Main Menu
Food

Bale Dutung | Filipino Cuisine in Haute Twists of Flavours

So how one, in his extreme gustatory powers can possibly commit to make it to a 12-course finish line without feeling bloated? Welcome to Bale Dutung, where over-indulgence & extravagance are burping facts but never border anywhere near gluttony.

bale dutung

Here, hosts Claude & Mary Ann Tayag share the truths about the finest & the best ways to enjoy the explosive Filipino food in each awesome bite. They run you through the stories of each food, how it is prepped & what goes with it.

bale dutung

Bale Dutung: The Flavourful Truths of Filipino Cuisine

I only have 2 guidebooks on Filipino cuisine, that of the late Doreen Fernandez & Linamnam by Claude Tayag & wife Mary Ann Quioc. Although I did not meet the man of the house during my first visit, Mary Ann instantly bagged the best host award. Truly, she has contagious humor, mastery of flavors & graciousness.

linamnam

The Hosts

Claude is a chef & a visual artist. While Mary Ann, a columnist & takes care of the front-of-the-house matters. This gourmand couple travels a lot, exploring the different flavors of the world & gracing invitations from the culinary art industries.

Both makes a perfect tandem in life, in their celebrity affairs & in the kitchen.

BALE DUTUNG

bale dutung

The Home

The hosts refuse to call it a restaurant; instead just a home that receives guests over good food & conversations. Reminiscent of late 19thย century bahay-na-bato, Bale Dutung in Angeles City is made of a hodge-podge of salvaged bricks, planks, stones as well as Kapis windows.

bale dutung angeles city

Guests are received in theย silongย or the ground floor for dining. They started out on โ€œby invitation onlyโ€ but as the requests for dining grew, it progressed into โ€œby reservation onlyโ€. In fact, advance booking is necessary & you must at least be a party of 12 for you to be accommodated.

bale dutung

Occasionally, they accept fewer than 12 too if there is a reservation from a another party on the same schedule. This means, Bale Dutung can squeeze you in but you have to take the menu of the majority group.

Find hotels in Angeles City now. Click here.

The Menu

Bale Dutung is a 10-12-course degustation spanning about 3-4 hours. This means sampling the chefโ€™s best pieces in a perfectly balanced serving & in a well-paced manner. As each course progresses, the portion gets bigger & the flavors becoming more aggressive.

Then it all lightens back, relaxing your palate & tummy.

bale dutung

The menu plates up our adored Filipino favorites taken to a whole new level of imaginative process & presentation. Itโ€™s a richer way of experiencing it without compromising the ingredients & flavours. Above all, you are hosted by some of the royalties of Kapampangan kitchendom.

bale dutung

Bale Dutung sure knows how to welcome their guests when they say โ€œcome in hungryโ€. A glass of sweating coldย dalandan juice in frozenย muscovadoย sugar welcomes you here. While they set the mood for the show, they serve bits of crackers with choices of toppings likeย balo-baloย (fermented shrimp),ย taba ng talangkaย (crab fat) & pesto inย piliย nut.

bale dutung

The theatrics begin when the Ensaladang Pako (fiddlehead fern), makes its entrance. This lowly weed raises the gourmet curtain with quail egg & tomatoes in honey-calamansi dressing.

bale dutung

As your palate starts to feel the excitement, fried Lumpiang Ubodย ย in homemade Claudeโ€™9 sauce of Thai basil & coriander starts to roll down. Inasal na Manok & Talangka Sushi shortly follows it.

bale dutung

Honestly, their version of this famed grilled chicken marinated in lemongrass is impressive. And while some think sushi is sushi anywhere in the world, this simple Japanese food when rolled on Bale Dutungโ€™s kitchen, takes on a flavorful tweak withย aligueย topping.

bale dutung

It was my first time to eat Adobong Pugo & I must admit, I momentarily waived my love for these cute lil fellas. Served with liver pรขtรฉ & pandesal, this braised quail stew simmered in vinegar & spices gave a new appreciation of this all-time Filipino kind of cooking.

