Enting's Special of Sagay

We had Father's Day dinner at the popular new restaurant in Tubod, Enting's Special of Sagay. Tonight was the third time that we went there but it was the first time that we were actually able to get seats, because previously, the place was always jampacked. My siblings made sure we had seats by going there early in the evening.

What's so attractive about the place?

grainy signage, by my Nokia
(Sagay is a city in Negros Occidental)

Probably not the name because the first time I heard it, I wrinkled my nose, thinking, wala na bay lain sila mahunahunaan? Then when I saw the signage, I winced, ouch, it's so Bisaya, and the old colonial mentality was perhaps wanting to hear something like Luigi's or Mario's in provincial Dumaguete.

Maybe it's the food. Their food is good, an assortment of fresh raw fish, shells, lukot seaweeds that they'll cook to your specifications, as well as pre-cooked food like kaldereta, nilagang baka, sisig and the like, displayed in big woks with black lids. I wouldn't recommend their chicken barbeque though, as it was quite dry, compared to my most favorite of all, those from City Burger, which are always juicy and savory.

Or maybe it's the price. Sixty to ninety pesos per dish may not be too steep a price for the quality of the food and most especially for the place.

lobby decor: dried flower arrangement, stones in wicker baskets

The Place, which I think is the most attractive feature of the restaurant. There's a big guarded parking lot, which is always full, by the way, and the dining areas are airy and well-lit. There's
visible effort exerted to make the place interesting and pleasing to the eye. I am no good at interior decoration so I don't know if the decor is classy or chic or tacky and kitsch. What I can sense is that the ambiance of the place is a good one. It was a busy night, as usual, and there were some ladies who who were not wearing waitress uniforms but were bussing enthusiastically as well. Maybe they were friends or relatives of the owners, if not the owner's daughters themselves.

As with last year's Father's day outing, there was a booboo again tonight, a minor one though. They ran out of rice so some of us had to go low-carb until towards the end of the evening when the waiters brought in steaming cups of rice, for an upside down dinner of ulam-now-rice-later. A special treat tonight, though, was the surprise candy give-aways they had for all the dads.

Would I recommend the place? Most definitely. Everything but the barbeque. According to the story printed on their disposable placemats, Enting's specialty is really seafoods, which is what I will have next time.