family dinner at Calle Arco

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As rain started falling, we entered Calle Arco, a restaurant just past the arches of Pagsanjan in Laguna province. We were welcomed by pink walls adorned by antique china serving plates and paintings. A giant wine bottle was resting on one corner while hardwood chairs and tables awaited clients wanting to taste what Calle Arco had to offer. Since we came in at 9pm, we had the restaurant all to ourselves. On the days that I've passed by the restaurant, it was always filled with people. Ate Madie had eaten there already and said that the food was good.

I'm not used to ordering food for twelve people, so my aunts took charge of making sure that we would just have enough for dinner. We ended up with sisig (pork or chicken served on a sizzling plate with chilies and with calamansi), sinigang bangus belly (milkfish belly in sour soup), pancit canton (lo mein) and bihon (stir fried rice noodles), steamed vegetables, and rice (of course!).

I have to agree with Ate Madie; everything we got was delicious. Calle Arco offers no-frills meals, lutong bahay style. The staff are friendly as well. Balikbayans who miss the simplicity of eating rainy day comfort foods are in for a treat. The simplicity of the food adds to the rustic ambience of the restaurant and of the sleepy town itself.

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