Food Trips | Isdaan: A Floating Resto-Fun Park in Calauan, Laguna

Isdaan Floating Restaurant - Calauan, Laguna

During our road trip to Laguna, we were supposed to go to Nagcarlan and visit the underground cemetery. However, we ran out of time we decided to head back to Manila as it's already getting late. There's still one stop we had to make too, and that is at the Isdaan Floating Restaurant in Calauan, Laguna. Since we already passed by it on our way to Nagcarlan (supposedly), we didn't have a hard time locating it. It's well-lighted anyway, with towering statues and buddhas that can be seen from the highway, you wouldn't miss it actually.

It was already dinner time then and judging by the number of cars parked out front, I thought we wouldn't be able to get a table at once. But I was wrong! The restaurant area is very big, with lots of floating nipa huts and dining areas. It seems like there's a table for everyone. Anyway, since we want some privacy, we opted to go the second level of the restaurant. It's a good decision by the way, as we had a nice view of the stage below where some cultural and acrobatic presentations were being held.

one of the nipa-hut like dining areas at the second level

our table...

After settling down in one of the nipa huts, we placed our orders for our dinner: fried tawilis, tinolang tahong, fried rice and ensalada, buko juice for our drinks. Unfortunately, tawilis and tinolang tahong weren't available we had to change orders. We tried bulalo and it was also not available we ended up with marinated spareribs and sinigang na hipon and instead of fried rice, we changed it to steamed rice. We made the right choice, by the way. The spareribs' so delicious, it was well marinated every fiber of its meat is tasty and flavorful. It's very tender, too. I loved it I took home some leftovers...hehe. And the sinigang? Well, it's of generous serving, more than the number of shrimps I usually get from other restaurants of the same dish (and value). It tasted good, too. I guess nothing's gonna go wrong with sinigang, anyway. And besides, I love shrimp so every dish with shrimps (crabs, too) is yummy for me. ^_^

marinated spareribs, half kilo - 326 PhP

sinigang na hipon, 1 kilo - 483 PhP

a pitcher of buko juice (204 PhP), an order of ensalada (46 PhP), and steamed rice (in a pot, 110 PhP)

I love their buko juice, it tasted fresh and sweet. The downside? It's expensive - 204 PhP for a pitcher. Pricey, right? By the way, I guess the restaurant's target customers are families and groups of people because their servings are big; usually by the kilo, minimum of half kilo for some other dishes. 

cultural presentation...

acrobatic show...

Cultural (Filipino) and acrobatic show presentations were also held here but only during weekends (Friday - Sunday) and holidays so if you want to catch one, schedule your trip during those days. And oh, I almost forgot! There are singing cooks and waiters that would serenade you (the diners) too, while you're having your dinner (a 20 PhP tip is encouraged, though). I just don't know if they are doing it everyday; or just like the acrobatic and cultural presentations, only during weekends and holidays.

Isdaan Floating Restaurant (in photos)

Overall, I would say this restaurant is good enough for just one visit, especially if you're not from the nearby towns, just like us. I guess if we happen to be in the Laguna area again, we would be looking for some place else to eat. Aside from foods being on the expensive side, my friend isn't very satisfied and he's somehow annoyed with the wait staff's sluggish service. I think we waited more than 30 minutes before we were served of our orders. And that excludes the time the wait staff has to go back and forth the kitchen to place our orders. As I said, our original orders weren't available and when we chose bulalo the second time around, the wait staff who went to the kitchen again has to come back to us just to tell us that it's also not available. Tsk! At least on the third time, he made an effort to know what dishes are available so he would know what to tell us the next time around.

On the positive side, I think families and group of people with children in tow would enjoy this restaurant. It has lots of statues and character figures (superheroes, famous personalities, etc.) that would appeal to children (and children at heart). There are also other activities they could try that would divert their attention from waiting for food, at least for a while. The restaurant offers boating, fishing, face painting and other activities for a minimal fee, 20 PhP tip usually (face painting is free, by the way). They could also enjoy taking photos of the place, there are lots of character figures to pose with. I enjoyed it, not for public viewing though. *wink*

~ oo00oo ~

Isdaan Floating Restaurant

Brgy. Hanggan, Calauan, Laguan

Date of Visit: October 15, 2013