SILANGANG NAYON: A CHARCUTERIE HIDING IN SECLUSION IN THE MANGROVES OF PAGBILAO

Welcome friends to the province of Quezon! Hometown and named after our first President of the Philippine Commonwealth, Manual Luis Quezon.  This is our next stop for another journey of recovery for the Dr. of Fun & Adventure.  The trip also coincides with the culmination of the schoolyear ender of our department and summer vacation.  One of the highlights of this trip is a visit to the secluded Silangang Nayon Restaurant where we will be having a hearty lunch of our favorite Filipino dishes.

But first we made a stopover to buy one of the most delicious fruits in the country, the lanzones.  This fruit strikes a memorable experience to anyone who gets to savor the juicy flesh of this delectable fruit and no one can deny that one the best places to but this exotic fruit is in Alaminos, Laguna where fruit stands dot the highway in every direction in the Laguna province.

 The journey to Silangang Nayon is a long one.  You have to take the Bicol route passing through some towns in Laguna right after you leave the South Luzon Expressway. You can either exit via Calamba or proceed further to the Star Tollway where you can exit in Tanauan, Batangas.  You'll be passing by Sto. Tomas, Alaminos and San Pablo where you can buy lanzones along the way.  Buying lanzones is best done in the morning because come late afternonn these fruits will be difficult to come by. 

Next part of the journey is when you enter Tiaong which is the first town of Quezon you'll be passong by.  The Quezon part is still a long until you finally reach Pagbilao.  Right after crossing over the boundary of Lucena the right turn to Pagbilao is not far and as soon as you turn right, the distance is still a long way off into the peninsula until you reach your destination on the right side.  Finally, welcome to Silangang Nayon!  Join me as we tour this interesting restaurant on stilts jutting out of Pagbilao Bay.

Silangang Nayon is a restaurant on stilts.  I have no idea of its history because my discovery of the place was accidental.  i was actually looking for a place to hold our schoolyear-end summer outing for our department and Pagbilao was the chosen venue. An ocular visit to a nearby resort revealed the existence of this restaurant.  It is open to the public and serves ad variety of dishes with Filipino cuisine as its main menu.  The feeling of being in this place is very special because of the romantic ambiance that it gives to visitors.  The revitalizing fresh sea air adds to the excitement of dining in this exotic restaurant as well.  They also offer boat services to the neighboring islands but we didn't avail of it at the moment.  Pardon me if I will not post pictures of the food that was served when we dined in this restaurant.  I would like to maintain this site as a travel for health site rather than a food and culinary site.  The feeling that one gets to visit this unique restaurant is something I would put more emphasis on rather than the experience of eating the food.  However, in fairness to the chef the food is delicious indeed.  No doubt about it!