I always had this idea that when one is in the province the only decent or palatable thing to eat is the particular region’s specialty. One would not even dare to try out food that is already available in Metro Manila. I’m happy to say that I’ve since reconsidered this admittedly silly idea.
About a week ago my Dad and I found ourselves in the middle of Quezon province (Lucena to be exact). Being foodies, it was natural for us to look for a good place to eat. We stumbled across this very modern café just outside Pacific Mall called the Mug Café. The menu had a wide variety of food ranging from pasta to rice toppings. Some local items, like their version of chami which they call Lucena Festival Noodles, were served with two different, and very delicious, sauces (a soy based sauce and a ketchup based sauce that I thought of as Taiwanese in style).
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Breaded chicken cutlets | | The café has an innovative coffee list and, best of all, unique cocktail drinks that will surely give you a buzz. I loved their Illusion Shaker which is a pineapple-based drink with blue curacao that makes me reminisce about Boracay.
Another cocktail I enjoyed drinking was their Surfer on Ice which is also a pineapple-based drink, but mixed with Malibu Rum and Jagermeister.
The prices were unbelievably reasonable which gave us the perfect excuse to sample almost half of the menu. The pizza combinations were very native and were nicely grilled, giving off a nice, smoky flavor. Pastas came in tomato, white and olive oil variants. The place serves a lot of appetizers because during weekends it features acoustic music and the café turns into a bar. The Mango Rum crepes is a must try. When I ordered it, I found the flourless chocolate to be very dense and heavy, just the way a chocoholic like me would have it. The Mug Café cheesecake was very light and fluffy, somewhat similar to a Japanese cheesecake.
We also got word from the owners of Mug that there was this old 1920s ancestral house, located just across the newly renovated city park, which was converted into a restaurant called Don Vittorio.
When we went there we realized it was an al fresco restaurant that served no-nonsense Filipino food. We were able to try the specialty of the house (Seafood Kare-Kare). It is a very common dish but little details in preparing this Kare-Kare made it exceptionally good, such as the seafood and vegetables cooked accurately, and the balance of toasted peanuts and peanut flavor in the sauce. I just had to order more rice and scratch carbohydrates out of my vocabulary for a couple of hours. It was that good. We also tried their Stuffed Sizzling Squid which came with a nice lemon sauce. The Crispy Tadyang ng Baka was crispy outside and juicy on the inside. We ended the meal with gelato and ice cream cake. I think this is the only place in Lucena where one can enjoy authentic gelato and ice cream cake.
So, if you are heading south and passing through Quezon you should make a pit stop in Lucena and see what this place has to offer aside from the traditional Lucena favorites.
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