent emotion you have by throwing plates, cups even a whole TV set against the wall looked fun, but I didn’t have the chance to try it out
.All in all, Isdaan is an experience in itself, something the kids would really enjoy. But there was nothing really special about the food, the ones I had anyway.
Entering Ma Mon Luk takes you back to the old world. The place was dingy with no aircon, just big old ceiling fans, bowls and saucers in uhmm…less than perfect condition, marble tables that are chipped and not really that clean and attendants who hardly pay attention to you. I guess this is how things are in an old Chinese panciteria.
Even their pay phone is vintage.
But of course, Mamu and I are not her for the ambience and the service. We were there for Ma Mon Luk’s siopao and mami.
This is a first time of sorts for me, I don’t remember having a Ma Mon Luk experience, but according to Mamu she used to bring home their siopao as pasalubong for us.
After the waiter finally paid attention to us we both ordered the Original Mami and Jumbo Siopao. I looked around the place and found the tables full of customers, mostly families with bowls of mami and siopao.
While the siopao did not disappoint, although Mamu kept on saying “iba na, iba na” between bites. It was served hot, the bun was not super white but good nonetheless. I really like the meat filling, it was not fatty or saucy, you can actually taste the meat, bola-bola and salted eggs.
The mami isn’t really the best I’ve had. It was very simple, served in a very ordinary looking bowl, the broth was clear, the chicken white, the pork looked like pork and everything is topped with spring onions. I prefer my mami spicy with lots of fried garlic.
For a dish that has a lot of history to it, the mami is tasty but very simple. I guess this was how people enjoyed this dish when Ma Mon Luk was still peddling it around the streets of Manila.
We ordered two pieces of Jumbo Siopao for takeout. Lo and behold, when the siopao arrived it was in a brown supot, panciteria style, no clear tape, only the supot folded haphazardly to form some kind of handle. The kind of packaging that makes you want to say "Mga anak, may uwi akong siopao para sa inyo."
Definitely old world...
On several occasions going north I would always notice Isdaan along Gerona, Tarlac with all the giant fish and monkeys beckoning travelers to stop. It looks like a theme park along the highway. I finally got the chance to try it out on our way to Pangasinan.
We were welcomed by the “resident guard” reading a newspaper.
He also has a partner who was sleeping on the job.
Admittedly, it was not the most comfortable stopover. Isdaan is an open air restaurant and under the scorching summer heat, I was thinking, stopping here for lunch is not exactly the best idea. Yes, they have electric fans inside the cottages but still the heat was a bit unbearable.
We were immediately welcomed with a harana, a trditional Filipino serenade.
Then during lunchtime there’s a cultural show.
We ordered Inihaw na Liempo which was pre-cooked adobo style then grilled until tender. The meat really melts in your mouth. I was just bothered by the sweetish undertones of the marinate. I was expecting something garlicky, salty and vinegary. Maybe it’s just me, but everyone enjoyed this dish.
The Grilled Pla Pla came with three big fish, but there was nothing really special about this dish considering it was freshly caught.
The Vegetable Tacsyapo looked interesting on the menu and when we asked the waiter about it, he told us that it was a house specialty so we had that. There's no other way to describe this dish except it looked so “kawawa”. The steamed vegetables looked like they’ve seen better days and the serving was really small. It had about six leaves of kangkong, four slices of eggplant, one okra, a few cucumber, singkamas and one, yes one, cherry tomato. I guess vegetables must be expensive along these parts. The sauce though, was a winner. It was made with fish bagoong plus some spices and chilies, lots of chilies.
Rice is a bit expensive. I forgot the actual price but one serving is more than fifty pesos! This rice in a kaldero is more than 100 pesos. 
The Tacsyapo area where you can vent out every violent emotion you have by throwing plates, cups even a whole TV set against the wall looked fun, but I didn’t have the chance to try it out
.All in all, Isdaan is an experience in itself, something the kids would really enjoy. But there was nothing really special about the food, the ones I had anyway.
