There is a beautiful beach resort I visit every so often. Coral View in Morong, Bataan is a beach getaway not too far from Manila. Every time I visit the place, I get excited because along the way there are many food establishments you can choose from to turn your beach getaway into a food trip as well.
There are two routes we take with interesting goodies. This last time, we passed San Fernando in Pampanga. We dropped by Titay’s to buy some tocino for the resort and check out the many snacks they have. I love the butter toasts, the cashew clusters, and the Sylvanas. Great “pasalubongs” for sister in San Francisco.
Barbecue spare ribs and onion loaf
To get to the resort, we also have to pass by Subic where, no fail, we have to pass by Texas Joe’s and have our fix of authentic barbecue spare ribs, chicken tacos, crispy and addicting onion loaf, and end with the best carrot cake. Sarap!
I first went to Coral View maybe 20 years ago. Then, it was complete but not as beautiful as it is today. There are many activities one can do there. There is a three-kilometer beach walk and a beautiful sunset you can watch at the end of each day. The place is beautiful. It has a few swimming pools of varying depths and sizes, either fresh or with saltwater. Rooms have been upgraded and the lawns with their fake grass are well manicured and taken care of. The place built hanging cabanas over the beach where you can hang out all day. I love just sitting here and telling myself, “Ahh, this is the life.” The place can be used for family and company outings or just a simple family getaway. I come to Coral View regularly.
Coral View
On our way back, we were craving caldereta, as someone mentioned this Pinoy dish in one of our conversations. We were planning where to find this among the many places to choose from. Then I remembered, Everybody’s Café, an institution in San Fernando, where I was sure the food would be great.
Caldereta and kare-kare
You walk into Everybody’s Café and you are immediately met with a wide selection of dishes. We ordered morcon, kare kare, caldereta, fresh lumpia, and guisadong ampalaya. Morcon is a ground pork dish, which on its own I find mildly salty, but mixed with piping hot bland rice is a perfect combination. It is a specialty of the house. The caldereta craving was met here. This beef dish was tender, a bit spicy and just delicious. To me, Everybody’s Café makes one of the best kare kares I’ve tried. Beef is very tender, the sauce sticky, and mixed with a little bagoong takes one to heaven. The discovery of the day for me was the outstanding fresh lumpia. It was firm, vegetables were still crunchy, and was very good. I look forward to having this again.
Morcon and guisadong ampalaya
Everybody’s Café's lumpia and carrot cake by Texas Joe’s
Many times, we overlook the good old reliable restaurants. But when you have a craving and want to be sure, go back to them.
My three days at Coral View were perfect, my lunch at Texas Joes was also perfect and our ending at Everybody’s Café in San Fernando also brought perfection to the entire trip. I don’t mind doing this again.
Happy eating!