Pampanga Eats: Matam-ih Restaurant in Clark

Something serendipitous happened last Sunday.  I was supposed to go to Manila to visit my Ninong and Ninang (our godparents in our wedding who are such a lovely and loving couple!) but guess what?! They were in Clark (which was a 30 minute drive from our home) for the weekend!  Talk about perfect timing!

So I was going to meet them in a restaurant which sounded like (because I wasn't sure, haha!) "Watami" (though there is really a Watami restaurant in Makati, haha) in Clark.  After a few turns and U-turns (and a Ninong who stood by the road to give me an easier time finding the place!)  I finally got to the place!  It sits on a lot by the main road of Clark (along M.A. Roxas Highway).  It is ironic how friends from Manila are the ones who told me about this place!  Wait, but I have an excuse!  I've been gone for a year and the place just opened last August 2014.  (Heehee)  

The name of the restaurant is. . . MATAM-IH!  And it serves Kapampangan food!  (But it does sound Japanese right?  Haha!)

Matam-ih means "delicious" in the Aeta (pronounced as Eye-ta) dialect.  The Aeta are an ethnic tribal minority group who live in Central Luzon.  The restaurant actually employs members of this tribe.  I've read in some articles online that one of the reasons why the owners (the Rodriguez family of Capas, Tarlac, led by Mayor Antonio Rodriguez Jr. and his son Antonio "Third" Rodriguez III) put up this restaurant was to give them source of livelihood.  A big population of this tribe can be found in Tarlac.  I love how the owners kept this ethnic group in mind as they conceptualized the restaurant. 

MATAM-IH is an open air restaurant with a pavilion-like structure. 

The restaurant also has air-conditioned rooms like the one pictured below which is good for 16 guests and requires a minimum consumption fee of Php 4,000.  The fee includes 3 hours use of the room. 

There is also a bigger one (good for 60 guests) with a minimum consumption fee of Php 10,000.

Our sumptuous lunch consists of . . . . 

Fried Hito with Mustasa and Buro (Fermented Rice with fish)

Inihaw na Liempo - loved this!
Wish it came with sawsawan (dipping sauce) made of vinegar and garlic, heehee

Begukan Babi (Pork Binagoongan) - 
It is also good, it has a nice balance of sweetness and saltiness

I am not sure if this is Pinakbet or just mixed vegetables, haha!  I like how the vegetables were cooked, they weren't mushy.

Adobong Pusit (Loved this! My top pick, reminds me of home)

We (meaning 6 adults! haha!) also had Sinigang and Laing (which was also good!).  I wasn't able to take a photo of the other food because we were busy catching up!

We also got a chance to talk to one of the owners.  She was so nice and pleasant and she even gave us free dessert!

By the way, I'm not saying everything is good because we had free dessert. . . but because we really enjoyed our lunch!  (Thank you again Ninong D and Ninang A for the nice lunch!)  

Manggang Atin Inangit

This dessert was delicious!  It is made up of sticky rice cooked in coconut milk, topped with vanilla ice cream, chunks of yellow mangoes and I forgot what the brown topping actually is.  I asked what it was.  But it is sweet, like caramelized brown sugar, I think.

When you dine in this place, you will also be serenaded (singing and chanting) by this group.  Kindly watch and give them some of your precious time and hope you spare some tip for them too.  It is not easy performing in front of a group! 

They ended their performance with funny pick-up lines for each of one of us in the group like this one:

Q: Ma'm, google ka ba?

Bakit?

A: Kasi lahat ng hinahanap ni Sir, nakita niya sa iyo!

Haha!  

I love this place because food and service is good!

When you are in Clark and you are craving for some local and Kapampangan food, please visit Matam-ih Restaurant and I hope you enjoy their food as much as we did.  

I know for sure, I'll be back before I leave for LA! 

MATAM-IH Restaurant

Lot 1-D, M.A. Roxas Highway, 

E. Jacinto St.,

Clark Freeport Zone

Pampanga

For more details, please visit their FB page.

PAMPANGA EATS: Everybody's Café

Last Saturday was one of the best days I had!

It was a day of celebration. . . .reconnection. . . and rediscovery!  The last three words apply to the good friends I met up with and the sumptuous lunch we had.

