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: Zenco Fusion Restaurant in Clark

Weekend is here!  One of the things I love doing on a weekend is go on food trips!  I love going to Angeles City and Clark Freeport Zone (which is probably around 25-30 kms from our city) because of the abundance of restaurants to try.  One of the restaurants my sister mentioned (she has yet to try it though) was ZENCO Fusion Restaurant (which she heard about from our cousin) located inside Clark.

Before trying a new restaurant, I go online and google about the place first!  So I am happy to have read good reviews about Zenco and I also learned that it is a Japanese restaurant owned by a Korean couple.  

A couple of weeks ago, I had the chance to try this restaurant located at the Bertaphil Compound in Clark. Bertaphil is one of the commercial/business areas in Clark where you can find several offices and restaurants.  (You can also find the famous C's Italian Restaurant in this lot as well) 

Photo from www.clarkisit.com

The restaurant is not that big, has a no frills interior, clean and with a good air-conditioning system.  If you live in a place where temp can go up to 39C, this is a big plus!  Haha!   

Photo from www.clarkisit.com

We needed some time to order because we didn't know what to get, haha!  I was looking for the standard Japanese food items such as gyoza, agedashi tofu, kani salad, chicken teriyaki etc. which I didn't see in the menu.  (But then I thought, probably because this was a fusion restaurant)  

While they don't have some of my favorite items, there is more than enough items to choose from (they have tonkatsu so we were fine, hehe)  and have a filling (they have big servings) dining experience.  They also have a good number of noodle soups to choose from which I want to try next time.  

We ordered the following:

California Maki - just because I always order this in a Japanese restaurant, haha!

It was okay, it wasn't bad.  But my friend and I prefer the usual California Maki that we are used to which is "dry".  This has some kine of a sauce over it.

Salmon Sashimi Salad - I know my friend loves Sashimi so I told her to get some.  She chose this salad.  I haven't mastered the art of eating (and appreciating) Sashimi. . . but I know how a fresh fish looks like.  I was impressed with the freshness of the Salmon!  I did try this salad (just the lettuce leaves) and the dressing was good.  The salad was light and refreshing.  

How nice the color of the fish ano?

Tonkatsu Curry - the restaurant's popular item is actually Cheese Tonkatsu.  It is a tonkatsu filled with mozzarella cheese.  But we weren't in the mood to be more adventurous with our tonkatsu, so we just ordered the Tonkatsu Curry. 

Big serving!

And because we were on a food trip and it was a Japanese-Korean resto, we had to get something Korean, haha!  So, we ordered the Soy Garlic Chicken.  I find it quite expensive though (half chicken for Php 400) but we loved it and will come back for this!  ( I haven't tried Bon Chon so I guess I have to try that first to compare these two)  

If you are in Clark and you are looking for a place to eat and you feel like eating Japanese (or Korean), you might want to try Zenco restaurant. =)

Zenco Restaurant

Pavilion 6A, Bertaphil, Clark Center

Jose Abad Santos Ave.

Clark Freeport Zone

Pampanga

Tel. No. (045) 499 0171

*near Gold's Gym and Koko Buri Restaurant (if I remember it right, haha)

For more details, please visit their FB page.

Summer Destination: Fontana Villas in Clark

I am writing this post from home. . . my first home!  Yes, we're back in Philippines for some vacation time!  I am very thankful to my loving husband who totally understands why I had to go back home (we just moved to LA last year) and see my family again.  We arrived a couple of weeks ago and we're leaving in a week! (I don't even want to think about it, I haven't looked at the calendar since we arrived, haha!)  There are just so many things we still want to do, places to go and people to meet up with!  *Sigh*

But I am soooo happy we're back and I want to share with you some of the things we've done these past few weeks starting with this post.

Growing up, one of the things my family loves to do is rent a place with a pool (because we  prefer a pool over a beach, haha) and spend the whole day swimming and eating!  

This summer, my sister thought of renting a Villa in Fontana Leisure Park which is located inside the Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga.  Though this place is just around 35 kilometers away from us, this is our first time to visit and use the park's facilities and stayed overnight.

The Fontana Leisure Park sits on a really HUGE property and has a casino, a hotel, a golf course, several pools (they even have a wave pool) --- all of which we haven't tried because we just stayed at the villa, haha!  There are function rooms and there is a convention hall too.  For accommodations, they have the hotel rooms, villas and townhouses to choose from.  (For more details about Fontana, please click on this link.)

My sister booked our 3-room villa through Asiatravel.  When we were checking in around 2pm, the villa wasn't ready!  But we were cool about it though we haven't eaten lunch at this time, haha!

This was the Villa that welcomed us . . . 

As you enter the villa, you would see the Living and Dining Room.

I love that this place was spacious and clean!

The brown door in the above photo is a storage room and beside that is a bathroom and another  room with a single bed (for the house angels or drivers).

The Villa also has a kitchen that comes with a ref, electric kettle and single electric stove.  Btw, there is NO microwave oven, cooking utensils and cutlery in this kitchen.  If you plan to do some cooking, I suggest you bring what you will need.  This wasn't really a problem for us because we just went to SM Clark (located in Clark too) and bought food, haha! 

Hallway leading to the three bedrooms (they all come with bathrooms)  . . . 

These photos were taken the day after so pardon for the mess, heehee.

This was our room.  The lounge chair was perfect for the Princess, we didn't need an extra bed.

I wasn't able to take a photo of the Master's Bedroom but this was its bathroom, it was the only one with a tub.

And the kids' favorite area!

Just perfect for a cook out right?! =)

I love the layout of the villa because it maximizes all the space and still gives everyone so much space to go around!

For large groups, this kind of villa is a good and comfortable place to stay . . . and partehhh! =) 

You may find mixed reviews for Fontana online.  In our experience, we enjoyed our stay in this particular villa.

Hope you're enjoying your summer vacation as much as we do!