Wickedly Delicious

bale dutung

Another of Bale Dutungโ€™s wicked take on sushi is its buro. It is fermented rice stuffed with filleted hito (catfish) & wrapped in mustasa. It is perfectly balanced with salty aligue paste & tangy kamias.

bale dutung

Lechon, it is!

Lechon or spit roasted pig is perhaps the ultimate symbol of celebration in any Filipino table during fiestas, birthdays & whatever have-yous. And Bale Dutung has what it calls the deadly Lechon 5-Ways, although we only sampled three.

bale dutung

Pan de Bagnetย is a sandwich stuffed with the Ilocano deep-fried pork belly calledย bagnet. It is hailed as the king of all lechon, lechon carajay, lechon kawali, crispy liempo & prichon.

bale dutung

Believe me, youโ€™ll never be able to scream Ole! after sampling Lechon Taco. It is fried lechon flakes with Claudeโ€™9 sauce, tomato, onions & Koreanย kimchiย all rolled into a tortilla. Now with the best of world flavors bursting inside your mouth, youโ€™d be lost in translation!

bale dutung

Sinigang, much like Adobo is any Filipinoโ€™s comfort food. This sour broth from acidic puree of tamarind, kamias or even vinegar can take on whatever meat on it & will still be sinigang. But Bale Dutung braved the Filipino palates by bringing inย Sinigang na Lechon. Have you ever wondered how the succulent lechon would taste in a sour broth? Divine!

bale dutung

Piรจce de Rรฉsistance

Another winning piece of Bale Dutung is Bulanglang Kapampangan. Yes, it takes different names in other regions such asย inabraw/dinengdengย in Ilocos orย law-uy/bas-uyย in Visayas & Mindanao. Likewise, this stew of vegetable casserole goes on different variations too as it lands on each Filipino table.

bale dutung

Here, they let you sample the literal rich version ofย bulanglang where everything on it are languishing in a thick broth. In the past, the thick base of soup ย were for the masters of the house while the remainder were added with hot water for the servants to share.

As the French call it bouillabaisse, the Tayagsโ€™ jokingly call it Bayabaisse since the broth is made of pureed localย bayabas or guava.

bale dutung

After so much flavor pounding our palates, a simpler course took rounds to sort of segue it to the next attack. Donโ€™t let this small serving of Begucan Tenga ng Babi at Ensaladang Talong deceive you. Yes because these bits of crispy fried pork ears in shrimp paste sitting on an eggplant salad is equally explosive.

bale dutung

Surely, they know how to prepare your palate for Bale Dutungโ€™sย coup de grรขce, Kare-Kareng Lamang Dagat. It is a fiesta of seafood like prawns, New Zealand mussels as well as squid. It lays on a thick sauce ofย atsueteย & kakang-gata gracefully garnished with knots of yard-long beans.

bale dutung

Oh My Sweet Tooth!

In between meals, Mary Ann reminds you to please make it to the finish line as a nowhere else to be found dessert awaits the gastronomic heroes. Indeed, after more than 3 hours of the happiest struggle we came to the sweetest part, Paradiso.

bale dutung

The late Doreen Fernandez, the icon of Philippine culinary disciplines coined the Tayagsโ€™ divinely sinful dessert. It is a trio of sweet balls of yema, macapuno & ube gently sitting on a bed of carabao pastillas.

bale dutung

Beyond the all the recognitions,ย both Claude & Mary Ann truly pulled up a higher respect, not only for the Kapampangan cuisine but also for the entire Filipino food fare.ย And yes, Bale Dutung is a delightful experience of haute cuisine worthy of anybodyโ€™s most discriminating palate.

-oOo-

Bale Dutung
Villa Gloria Subdivision, Angeles City, Pampanga
+63 45 6250169 / 09175950218 / 09185034540
reserve@baledutung.com

Please follow and like us:
Review Ratings

Summary: Worth the journey & money. Fantastic experience!

5

Must Try!
Food Quality, Variation, Presentation
Service Quality
Price / Value
Ambience & Setting
Location Convenience
Sanitation & Ordeliness
User Rating : 0 (0 votes)

Leave a Comment

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>