Pleasing Pinoy fare at Pantalan

I realized that it’s quite easy to warm up to Pantalan Maynila Restaurant when I first tasted their Batangas bulalo. Being a Batangueña myself, I thought that any restaurant which could serve this dish in all its distinct Batangueño flavor might just have the "K" (or karapatan as they would say in the vernacular) to call itself a truly Filipino restaurant.

A recent lunch in Pantalan gave me the chance to taste its other mouthwatering Filipino dishes. It reinforced my belief that if foreigner friends came over to visit the Philippines – or even if I would like to treat Filipino friends for lunch or dinner – I would bring them to this resto to provide a good introduction, if not a reintroduction, to Philippine cuisine.

The seafoods here, for starters, will reveal just how much we Filipinos – who live in an archipelago, lest we forget – love to feast on treats from the sea. This is why the bulk of the resto’s dishes are seafood. Interestingly, when I spoke with Pantalan Operations Manager Luther Lapuz, he shared that the Koreans, Japanese and Chinese who drop by Pantalan favor the resto’s lobsters, crabs and suahe.

Not to be missed among Pantalan’s seafood fare, are their Ulo at Tiyan ng Salmon; Kilawin na Tanigue; Boulabaise; White Pampano; Deep Fried Hito with Garlic; Inihaw na Pla-Pla; Sugpo sa Aligue; Halabos na Suahe; Baked Tahong with Cheese; Lobster Tiger; and Oysters, which are – take note – all served fresh. Just point out the live items you’d like from the containers and they will be cooked pronto. By the way, even if Pantalan is a Filipino restaurant, you can request your dishes to be cooked the Chinese way if you so desire and the cooks will happily oblige.

Of course, Pantalan boasts of more than just seafood fare; it also has a range of appetizers, salads, soups, meat, vegetable dishes, noodles and desserts. It also serves limited sushi and salmon sashimi.

If you’d like to try varied fare in one sitting, then try the Pantalan Inihaw Fiesta, a combination of grilled items like liempo (pork ribs), tilapia, pusit lumot (squid), tahong (mussel), alimasag (seacrab), pork barbecue and talong (eggplant), all served on a platter with a local vinegar mix. Among the vegetables you can opt for the Lechon con Kangkong, Pinakbet and Laing sa Gata, among others.

"What we want to do now," says Luther Lapuz, "is to present the best foods of the different Philippine regions like laing from Bicol or ensaladang bagnet from Ilocos. This is part of making sure that we update our menu and offer our diners more variety, too."

Apart from its seafood ambience and pleasing Pinoy fare, dining at Pantalan is also entertaining, according to Pantalan PR Baby Joson, thanks to its 10 native-clad serenaders who, she says, "can perform anything from kundiman to the Spaghetti Song to F4 hits, every night seven days a week."

Though this 600-seat, predominantly open-air restaurant fronting Manila Bay serves dishes ala carte, buffets may be enjoyed during special occasions like debuts and birthdays.

Pantalan is open daily from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

(Pantalan is located at South Road, T.M. Kalaw cor. Parade St., Luneta Park, Manila).