Stop Over at Bulawan Floating Restaurant

On the way home from our Holy Week Adventure, Mig and I decided to just drive and drive until we see a nice looking place to stop in for lunch. By the time we got to Rizal, we were already hungry, and I was snacking on the candied coconut I bought with the lambanog in the car. That’s when we saw this big sign saying “Bulawan Floating Restaurant”. How many fishing-themed restaurants have we eaten in at this point? This was the 3rd for the trip. Maybe this is now the “new” quintessential Filipino restaurant, if people were given enough space and farm-like ambiance.

We entered and there were kids and adults already busy trying to catch fish. I’ve had some odd experiences about fishing and eating in this trip…usually, you anticipate catching a fish to eat…but you should have back-up food in case you come up empty handed. Mig and I opted to watch. The nice thing about such an out-of-the-way place is that it had decent and clean bathrooms…great for any tourist. There were huts everywhere, and some families occupied a hut for their own. Mig and I decided to just stay in a small dining hall with good electric fans since it was scorching outside. While waiting for the food 2 people caught fish and I heard this kid scream with joy as they took pictures of him and his catch. A lot of people come here just to go fishing…fishing is free by the way, but if you want to take the fish home or eat it, you will have to pay for it.

Here was our meal:

Crispy Kangkong. I had a totally different idea, but this was good too. I was actually thinking of a kangkong with chicharon haha! This is what I used to have back in high school if I wanted to have a cheap snack. The kangkongs are battered and quickly deep fried to a crisp. Then it’s served with a dressing made of mayonnaise and ketchup! It was light and crisp, with the richness of the sauce balancing it all out.

Inihaw na Dalag. The dalag has been featured in River Monsters as something that totally tipped the balance of some rivers in america. This food fish is so famous in the hawkers of thailand because the flesh is bright white and firm. This one had some parts that were a little muddy tasting. But the flesh was good and firm. We made our own sauce of fish sauce, soy sauce, vinegar and calamansi with chili to go with this one.

Sinampalukang Manok. I loved this dish. I think they used a free-range chicken that was surprisingly fatty and tender. I didn’t quite understand why there was a small caption at the side of the name of this dish in the menu saying “(45 days)”. The chicken did look pretty small but absolutely tasty and tender. The skin was a gleaming yellow, most likely it was native. The sourness of the tamarind was really the highlight of the dish. I just couldn’t really tell why the soup itself had an orange color…but it was good.

Of course, there was rice.

Halo-Halo. Mig and I had one each. This was definitely a NEED during the time. It was a perfect ending to the meal and it had all the usual goodies in it: ube, sweet red bean, macapuno, leche flan, nata de coco, sweetened langka and sweetened banana under all that ice and evaporated milk. Totally delightful!

All the food we consumed costed about P650…not bad for a pig-out: Crispy Kangkong, Grilled Dalag, 3 orders of Rice, Sinampalukang Manok, 2 halo-halo and 3 coke zeros.

Bulawan Floating Restaurant is located in Manila East Road, Pililia, Rizal.