Balaw-Balaw Restaurant and Art Gallery

Angono institution serving exotic Filipino dishes among folk-art carvings

A two-storey restaurant and gallery in the centre of Angono, decorated with the carved figures, masks, and giant papier-mâché higantes that the village is known for. The menu is famously adventurous: the regular kitchen serves grilled tilapia, pochero, and the spectacular minaluto seafood platter; the exotic menu, when offered, includes itik adobo, jumping salad (live shrimp), and other novelties.

Even setting aside the food, the building functions as a folk-art gallery — every surface is decorated. A useful stop between the Petroglyphs and the Blanco Family Museum.

eating out restaurant
A story
Founder Perdigon Vocalan was an Angono painter and sculptor who opened the restaurant in 1980 as a showcase for native Filipino food long before that became fashionable. The signature dish, minaluto, is a heaped seafood platter named after the wooden boat-bowl it is served in. The carved papier-mâché higantes — giants — that fill the dining rooms are made in-house.