Sulyap Gallery Cafe and Restaurant, A Road Trip

The big K and I were looking forward to taking Ruth out on her first long road trip. Who is Ruth? She's the big K's Royal Enfield motorcycle. Okay, just a little background on the company. Royal Enfield is a British company that used to supply motorcycles to the British War department during the First and Second World Wars. The company also manufactured guns that's why the RE's logo is a cannon with the motto "Made like a gun, goes like a bullet". Definitely fast! I was hanging on for dear life the whole time.

On this trip we were joining a group of other Royal Enfield bike owners on a foodie trip to San Pablo Laguna, a city south of Manila and one of the Philippines' oldest cities. 

And we're off!

Nice ride, not too busy early in the morning.

Are we there yet?

After 4 butt-wrenching hours of a ride (apparently we took the long scenic route), we finally arrived at Sulyap Gallery Cafe and Restaurant. 

The white building across is where the restaurant's owners keep their collection of antiques. More on that later.

The big K and I loved the restaurant's old soda ads. For the Pinoys out there, can you guess who the lady is in the Coke ad? 

Time for lunch! I was only able to take pictures of some of the food we had since we were too hungry plus we had company. 

Ensaladang Pako made from fiddlehead fern with green mango, onions, tomatoes and salted duck eggs (itlog maalat). This salad was so good, just the right tanginess.

Fried Bangus Belly, fried milkfish sauteed in minced garlic. They cooked their fish well. I loved the fried minced garlic! 

Pansit Bihon Guisado, sauteed rice noodles with shrimps, vegetables and served with garlic bread. Not too impressive in taste but big in serving.

Sulyap Museum

The owners of Sulyap are also collectors of antique items and they are housed in two floors of a former liquor warehouse. The big K and I decided to check them out after lunch.

I was tempted to do a Narnia when I saw these armoires.

A typical Filipino turn of the century child's bedroom. The kid must be from a well off family to afford these furnishings.

"Hello, operator?" Back in the day when human intervention was needed to connect to another human being.

Voila! The lovely telephone operator.

A Singer sewing machine. 

I love these old oil lamps!

The building housing the collection was a former warehouse for the Torres Vina Sol wines.

Brass fire extinguishers. No idea though what those three small containers were.

Antique brass coffee urn. Talking of coffee, it was about time for a merienda.

A "light" snack before heading off for home, strong local brewed coffee with crepes. Banana Hazelnut sauce served with ube (purple yam) ice cream on the left and caramelized banana a la mode served with vanilla ice cream to the right. Both nicely done and oh so good!

Sulyap Gallery Cafe and Restaurant also offers rooms in case you decide to stay for the night. Check out their website at Sulyap.net