places
EATING KAPAMPANGAN CULTURE AT
Apag Marangle i
WORDS: CHRISTINE NUNAG PHOTOGRAPHY: VIC WAJE & WYATT BELMONTE
N THIS INSTANT GRATIFICATION age of fast food packed with so-called flavors that desensitize the taste buds, it is refreshing to have access to cooked-from-scratch restaurant meals just 10 minutes away from the metropolis. Located along Jose Abad Santos Avenue, also known as Gapan-San Fernando-Olongapo Road where the City of San Fernando and the Municipality of Bacolor meet, is Apag Marangle—a rustic Filipino restaurant surrounded by nature. The name Apag Marangle means “country spread”. In Filipino culture, this connotes a barrio picnic where you dine in the open fields. At Apag Marangle, guests can feast on Kapampangan classics and modern-day twists under the cool shade of native huts perched upon a live fishpond. The place, however, is more than just about feeding people. It is about a way of life. The ‘Slow Food Movement’ has caught on in Pampanga via Apag Marangle. (Slow Food is an international movement founded by Carlo Petrini in 1986. Promoted as an alternative to fast food, it strives to preserve traditional and regional cuisine and encourages farming of plants, seeds and livestock characteristic of the local ecosystem. —WIKIPEDIA). Apag Marangle business partners and long-time friends Manuela Cherry Pasion-Tan and Mark Edmon Navarro have set to achieve this back-to-basic vision since they opened the three-hectare property in April 2008. “We wanted a place where people can relax and enjoy their meals outside of malls or fast food places,” shares Mark. Guests of Apag Marangle are encouraged to make reservations and pre-order their food choices. Walk-in diners are advised to wait 20-30 minutes because, as Cherry puts it, “We still have to catch the fish and have it ready!” Here you will rediscover the value of patience, and learn to appreciate the rewards of waiting, that is, to partake of hot, freshly prepared dishes and savor the unhurried pleasures of eating. As your food cooks, enjoy free amenities. A platter of sliced nilagang kamuti ampong mani (boiled sweet potato and peanuts) is served upon arrival. Kids and kids-at-heart may ride the bamboo raft over the shallow pond. Guests can also go fishing with fish food also provided free-of-charge (but of course you have to pay for the fish if you have APRIL 2011 | PAMPANGA PEP
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