Kamayan sa Palaisdaan — Restaurant in Tayabas

I was overwhelmed with excitement when we visited after a year! What used to be soil and construction equipment was now a newer and fresher look for Kamayan sa Palaisdaan. Sinks are available near tables for convenient hand-washing.

For an interesting experience, drop by the shop first to buy fish pellets. I didn't pay but heard it was Php30.00/pack. Get a table on the lake and feed the fish while waiting for your food. The hito had BIG lips and the golden/yellow fish reminded me of Harry Potter's golden snitch. Take your time because our food wait time was 30-45 minutes.

To avoid confusion, there are 2 branches across each other on the main road, but a very short distance apart. If you're coming from the south, like Lucena, it'll be the first on your left. Landmark is the Air Summit Gourmet where you can dine INSIDE an airplane.

Buko Fresh Juice This was served cold, not iced, and remained simply amazing! Eat the coconut meat afterwards! Ours was still cold.

Ripe Mango Shake This was just okay. Seriously, just get a buko and you're all set!

Ensaladang Pako with Sardines This is my top choice with the veggies being addicting in terms of freshness and crunch. Salted eggs and sardines matched perfectly with this and I think I ate half the entire serving!

Inihaw na Spareribs These were delicious and the grilled flavor always succeeds. My only challenge was the cutting, or maybe I'm just out of shape. (I should've used my hands, actually. 😄)

Inihaw na Tilapia and Talong Just okay and needed sauce to be more interesting.

Sinigang Lapu Lapu This was my 2nd favorite! Soup was very sour and the fish bones were easier to deal with compared to that of the tilapia.

Gising Gising If you love coconut sauce or gata, this is for you. This is for me too! 😉

Sisig Pork It was on a sizzling plate without actual sizzles but the temperature was acceptable. My diet was different so I only had a spoonful for now. It's not the crunchy type but the parts were actually good!

Service was great! Everyone had good vibes and were very accommodating. There's no bell to call them but their uniform made them very easy to...

Arrived at the Fisherlake restaurant branch around 12:30pm. Waited about an hour and a little bit only to be SEATED. We weren’t told how long it would take, so we endured it. So not only was it a humid day already but we also have to find our own waiting area. Just sitting where we could while waiting to be seated at a table. Additionally, I doubt we would have been seated sooner if we didn’t follow up multiple times with the staffs that are already so hard to talk to. The staffs weren’t also very friendly, however, I let it slide since they may have also been overwhelmed by the day’s stress.

Once we were finally seated at a table, which really wasn’t that clean to a satisfaction, we still had to wait about another 30 minutes for our food to be served. We thought that they’ll redeem themselves with the food but the disappointment remained. Most of the food arrived cold and bland. Especially the calamari, it was very rubbery, stiff, cold, and overall hard to eat. The pancit bihon and canton were also very bland and again, cold. Those two dishes are of many others that did not meet even average quality.

This was sadly quite the pathetic experience and definitely won’t come back. I hope they can improve this flaw as it is...

Kamayan sa Palaisdaan Restaurant is one perfect spot if you have a foreign friend who is curious about the local dining vibe or a balikbayan relative is looking for a place to eat a myriad of Filipino food he used to eat since birth. Sixty wooden cottages that appear “floating” occupy the 1.5 hectares of land in Kamayan sa Palaisdaan Restaurant. The man-made lake that surround these cottages are well-kept that we even saw guys who were able to catch big tilapias using a simple fishing rod. A group of old guys hop from one cottage to another singing songs with a guitar and tambourine. There are vendors inside selling “pilipit”, Quezon’s local version of donut made of squash.

Kamayan sa Palaisdaan Restaurant has its own hotel bearing the same name. If you want something modern, how about eating inside a refurbished airplane?

TIP: Not far from this restaurant is its sister company, Air Summit - a refurbished airplane turned to a restaurant. Before you get inside, you’ll pass through a mini-airport where you’ll be welcomed by a lady and a gentleman dressed like cabin assistants who will take your order. You can have your pics with a luggage by...