Eat's All Good!

On a road trip to Quezon province we stopped at Rose and Grace, a road side cafe that's a  stone's throw away from the boundary of Sto. Tomas, Batangas. Don't expect a fine-dining restaurant! The food is served carinderia style much like an office canteen... but nicer.

Everything is spick and span. The place is clean with table settings arranged in groupings. The washrooms are big and clean as well.  Obviously, they cater to families and tourists who frequent the place. There are also cushioned sofas for those who prefer more intimate gatherings away from the maddening crowd. 

On this particular Monday, we arrived early having left Manila at half past five. By 7:30, we were at the food counter figuring out what we were having for breakfast. We weren't disappointed! At this early hour, one would expect that the servers would be scrambling to make themselves and the restaurant presentable to the dining public. But they were prepared for us arriving. We were the first customers there so parking was not a problem.

I decided on having the daing the biya (dry-salted freshwater fingerlings), sinaing na tulingan (tuna boiled in tamarind broth), sinangag ( fried rice) and tocino. The steaming clear soup was served by a waiter from a stainless steel pitcher. It tasted of bulalo, which was very good. I could have had more but I was concerned about controlling my bladder for the rest of the trip ahead.

The sinangag had just the right amount of garlic into it. The daing na biya was as salty as it should be. I wasn't about to complain. I liked it that way! It was very crispy and it went so well with a dip of vinegar and bits of chili in it. Halfway through the crispy fish I was thinking what a great day this was going to be!

 

By the time I got to the sinaing na tulingan, it was half consumed. I took a snap of it anyway. The perfect sawsawan for it was kalamansi and sili with patis (fish sauce). I shared some of the fish so my companios could try it. Before I knew it, the tocino was all but gone. Did I miss much? I don't think so...

Having had our fill we left Rose and Grace with enough energy for the rest of the day. That was really good eats... YUMM-O!