Our Bolinao Food Trip
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Bolinao is a town in Pangasinan that is near the coast. It is filled with uncrowded resorts. Check out our Bolinao food Trip!
Note: This is a throwback post. I’m a bit of a heartbroken because my family’s yearly outing was cancelled due to the pandemic. So, I just decided to recall our Bolinao adventure last year.
From April 28 to May 1, as a celebration for my sister and two nieces’ birthday, we went to Bolinao, Pangasinan. We actually didn’t plan anything, we just went there and look for a resort that will shelter us. This vacation is quite memorable because the siblings were complete including the one who is working in Singapore.
We started our trip at 11 pm on April 29. Along with our hired drivers, the journey begins.
Our first stop is somewhere in Tarlac. I didn’t bother to do down to the place because I got tired working as the photographer at my niece’s Jollibee birthday celebration.
Our second stop is in Bolinao to withdraw some cash. But, because I saw a bakery, I bought Pandesal. The pandesal there was delicious, it is crunchy on the outside but soft on the inside. I can say, that the P2.00 a piece is quite worthy. I can also say that the pandesal from that place is quite delicious compared to those in Manila.
The Mini Market
The third stop is at a mini-market near Patar Beach. There are only a few stores open because it’s only 6:00 am. But, the seafood sold there were quite cheaper than the Labrador Sea Food Stall.
I said the products there are quite cheaper because there are also sinungay sold there. In Labrador, it’s worth P250 a kilo and a whole fish is worth P480.00; while in that mini-market near Patar beach the Sungayan fish is worth P190.00 per piece. I asked the lady selling sinungay why the fish in Labrador is quite expensive and she said the sellers took advantage of us. She added that sinugay will never cost that much.
We also bought yellowfin tuna worth P200 per kilo, which can still be considered cheap. Plus, you can really see the freshness of the fish. The woman said that it’s just freshly caught from the nearby ocean. We also bought a kilo of flying fish worth P60.00.
Paluto Services
We availed the paluto (cooking) services offered by our chosen resort (St. James Resort in Ilog Malino, near Patar Beach). They said that they will mildly grill first the sungayan and then will remove the skin and will completely grill it. They cooked the yellowfin sinigang and the flying fish grilled as well.
On our second day, we just ate grilled porkchop and eggplant with chopped tomatoes and bagoong. On our way home, we stopped at a Carinderia in Alaminos to have our dinner.
The resort owner only charged us P20.00 a dish and we only paid almost P4,000.00 for our two-day stay including the accommodation and other services. We just left tips for the elders who cooked our meals.
Overall, our food adventure was great. The seafood was all fresh, cheap, and delicious plus we didn’t spend much energy cooking because of their paluto services.
The St. James Beach Resort
The St. James beach has fine white sand. The water is clear and quite shallow even to the further areas. We have been walking for about 15 minutes, yet the water is just waist-deep. However, seagrasses are everywhere, I think it’s because St. James has no waves because there is a sandbar covering the entire shore of the resort. According to Ate Vivian, the resort owner, we can walk from the shore to that sandbar, we should just watch out for the suddenly deep parts near the sandbar.
From the shore, just walk to the sea and you will be in flat rock formations where small fishes are inhibiting the place. We even saw Nemo, Marlin, and Coral (three clownfish) there and other fishes. Good thing we have an underwater camera.
Ate Vivian and the rest of her crews were very accommodating. She’s friendly as well. To contact Ate Vivian, you can text her at 09174552143.
