Taldawa, a local eatery in Angles City, Philippines (4 April, 2017)
Taldawa (GPS: 15.14141, 120.59808) is a local eatery in the city of Angeles, in the province of Pampanga, in the island of Luzon, in the Philippines. It is the third spot of our Food Frenzy Safari in the Philippines, and I cannot think of a more humble location of good food than this one.
Taldawa is a very local place, and it looked local too. The area is an open compound surrounded by cement-block walls in which grew a few Ketapang trees. There are a couple of shelters under which are tables and chairs. There were locals tucking into their lunch at one of these shelters. Nearby, adjacent to the main house, is the kitchen area where the food is being prepared.
The full name of this place is Taldawa Kambingan Grill, which means, Taldawa Grilled Mutton (and with that name, I do not need to tell you the speciality here). I note that the word for mutton or goat is kambing, which is the same as in Malay. Taldawa is run by a lady by the name of Norma Garcia, and is open daily from 8:00am to 4:00pm.
Entrance to Taldawa. (4 April, 2017)
Norma Garcia's kitchen (4 April, 2017)
It's the day foodie bloggers from all over the world descended on Norma Garcia. (4 April, 2017)
A tail to tell: Chef Sau fished out from the pot something that once belonged to a pig. (4 April, 2017)
A peek into Norma's pot. (4 April, 2017)
If your idea of dining is in air conditioned premises, then Taldawa is not the place for you. The kitchen might take away your appetite. But if you're a brave soul for good street food, you've arrived at the right place. Just look at some of the finished products that came out of Norma Garcia's humble kitchen.
Sinigang na Kambing (goat stew). (4 April, 2017)
Sinigang na Kambing is mutton stew in sour broth. The soup is made using tamarind as the souring agent. The sour taste of the soup helps to balance against the heaviness of eating the meat.
Kalderetang Kambing (spicy goat stew). (4 April, 2017)
Kalderetang Kambing is a spicy mutton dish where the meat is stewed in tomato sauce. They removed the gamey smell from the mutton by marinating the meat in vinegar mixed with salt and pepper for a couple of hours before rinsing and cooking. The cooked meat is soft, and does not bear any gamey smell at all, which almost fooled me into thinking that it might not be mutton.
Adobong Bibi (duck sauteed in vinegar and garlic). (4 April, 2017)
Adobong Bibi is duck adobo. Adobo is a common Filipino cooking technique that uses vinegar, soy sauce and garlic. Adobo is so common in the Philippines that it is often regarded as the unofficial national dish of the Philippines. What we tried at Taldawa is duck adobo, a rather unusual variation to adobo, which more commonly uses chicken or pork.
Foodies from different countries including Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and even Spain and America, all sat down in a humble eatery to enjoy a local meal. (4 April, 2017)
Here I am with Norma Garcia, who gave us such a lovely local lunch. (4 April, 2017)
The foodie group gathers under a banyan tree in Norma Garcia's compound for a group shot. (4 April, 2017)
It was a very nice lunch that we had at Taldawa, and serves as an eye opener to me, as to how a local Filipino eatery looks like. It helps me get closer to the taste of Filipino food, as enjoyed by the locals themselves, and it is such a wonderful opportunity to join international foodies in trying out what the Filipinios regard as good everyday food.
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Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.
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