Saturday, May 31, 2008

Lantaw floating native restaurant in Cebu

When we were in Cebu, Philippines last October-November, I heard from the grapevine that there’s a cool new Filipino native restaurant in town. Of course, moi is not going to miss the world for it especially knowing that the restaurant drifts on water. I right away scheduled the family for a trip to Cordova in Mactan Island.



'Lantaw' is a Visayan word, a Filipino dialect and my mother tongue which means VIEW or SEEN/SEEING FROM A DISTANCE.



Yes, the restaurant floats on water and you will notice this more during high tide when the restaurant glides a bit. The scenery here is divine. Fresh! You’ll see fishermen passing by and if you arrive here before dusk, you will be treated to an exquisite going-down-of-the-sun-from-the-horizon spectacle.



Because we did not reserve a table in advance, but luckily we arrived early, we were not able to get a table on the open deck terrace but in the restaurant itself. This is fine but next time, we will make sure to reserve because the terrace has a much nicer ambiance.



We also noticed that a lot of people who came here were balikbayans, meaning Filipinos who are already living abroad and are vacationing in the country. Include me in the statistics =)



We started with some merienda (snack) and drinks. Banana turon (fried banana crepe) with vanilla ice cream and a fruit cocktail juice. Ordered 3 servings.





Then after 45 minutes dinner arrived!



2 orders of lechon kawali (pan roasted pork), 2 orders of kinilaw tanguige (spanish mackerel fish ceviche), 2 orders of crispy kangkong (water spinach), 2 orders of grilled chicken, 1 order of sisig (marinated-boiled-grilled pig ears-snout-cheeks), 1 order of crab, 1 order of chicken and pork adobo, 1 order of grilled bangus (milk fish) and 1 order of halaan (clam soup).



For dessert we had 3 orders of bibingka (rice cake) with vanilla ice cream topping, and coffee as well.





Is this a lot of food for 7 people?! (6 adults and 1 kid)



This is the reason why I always gain a kilo or two whenever I visit the Philippines. SIGH.





The cast of characters in this eating party: My mom and dad, my brother, brother’s wife (not in picture), my little smart aleck nephew, the Dutchman (not in picture of course) and moi. The only one missing here is my sister who already flew back to Singapore.



TIP!



3 things you need to know and prepare yourself before coming here:



1) Reserve a table ahead of time, like a week or earlier before said dinner appointment. Due to the popularity of the restaurant, the waiting time to be seated is very long, especially if you arrive in the evening. In fact the queue of people waiting to be seated (those who did not have reservations) was shockingly long. I have never ever seen a restaurant in Cebu with that queue! We were thankful we arrived early.



Go here for details: Lantaw floating native restaurant



2) Because the restaurant is located at the tip of Cordova in Mactan Island, this means that this place isn’t going to be an easy reach for the general public. Thus, you need your own private transportation to get here.



3) Parking is an issue if you arrive later than 7PM, so come early. Not only that you get parking near the restaurant, but you will have the opportunity to see the lovely sunset as well.



But other than those, this new restaurant is a promising addition to Cebu’s growing gastronomic industry. The food here is quite good, and the setting and ambiance are hands down fantastic. Most people actually come here for the latter.



Prices are very reasonable as well. In short, highly recommended!



More pictures here:





The open-air deck terrace. Because this part of the restaurant is very popular, you would need to call and reserve in advance to get a table.



The restaurant is currently building an extension of the deck terrace.





The grilling area of the kitchen:





The lovely views:





This is the reason why you need to reserve a table in advance if you arrive later (after sunset):





I know its dark in the picture but can you see the long queue? See the people on the left waiting on the bridge.


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