Personal Encounters: Dampa Seaside Macapagal: Food Trip

It was an 8 P.M. to 5 A.M. Monday Shift... last day of a 5-day work week. All my team mates were excited not only for the much deserved 2-day rest but also for our scheduled after-shift, team breakfast date on a Tuesday Morning!

Our company provides monthly team fund as appreciation for each team's efforts and also to keep the team members motivated. This month, Team Love (as we fondly call our team), decided to spend it by treating ourselves to a hearty breakfast bonding!

It was still dark when me and 3 of my other team mates went out of our facility in McKinley Hill, Taguig City. The air was deliciously chilly and the street was calm. I have read good reviews about the place and was glad to finally have the chance to experience it with awesome company. The targeted destination was along Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard in Pasay City, just a few meters away from the Manila Bay where fishing ports abound.We hailed a cab that took us to our destination in about 15 minutes! On a normal traffic day, it would probably take 45 minutes to get there. The sky just started to clear up at the break of dawn when we arrived but many seafood stalls were already open, ready for business.

The popularity and success of the Dampa Seaside - Macapagal is mainly due to its proximity to the seas, thereby making the market's seafood produce all-fresh! The concept is "Ituro mo, Iluluto ko!" (Pick your choice and I will cook it for you). On one side of the huge area is a wet market, lined up with stalls selling fairly priced fresh seafood produce. The selections are amazingly a feast to the eye! Delectable crustaceans such as live lobsters and crabs, shrimps, clams, oysters, scallops, mussels and whatnot are all available! There are also a wide variety of colorful, big and small fishes, many of which I could not identify aside from the usual lapu-lapu (grouper), pink salmon, tuna, pla-pla and bangus (milk fish). On the other side, is a row of restaurants that will cook your hoard whichever way you want it, whether grilled, steamed, fried, soupy or with sauces! Name it, they will cook it according to specification!

Dampa Seaside - Macapagal at around 5:30 A.M.

The trick to get the best out of this unique dining experience is planning and organizing. We thank our leads for doing this part so well! (Applause! Applause!)

1. Menu

You must prepare your menu ahead of time so that you will know what to purchase in the market to save time. Specific recipes must be decided beforehand to avoid stressful, indecisive, panic buying especially if you are used to getting your food stuff from the grocery instead of the wet market.

Pabili po! (May I buy those, please?)

Seafood Galore!

2. Head Count

Determine the number of diners to decide how many of each variant you will buy. You would not want to take home so many left overs after a manic bout of squid hoarding, as it will turn all-gummy when reheated!

3. Check out reviews of the restaurants and make the reservation

Our team dined at the Lion King Restaurant. We rented 2 private videoke rooms from 7 A.M. to 11 A.M. that can each seat 15-20 people as we were celebrating the good life with our "Buddy Team." The air conditioning was good and there was even a rotary mobile light to set the party mood. Aww, too bad the mobile light in our team's room was not functioning. Nevertheless, we wailed away the hunger by singing our hearts out and taking our selfies and groupies as we waited for the usual two-hour, time frame for the restaurant to prepare our meal! The videoke song selections covered both old and new cuts and the audio-visual system was fair enough, although there was only one microphone provided (Tsk! Imagine the long wait for your turn, Ugh!). Our team had so much fun singing, laughing and waiting for the videoke score of each hungry contender. Although we surely missed one of our team leads who didn't make it due to a prior engagement that day.

The dining wares were generic white ceramics. The table cloth was clean and had flowery designs and the wall decors looked nice with a friendly Lion Head stuffed toy on one wall to match the restaurant's name. The lavatory was small but quite clean. The ambiance is nothing fancy but homey and welcoming.

With Buddy Team! :)

While away or more like wail away hunger by singing our hearts out! :)

Team Love cheered in delight as the polite and efficient Lion King staff members started bringing in the foooodiieees! I loved best the shrimps in sweet and spicy garlic sauce! We also had grilled liempo (pork belly), calamari, baked mussels, ensalada (green mangoes, onions and tomatoes with sauteed shrimp sauce) and grilled plapla fish.

Breakfast of Champions!

The grilled pla-pla dish, sadly was a fail. It seemed to have been cultured and harvested from a pond and not the sea because it left a muddy aftertaste in the mouth. It was also not properly cleaned that it tasted bitter and was not thoroughly done, probably due to its big size that it still had blood traces.

All in all, it was a power breakfast for champions!

4. Dine with good company

Needless to say, it is only with the company of great people that you will truly enjoy great meals!

Thank you Team Love!