M and I spend a lot of time going to different places, I might as well turn this into a travel blog. Last Saturday,  M surprised me on a trip to Bataan. He just asked me to pack for an overnight trip and asked me to trust him. Fine, I was anxious the whole time because I didn't know what to pack, whether we were going somewhere cool or warm. But I took his word, and relaxed, packed very little and waited for three hours. After seeing the Welcome to Bataan sign, I knew we were going to- Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar. Ever since we saw the website a year ago, we've been meaning to go. There was even a Deal Grocer promo, but we weren't able to avail of it. I think there is still an ongoing DG promo for six people :) Check it out.

So we left Manila at 9 in the morning, and arrived in the resort at around lunch time. We booked a room ( lucky too that we had anything to stay in, because they were running out of rooms.Lesson: Book ahead.), We had lunch at Cafe Marivent, the main and only restaurant operating as of that last week. They serve classic Filipino and Spanish cuisine. We availed of the Set Lunch at P390 each. Not cheap this place. We had a choice of Grilled Fish, Pork or Chicken. It was accompanied by sauteed Togue, Crab&Corn Soup and Leche Flan. Satisfying but not amazing.. 

After freshening up, we headed back to the main casa for the tour. There are tours every hour, until 4:30 pm. We took the 3:30 tour so we could avoid the possible rains in the evening. We were done in an hour or so. We took another stroll at the beachside after getting some Fishballs and Kikiam at Kainan sa Plaza Belmonte.  Such fun!

The fishballs were better than the Kikiam. And request for the suka (vinegar dip). :)

In the evening, the resort management set up dinner at the grounds so we could also witness the folk dance presentation. Alas, it rained before we could eat. Although that was also a good thing because we had time to move in. We ordered the following for dinner (also at Cafe Marivent):

Pinakbet with Bagnet

Yum, this is the best dish we've ordered here. The only one that we really liked.  The salty and tasty bagoong   melded the bitter vegetables very well. The crispy pork which was placed gingerly on top of the veggies is a great way of adding the meat without making it soggy. Yumyum!

Kilawin

I'm not sure if this was Blue Marlin, but the fish was cooked too long in the vinegar. It  was  okay.

In the morning, we woke up rather late. Too tired from walking around the cobbled paths, we rushed off  to Cafe Marivent before they stopped serving breakfast. We were given a choice of Daing, Longganis and Tocino.

The Longganisa (Pork sausage) was on the sweetish side, probably a Lukban recipe.

The Daing na Bangus (Marinated Milkfish) was large and tasty.

The Daing na Bangus won. 

We could have stayed longer. But then, it's not going to be very hard to come back. Someday soon, we will. And we hope to get that studio shot :)

Maraming Salamat, Las Casas sa inyong mainit na pagtanggap. Sa uulitin.