Pampanga on a Platter | Trip Files | TravelBook

Afternoon snacks at Camalig Restaurant

We headed for Angeles City, where we were to dine at the Historic Camalig Restaurant, home of Armando's Pizza & Pasta. By that time, the vision of a hobbit asking "What about second luncheon?" was swimming in my head--I was stuffed, but I wasn't about to pass up an opportunity to eat what the restaurant hailed as the "pambansang pizza."

The restaurant is housed in a 150-year old structure owned by the Nepomucenos, and the place exuded an old-world charm. Sepia and black and white photos, wooden chairs, ceramic bottles, and old sewing machines were displayed throughout the restaurant. The interiors were notable, and--more importantly--so were the pizzas they served.

We ordered the bestseller--Armando's Best--ground beef, bacon, green peppers, and mushrooms on a thin crust. The great thing about the pizza was that it had generous toppings, so even a slice was already filling. We weren't supposed to be hungry, but in less than 10 minutes another pizza was served, and we wolfed that one down, too. The second pizza was Doy's Kapampangan, which was very interesting. Its toppings--longganisa and salted egg--made the pizza very Pinoy. After my encounter with longganisa that morning, I was able to finish my slice without much effort.

Pasalubong shopping at Susie's

We wanted to give ourselves time to digest everything we'd had, and so on our next stop, we took a break from eating and instead went shopping for food. We headed to Susie's Cuisine, where honey, San Nicolas cookies, cane vinegar, and other Kapampangan specialties were sold. On the way there, Bianca told us about how her family enjoyed tibok-tibok, which was a kakanin made of coconut milk.

Susie's Cuisine was busy when we got there--a lot of diners were taking their merienda, plus there was also quite a crowd buying pasalubong. It seems Bianca sold us on the tibok-tibok (P100/Styrofoam container, P400/bilao), because a number of people on our team wanted to try out the sweet dessert at home. After loading the van, bags of tibok-tibok in hand, we finally set off for our last stop.

Dinner at Aling Lucing's Sisig

It was twilight when we arrived at Aling Lucing's Sisig, and the establishment--which is usually packed in the late evening--only had a few diners during that time. It was just as well--having the place almost all to ourselves meant that our orders would be served fast.

Aling Lucing's Sisig has been serving the famous dish since 1974, and up to now, the restaurant (currently being managed by Zeny Cunanan, daughter of the late Aling Lucing) still follows the same recipe from the time it was established. The resto is popular among diners and tourists, and testament to that are the 50 kilos of pork and one to two sacks of onions they cook each day.

The sisig came in sizzling plates, and unlike the sisig usually sold in Manila, theirs was more chewy than crunchy. Combining a squeeze of calamansi, vinegar, and soy sauce was the customary ritual for preparing the sisig's sauce, which we tried. The flavors of the caramelized onions went well with the tasty pork, and it was even better with the sauce we prepared. While beer is the common match for sisig, we washed down our last meal on the trip with ice-cold softdrinks.

It was a little past 7:00PM when we finished with dinner. We had been eating for twelve hours, and we were beat. I was too full and sluggish, but I couldn't complain; I was able to sample Pampanga's various flavors, learn some history, meet friends and (almost) family, and challenge myself to go out of my comfort zone and sample what I initially disliked. Not bad for a day's work.

Travel Factor offers local and international tours, and holds office at 5/F Bloomingdale Plaza, 200 Shaw Boulevard, Barangay Kapitolyo, Pasig. You may reach them at (+632) 359-2434.
Rates: P2,400 for the Pampanga Food Tour, which includes transportation fees, three full meals and morning and afternoon snacks.

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