Loleng's Hu Tieu-an
What the heck Morong, Bataan? You have baby sea turtles, Khmer shrines and LEGIT Vietnamese food?! How unsuspecting and cool your town is. Thanks to a little consultation with the googs I found that there was an authentic Vietnamese restaurant just 10 minutes from our hotel on a recent trip to the area. From the short conversation I had with the ladies at Loleng's while dining there, I learned that Loleng used to be a cook in the Vietnamese canteen at the Philippine Refugee Processing Center. After the PRPC closed in 1994 she opened up an authentic Vietnamese restaurant using the recipes and skills she learned during her time in the canteen. Remarkable, di ba?
|Loleng's By Night|
We only stayed one night in Morong but ate Loleng's twice, once for dinner and the next day again for lunch. I was surprised how unassuming the restaurant was. There weren't any street signs or advertisements, luckily Google maps led us straight there from Pawikan Conservation Center. The menu is simple and straight forward and downright cheap! We ate, like a lot, as in I ordered one of everything from the Vietnamese menu, and our bill was barely 300php.
Loleng's was busy both times we visited. At night it was filled with mostly bikers and the next day was mostly students and workers. Even with large crowds there was still ample space. Don't expect anything fancy but do expect good food for cheap!
|Dinner|
Again, I ordered almost one of everything from the menu, because well, they were each around 50php! The winners were for sure the noodle salads, the lumpia and of course the Hu Tieu-an (soup). The only thing I didn't like was the Banh Mi.
|Loleng's By Day|
Back for round 2! After a morning at the beach it was a strong vote by all to return to Loleng's for lunch. We filled up on more noodle salads and lumpia. Our friends loved the salad so much they had us over for dinner to try and recreate the dish, it was a winner!
A little siomai for good measure.
50 PHP Lang!
I apparently had to travel all the way to Bataan to find a Reeses Cornetto. Ha!
My gulai, Philippines you are a treasure trove! Morong Bataan thank you for being one of the most unique and bizzarly awesome trips we have had so far. Loleng, thank you for sharing your gift to the world!