We met up with a High School friend who we miss so much because we haven't seen her for a looong time!  She came to visit (she lives in a different province now) and told me that she would like to eat in one of our province's (Pampanga) culinary gem . . . the Everybody's Café!  

We are all true-blooded Kapampangans but somehow we don't get to visit this place regularly, and for some of us, it was their first time last Saturday.  I knowww. . . haha!  It's ironic how people from Manila would drive all the way to Pampanga just to eat in this restaurant and we don't go to this place that often.  I guess human nature makes you take things for granted when that thing is within your reach. 

The last time I ate here was when I was probably in Grade School.  I remember coming to this place with the family to have merienda.  We would always have palabok (or pansit luglug as we call it here in our province) which was served with toasted bread and butter and halo-halo!

Goes without saying that it was a good time to rediscover this famous food destination as we also celebrate a lifelong friendship!

Having these girls around is like being back in high school except that our stories range from dealing with teenagers, hormones (not the teens'!), moisturizers and change in vision (well, hello 40s!), varicose veins and real estate taxes. . . such diverse topics ano?  Haha!  Yes, this is the story of our lives. . . now.

What goes well with good friends and endless conversation but an array of good food!


Welcome to Everybody's Café, the home of authentic Kapampangan cuisine!

Food here is served cafeteria/turo-turo style (direct translation by Filipinos: point-point, haha!) where you place your order by pointing at the dish you like from the food counter.  There are lot of choices but I think we did a pretty good job in "balancing" our meal.

One of the things we ordered was their specialty. . . Murcon!  Murcon is our local version of a meatloaf.  This is a staple in every Kapampangan household during fiesta or any special occasion.

The Murcon is served with additional sauce (made from its drippings) and I wish we slathered some over it before we took a photo, haha!  But even without the extra sauce, it's already good and tasty!

  

Of course, being the Kapampangans that we are, we had to order Pork Sisig. I love their sisig because it has some toasted parts.  I like it as it is.  We didn't even need to do anything (like put calamansi or soy sauce).

I did mention having a balanced meal . . .so we also ordered fish!  (Nah, we just felt guilty for ordering the pork dishes, haha)  We got some some fried hito (mudfish) which was fried perfectly!  It is served with buro (fermented rice and fish) and fresh mustasa (mustard leaves) ----- a popular trifecta of goodness for the Kapampangans!

   

We also ordered *Pako (pronounced as Pa-KO, stress is on the second syllable) Salad which has a vinegar dressing.

*Pako is Fiddlehead fern (thank you Google!)

And Bangus Torta which was something new to all of us . . .surprisingly good.

We also ordered Kare-Kare . . . 

And because I remembered eating their palabok, we placed an order too.

Something different. . . Palabok with slivers of Kamias

Naku, hindi. . .hindi kami gutom!   

We were not really hungry, hahaha!  We Kapampangans just love food!  We are known to be good cooks but we also love eating (well actually, who doesn't?!).

Another Kapampangan dish that is worth trying which we didn't order (because there is this thing called gluttony, haha) is Kilain (pronounced as Kila-yin).  It is an adobo-like dish (because it is also cooked in vinegar) sans the soy sauce. But its taste is entirely different from Adobo.  I find its flavor deeper and richer. I guess because of the liver component of the dish.  (Okay, I am not a Capampangan food expert, this is just my humble opinion, haha!)  When we cook this at home, we use finely chopped liver to thicken the sauce.  Some households also put lungs in this dish (we don't). 

Everybody's Café is also known for their exotic dishes like Betute (Stuffed Frog), Adobong Camaru (Crickets) and they also have Pindang Damulag (Cured Carabao Meat---*carabao is a water buffalo) as seen below.  I also saw Kalderetang Kambing (goat) and a lengua (tongue) dish (I forgot what it was) among the food choices.

We had so much food but we had more stories to share that lunch ran for 3 hours!

And at the end of this perfect day, all I can say is our hearts were full of laughter and our tummies filled with good food!

(Thank you BFF for the photos you shared for this post!)

For more details about Everybody's Cafe, please visit their FB page.

Main Branch: Del Pilar, McArthur Hi-way, City of San Fernando, Pampanga

Second Branch: Nepo Mart, Angeles, Pampanga

*I know that they are also part of the Salcedo Market in Makati every Saturday.