Isdaan Restaurant at Gerona, Tarlac
I should have stuck to my policy of NOT eating in a restaurant where the main attraction are fun activities rather than the food. I first learned about Isdaan Restaurant in Gerona, Tarlac from Living Asia Channel. There was an episode where the house specialties were featured and they looked delectable. The narrator raved about them. So much for free meals for media people. Then, there was Anton’s entry. Isdaan Restaurant might be a great place for photography and an entertaining playground for children but it advertises itself, first and foremost, as a restaurant. Sad to say, there was nothing about the food—or the dining experience—that I can rave about. Not even the presence of an Elvis Presley impersonator and roaming masahistas could detract from the lousy dining experience. Truth be told, all those extras just gave the place the unmistakable aura of kitsch.
The sisig sotanghon (above) had only one good point—the noodles were soft and tasty. But the sisig? Forget it. You might as well be eating day old chicharon that had been left in open air overnight. The sisig—which resembled badly cooked lechon kawali more than sisig—was tougher than my sneakers’ rubber soles.
My kids couldn’t enjoy their halo-halo because the ice cream looked more like milkshake by they time they were served. That photo above was taken within 10 seconds from the time the halo-halo was placed on our table. I mean, look at that mess on the saucer.
Okay, so, perhaps we just ordered the “wrong” food. Or, perhaps, we just caught them on a bad day. Perhaps. But the disappointment wasn’t just with the food.
There were stray cats roaming the floating huts groveling under the tables waiting for scraps from the diners. We love cats but STRAY cats in a restaurant? It’s not like stray cats are not disease carriers.
The idea of floating huts for a seafood restaurant is great but not exactly new. And I can draw comparisons because I have been to Bulawan Floating Restaurant twice before. The problem with the huts at Isdaan is that diners’ comfort was sacrificed in favor of space. The huts were small—so small that we could hardly move our legs without bumping against the table. The benches were so short that there was hardly any space for our handbags. And since I had a camera bag as well, you can just imagine how pissed I was. Good thing our daughters are teeners already. If we had babies and we were carrying baby bags with strollers to boot, we would have needed to place them on our heads while eating.
We would have loved to try the “fun” activities but we were too disappointed with the food so we only stayed a few minutes after eating—just long enough to take a few photos.
Like I said, any photographer would find the set up interesting. But it takes more than an attractive set-up and “fun” activities to make a restaurant a place to go back to. If the food isn’t good and dining is not comfortable, it might be a place of entertainment but it won’t pass my standards for a real restaurant.
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8 Responses to “Isdaan Restaurant at Gerona, Tarlac”
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Yes, I agree. Place is good for photoshoots…. and people with supressed anger hahaha they have an area there where you can throw plates, mugs what-have-you. But the food? - supressed anger.
Nice gimmick for them, right? People order food, get mad, go to the plate-throwing area. Isdaan earns every step of the way hehehe
Isdaan is the one place that makes me want travel from Baguio to Manila during the day, braving the traffic and lowland tricycles. Knowing that it belongs to the same owner as Barrio Fiesta, of course I order “safe” foods like “crispy tadyang,” “bicol express,” or “kare-kare”—and am never disappointed . Sisig is such a hit & miss viand (because it has so many variations) that I only order it at Trellis and Gerry’s Grill, and of course, Aling Lucing’s in Angeles (where I believe it originated).
The huts are comfortable if there are just 4 bodies and not much else but they do have a main pavilion for more comfortable seating. The stray cats were never there before but of course they would pose a major problem now as they will never leave anymore. Their presence is indicative of food that is available to them. This means the tables are probably not bussed out immediately after the guests leave or that the flooring has food scraps for them to eat. Tsk, tsk.
I’m sorry you didn’t have a good time.
So were we, Lisa. I hope it was just bad timing. But I can’t forget the ginger colored cats under the table in the hut across from hours.
I hope you can do somehow to your malamig na sinigang next na magvisit kami.
THE AMBIANCE IS GOOD BUT THE FOOD…?… AND THE SERVICE?…. IS VERY BAD! ITS JUST A GOOD PARK TO VISIT NOT A RESTAURANT TO SUITS YOUR TASTE. SORRY… =(
Guys dont you ever put this establishment on your list…………….Last easter sunday march 23 2008,
Me and my officemates took lunch at the so cold ISDAAN…….after 45 mins as i went to my car. the window is smashed and 2 laptops and a clutchbag was stolen,amounting to 250k pesos…. and after that the only reply of the management is that those things happen…….for that big establishment not to hire a guard that can protect their customers,man…………that is not very nice… so for you guys that is thinking bout this establishment, erase it on your list………..
We’ve been to Isdaan before and I can say that the food is OK and relaxing after a long drive.
No cats but we saw a couple of big rats roaming around the resto