Dampa Good Eats: Claire dela Fuente , Macapagal Avenue

Summer's fast approaching, and with that, images of heading out to the beach and having a barbecue/picnic come to mind. 

grilled pork belly

For those in the who can't go to the beach may just have to settle with eating food that may remind you of these days.

Somewhere along Macapagal Avenue (think Roxas Blvd. area in Manila), there's a big parking lot at the area filled with mini restaurants that serve fresh seafood (and other dishes). Such a place is called a Dampa. Dampa means a hovel or a shack in English. It is often small-ish, a bit cramp to accommodate more people, and more often than not, dotted with tawdry decor. But we all know that looks aren't always what they seem to be. Tawdry or  not, these places offer the best of home cooked delicacies.

After half a day of buying baking supplies at Divisoria, MAX, 2 others and I headed out to Claire dela Fuente's Dampa (see facebook page here). Claire was a popular Filipina songstress back in the 80's but has since branched out into other business opportunities. Her resto near Manila Bay is the first one you'll see among the many that fill the lot.

the mini market at the side of the dampa 

As we were ushered into the air conditioned structure by one of the staff, the choice of ordering from the menu or picking out fresh seafood, meats and the likes from their mini wet market was given. 

at 2500 php/kg and this lobster being a little over 2 kg
this one was a bit too rich for my blood

I picked the latter and ended up with some of my favorite shellfish and crustacean cooked the way I want 'em. On top of paying for the main ingredients, a minimal charge is added to your bill for cooking your food (on a per dish basis).

chili garlic crab claws

I may have over ordered, coz for a group of 4, (one being a toddler) I got a kilo of huge crab claws, cooked in a chili garlic sauce. About the same amount of medium sized shrimps, cooked in garlic-butter, clams cooked in it's own broth, baked scallops topped with cheese and grilled pork belly (MAX's favorite). 

waiting patiently for his inihaw na liempo

garlic butter shrimps

The cook managed to catch the flavors we were looking for and the fact that fresh food was used made all the difference. Everything was DELICIOUS!!

halaan or clams in a light broth

I had to skip dessert with all the food eaten. Though thoroughly stuffed, we managed to have  enough leftovers to bring home and eat for one more meal :)

baked scallops topped with cheese

If you're in the area, take an adventurous culinary step and try our local Dampa. 

got drowsy from being so full that everything was a blur after

From TMW, may all your wanderings be better than ours!