Back at Cabalen Restaurant after 20 years of marriage

Twenty years ago, we had our wedding anniversary in a relatively new restaurant along West Avenue. Back then, my wife and I had one of our very first dates at this eating place which I particularly liked for its famous Sisig and Crispy Kangkong with white creamy garlic sauce.

At that time, I believe our wedding reception was only the second special occasion they ever handled at Cabalen - West Ave. The first one was I think a baptismal which made our wedding reception their first!

Twenty years after, which was just last Wednesday (Jan. 26), we celebrated our wedding anniversary at that same very site where we trace part of the historical roots of our conjugal life.

The kids get ready to savor Cabalen’s tasty Filipino dishes

On its 24^th year and presently operating at least 12 branches in the country (11 in Luzon and 1 in the Visayas [Cebu] area), Cabalen Restaurant has both gone a long, long way and at the same time, remained the same.

Sure, its West Avenue branch has expanded its space adding a spacious second floor for regular customers and function rooms for special occasions. And it also has been promoting its own catering services offering either its traditional Filipino cookery or a mix of Filipino-Asian cuisine. Significant was the fact that they found their niche in the local restaurant scene with their reasonably priced “all you can eat” offer.

But more importantly, they have been able to retain through the changing years, much of the ‘home cooked’ taste and appeal of their dishes that loyal patrons come back for in the first place.

Which reminds me, whenever we had ‘balikbayans’ or foreign guests who wanted to have a good sense of taste as to what constitutes Filipino food, we bring them to Cabalen.

Native buffet dishes galore

My plate is teeming with a variety of food delights

That special night, I deliberately avoided rice, concentrating more on the delicious viands. I often said that rice was one food item we had very much at home. Ultimately, less rice meant more space in my tummy for the viands. He! He! He!

Focusing on the vegetables and seafood dishes, I chose not to eat much meat that night, passing on the ‘Sisig’ that our two older children are also very fond of.

If you’re on your first visit to one of their branches, don’t miss out on the following food items:

For appetizers: Mango ensalada, ginataang kuhol (escargot in coconut milk), burong isda, crispy crablets and kangkong

Main course viands: Sisig (you can ask for an order and they will serve it to you on a hot plate), kare-kare, paella, sinigang na hipon (sour broth with shrimps), alimasag (crabs), tahong (mussels), adobong Kangkong and native longanisa (sausage).

A family of satisfied customers

To relieve my heavy and bulging but otherwise satisfied stomach, for dessert I munched on some light maja blanco/mais (different flavored sweet rice cakes) and some ube (purple yam). You can actually make a do-it-yourself cool halo-halo or ginumis drink to suit your palate at the dessert bar.

Tonight was a simple celebration of life and love in our family.

Cabalen was a perfect choice for this special milestone in our lives as it brought back so many good memories in the last twenty years. With our family members time and again enjoying the good food and warm ambiance of this place, our generation and future generations of our family are sure to weave more of those good memories at Cabalen in the years to come!

A memorable wedding anniversary dinner at Cabalen