Bulawan Floating Restaurant
10-27-06 · Food trips & events Tags: restaurants
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Published on October 12, 2006 in the Life & Travel Section of Manila Standard Today
FIRST, a confession. I donÕt like ornamental foodÑthose made to look good to compensate for what they lack in flavor. I prefer real food. Real grubÑthe kind you can dig into and enjoy without ceremony. Just like allowing the senses to take in a panoramic view or listening to comforting music.
So, I chose a place that serves down-to-earth food for my first article in the Lifestyle Section of Manila Standard Today. It was intentionalÑI want to take you readers on a culinary experience that not only fills the tummy but the mind and soul as well. Let me take you to Pililla and Bulawan Floating Restaurant.
It was a weekday when a friend and I decided to drive to Pililla on a whim. It was drizzling on and off but that didnÕt stop me from taking photos through the windshield and window. Rizal is a picturesque provinceÑeven the carabao grazing on a field has a story to tell.
We reached Bulawan at about 1 p.m. A few huts were occupied by small groups; a seminar (the Rizal Water District, we later found out) was ongoing in the main and largest hut. We chose a cozy hut, settled in, called a waiter and ordered lunch.
have heard a lot about the place. could u give directions on how to go there? i plan to bring my balikbayan friends there. thanks.
Hi, Atty. Veneracion, I purposely looked for a way to email you because I wanted to share something with you that you might want to mention in your writings. I chanced upon The Sassy Lawyer last year in a bid to look for another Filipino vegetarian (I am one), and have since been coming back to it from time to time.
Imagine my surprise to find out that you have been to Bulawan, a favorite hangout for myself and my two nephews (who love fishing), which is just a town away from Jalajala, Rizal, the place I wanted to write you about.
Yesterday (All Saints’ Day), at the cemetery, I was able to sample very fine organic chocolate milk made from carabao’s milk, which tastes infinitely better than commercially produced cow’s milk. Their fresh milk, which I also sampled, was very good, too. The dairy is being produced by a farmers’ cooperative through the leadership and guidance of their president, Mr. Roxane T. Halili (who was peddling the milk, too–that’s how much he believes in their products). Mr. Halili is a UP Los Banos-trained dairy farmer, and worked for a long time with Carnation, and for a dairy farm in Saudi Arabia.
Organic carabao’s milk is healthier than any milk or dairy product you can find on grocery shelves, which are made from big-farm cow’s milk, from cows which are fed all sorts of hormones and anti-biotics that find their way into one’s food. Maybe it’s worth your time to try it, and enjoy a scenic drive along one of Rizal’s most beautiful coastal towns, on concrete roads made some years ago by the JICA. I think Mr. Halili lives in barrio Llano or Bayogo.
I hope that you can help the farmers promote their milk and dairy products (they also have pastillas but I didn’t sample it because I was avoiding too much sugar). It would be such a waste if their project isn’t able to take off; something so healthful and delicious (as well as with noble intentions) deserves some push. Ang galing kasi ng Pinoy!
Thank you so much in advance.
Heidi P. Cruz (a panyera since 1999)
ricky, manila east road (national highway), pililla, somewhere near km 59. go by way of antipolo, then on to teresa, tanay… pililla.
Heidi, wow, I wonder if you have read my older entries about UPLB’s DTRI–how I rave about the dairy products. I do love promoting local dairy products primarily because I hate being dependent on imported items hehehe
I would love to try the chocolate milk. If I can have more details where exactly in Jalajala I should go to… it’s really not that far and I’d love to go. Thanks.
Hi, Atty., sorry for responding so late; I had been very busy lately and was unable to check back until today. I heard from Mr. Halili that the processing station is temporarily housed in the “private high school” and that it is in Sitio Llano, Barangay Bayugo. It is difficult to lose your way in Jalajala because it’s just one major road throughout, and everybody seems to know everybody. I do have Mr. Halili’s cellphone number, though, 0906-506-0137.
Thanks so much, and I hope you enjoy your trip (I enjoy mine every time I go there–I learned to drive in that area).
hi. id love to try bulawan. i was wondering how much your lunch was? so i can prepare my budget before going there.. thanks!
Thanks, Heidi. I’ll get in touch with him.
A little over 500 pesos, Angel.
I read in one announcement that the cooperative will be featured in an exhibit sponsored by the DAR and the DTI from November 25-26. I hope you can meet Mr. Halili there, if you have time. Thanks!
I’ll contact him over the weekend to ask for details. But what I’d really love is to see his actual place.