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Sunday, May 29, 2016

Where to eat and stay in Lucban, Quezon

Two weeks ago, I, with my family, went to Lucban town in Quezon province for the second time but it was our first time to witness and join the celebration of Pahiyas Festival. These two opportunities proved to me that a visit to Lucban is such an enriching experience and could make one's sight, tummy and heart full. There's just so many good things to see 
and experience as well as eat! 
If you're planning to go here to visit Kamay ni Jesus, or have an outing in one of the local resorts, or for the Pahiyas Festival that is held every year on the 15th of May, you may want to know what places you could go to to spend the night and eat. Well, I could give some suggestions based on my family's experience and those that we saw while going around the town center.
For the "eats", I'm sharing about three restaurants where we ate during our stay in time for the Pahiyas - Mustiola's, Loop's Pizza and Chito's. Of these, the latter is our 
top favorite and you'll know why.
When we arrived in Lucban that Saturday afternoon, the first restaurant we saw was Mustiola's. It's actually an old house turned into a restaurant and is now one of the most popular in Lucban for the delicious food offered at very affordable prices. What we loved here? The Pancit Lucban (also known as "habhab") and cheesy pizza, not to mention the very affordable prices of the food. Here, we only spent around P600 for all our 
orders that satisfied the six of us. 
Our orders:

Pancit Lucban
I've eaten this kind of pancit several times in the past and I could truthfully say that Mustiola's version is the best I've had. It's a little oily, yes, but it's packed with flavor and has lots of "sahog"  - both meat and veggies. Drizzle with some vinegar as the locals do when they eat this noodle dish and you up the pancit habhab enjoyment a step higher. This is 
definitely a must try at Mustiola's.
Pizza
This is just a solo order but because it's thick, one is already good for two persons specially since we also had pancit. We had 3 orders of this and we weren't left wanting. I mean the pancit and pizza (also some fries) made us full and very satisfied. Mustiola's pizza is delicious and that's an honest verdict. 
Just look at all those cheese!
French fries
Well, nothing extraordinary about this but the kids always want to have fries.
Mustiola's is on San Luis St. cor Regidor St., Lucban, Quezon
For breakfast on Pahiyas day, we ate at Loop's Pizza where the Lucban longganisa silog and buffalo wings stood out among our orders. 
Our brekky:

Fried chicken with rice
Chicken buffalo wings
Carbonara 
Blue lemonade
Inside Loop's Pizza
Longganisang Lucban silog
All our orders at Loop's was good and satisfying but as I said, it was the buffalo wings and the Lucban longganisa that we liked best. For dinner that Sunday, we went back to Loop's and bought pizza which we took "home" to our rented room but there wasn't much to say about it except that it was "okay". But their prices were low just like in Mustiola's, and we only spent around P600 for our breakfast (or P100/person including drinks). The two boxes of pizza, on the other hand, cost less than P500.
For late lunch/afternoon snacks on Sunday, we went to Chito's - where a beautiful display of multi-colored umbrellas gave us great photo ops. Haha! 


 Chito's on Plaridel St., Lucban, Quezon
Inside Chito's

But those umbrellas weren't really the main star here but the food! We enjoyed the food so much that we ate here twice. The second time was really not by choice but it 

turned out to be a "blessing in disguise". 
Our orders on our first visit:
Pancit Chami sa toyo (there's another variety which is "sa ketchup")
Spaghetti with cheeseburger 
Fries
Tapsilog


Longganisang Lucban silog
Black gulaman
Blue lemonade 
For breakfast just before we left Lucban on Monday, May 16, we went first to Abcede's Restaurant but it was still closed. We then went to Dealo Koffee Klatch. It was open but it seemed they were "half-closed" because only two items on the menu were available yet. We walked around the town center but couldn't find any other place to eat so we tried Chito's which, fortunately, was open and already having quite a lot of customers. I said this was a "blessing in disguise" because I found a foodie gem in their "hardinera", which is a meatloaf dish that originated from Quezon. I can say that it's comparable to the embutido, only it's not tubular in shape like the latter, but more like a leche flan as it is 
also molded in a "llanera". 
Also, the meat comes in chunks and not ground.
Anyway, here were our orders 
for breakfast:
 
Hardinera with rice
Pancit Chami sa toyo
Longganisang Lucban silog
Fries
Mojo potatoes 
Blue lemonade 
By the way, there are two Chito's stores in Lucban but the one that's on Quezon Ave. does not have the umbrella"roof". As for prices of the food, Chito's won't make you feel "robbed" as everything is very affordable. Hardinera with rice, for instance, is P70. Prepare a budget of P100/person, including drinks.
Well, there's some other restaurants that we saw in Lucban and only two are franchises - Dunkin Donuts and Famous Belgian Waffles. As I've mentioned, there's also Abcede's and Dealo Koffee Klatch, the latter being a popular one as it can also be found in others places in Quezon province and even in Legazpi and Baguio cities. It also has a branch inside the SM Mall in Lucena City. 


Dealo Koffee Klatch at #72 Quezon Ave., La Dona Ana BuildingLucban



Of course, there is Buddy's which is the most well-known restaurant here in Lucban, so much so that it has "invaded" Metro Manila as well, with three branches in the metropolis that I know of - in Pasig City, Tomas Morato in Quezon City and at the Fisher Mall also in QC. Our family ate at the Pasig branch four years ago and at SM-Lucena two years ago, the reason we didn't patronize Buddy's in Lucban anymore. I wanted to try what other restaurants here had to offer.


Buddy's at #99 Avenida Rizal, Lucban
By the way, just a few steps away from Chito's on Plaridel St. is Shank & Slurry Mami House which is in the same establishment as Famous Belgian Waffles.


Tables and chairs outside Shank & Slurry

Meanwhile,  as mentioned in my previous post, we stayed 
at Oreña's Inn Hotel & Resort.
Oreña's Inn at Sitio Kalbaryo, Barangay Tinamnan, Lucban, Quezon
Our room was good for four persons and priced at P2,800. The price is lower by P1,000 if you're not visiting during Pahiyas. Extra bed or mattress would be charged P200. Not much can be expected from Orena's Inn as it is quite old but our room was clean enough, had a private bathroom with hot and cold shower and we were provided with 4 hygiene kits that each contained tissue, soap, a toothbrush, toothpaste, and shampoo. The inn also has an adult swimming pool and a kiddie pool. - plus points! If you're interested with Oreña's Inn, you may visit their Facebook page and send them a message. They do respond, thankfully. You may also text/call them thru 
the numbers 09088157928.  
Oreña's Inn, is, however, outside the town proper and you would need to walk about 15-20 minutes going to the church and other destinations in the center of Lucban. Well, you can ride a tricycle but not on the very day of Pahiyas Festival when this (tricycle) and all other vehicles are not allowed entry to the town center.
Anyway, other establishments where you may want to stay are:  


Patio Rizal Hotel & Restaurant at #77 Quezon Ave., St., Lucban, Quezon


Kalesa Inn on Racelis St., Lucban
For room rates and other information on these two establishments, 
please visit their website or Facebook page.

Well, I hope this post is of some help to future visitors to Lucban, which is a beautiful town in Quezon province that's situated near the mystic Mt. Banahaw.
Have a happy stay and a bleesed life!