My Share for #BeautifulSunday initiated by @ace108
To celebrate our 17th wedding anniversary we skipped the dinner ferry cruise by the bay and decided to go to this restaurant called Calle Real.
This antique ancestral home from the early 1900s turned into restaurant has it's charm. Filipino Heritage fused with Spanish influence which is not intimidating is a perfect quiet place for us to just relax and talk about the years we spent together.
This place reminds me of my grandma's home which also from the early 1900s. I told my wife "This house is really old but well preserved, just like my love for you which will grow old but will also be well preserved lol". Hey 17 years of marriage maybe a long time but seems just yesterday for us and we are always looking forward to the next day of being together.
I noticed old books, bottles, phones radios and other items displayed on the ledge on top of the door. Probably some old stuff for the owners which gave character to the place. I loved the ambiance of the place would have made a perfect romantic dinner if they just dimmed the lights a bit and had some candles lit on the table.
There is also this painting on the wall which shows us life during the Spanish colonization era. I could just imagine life during that era I often tease my wife that we would try to live life like in the Spanish era. Gas lit lamps, no modern amenities, cooking with wood burned stoves she hated me for it lol. She said maybe she would survive for a week but I said the most important part is we're together lol.
This dish is called Sisig made from parts of the pigs face and liver boiled then grilled. It's added with chopped onions and bird's eye chili. It's mixed with a bit of mayonnaise served on a sizzling place to have it a bit crispy,topped with a fresh egg and mixed with a dash of Philippine lime. This is one of our favorite dishes and we often order this when we go out.
This one is called Lechon Kawali pork belly which is boiled with various spices until tender, cooled down and then deep fried. They had two dips for this dish liver sauce and vinegar mixed with soy sauce and fermented mango as a side dish.
Now the specialty of the house Paella Marinera a Spanish dish made from rice, shrimp, mussels and squid. For me this is a seafood lover's dream. I absolutely loved it the moment it landed on my taste buds. I had paella before but this one is something to come back for and my wife agrees. They also have other variants like the Paella Negra which is mixed with squid ink.
Well I could say it was a good dinner we had. Not extravagant as budget is a bit tight these days but we enjoyed the quiet time together to just pause and look back thru the years gone by. I guess one of the things which binds us more is enjoying food and exploring different taste. Going out together, cooking together and going out on adventures. You would not notice how time flies by so fast we just need to pause live life, eat, pray and love. Looks like that was from a Julia Roberts movie lol. Cheers Steemians!
