Dining Like a Gypsy

The second caravan is still partially finished

My reunion trip to Puerto Princesa led me to Gypsy's Lair, a bohemian restaurant in the new city spot Mercado de San Miguel. The restaurant is owned by island goddess-cum-gypsy Dinggot Prieto, whose passion for the arts greatly influenced and defined Puerto Princesa's artsy landscape. (She's the woman behind Kamarikutan, the landmark art gallery-dining area in Puerto Princesa. She hosts art festivals that leave locals and followers wistful to this day.)

Kamarikutan is currently closed for major renovations so she's putting her attention on Gypsy's Lair. The restaurant has two gypsy caravans now, the first is washed in red with designs resembling the normal caravan of a gypsy. The second, the green one pictured above, is in a circular shape. In her travels, she saw four different caravan styles and she's mimicking these for the restaurant.

"I won't stop until I completed all four caravans," she said, making me laugh. 

It was a breezy Saturday night. There's no big crowd in Mercado as we listen to one of the performers. Serge, my local journalist companion, pointed out that most of the people are dancing the night away at the bars along Rizal St. But on Fridays, the tables are full in Gypsy's, Dinggot said.

The food is a mixture of many Asian and European cuisine from Dinggot's journeys along "the gypsy's trail". Serge liked the dynamite-like rolls but I begged off because its too spicy for my standards. The rolls has green chili stuffed with squid and cheese, and fried until golden brown. With beer, I think this will be tolerable for my palate.

The Starter Platter is perfect with beer (or wine) on a chill-out Saturday night

Serge and I both fell in love with the Tom Yam soup because it bursts with flavors and the ingredients are stuff I love: freshly-cut tomatoes, shrimp, lemon grass, and enough chilies to tickle the tastebuds. I also enjoyed the  sweet roast beef meal with terragon and malunggay dip. Dinngot said the meat was slow-roasted for two hours to achieve the soft texture. The wrap, on the other hand, has fresh greens and fried fish fillet. Good pick if you're watching your diet.

Good healthy food!

Serge wanted to buy a bottle of red wine, which we should finish for the night. I told him we couldn't do that! We have to consume four glasses each and I have an early day tomorrow! In the end, we agreed on a glass, which made me sleepy. This was when I realized I'm dead tired and should hit the bed soon.

The flamenco guitarist is none other that local journalist Dempto Anda!

So after Dempto's last piece and as Gypsy's begin to close down, we decided to call it a night. I was half-asleep when my journo friends dropped me off at Hibiscus Garden Inn and as I lay there, I still hear the fine guitar strings created in rapid succession by Dempto's trained fingers.

It's definitely the best way to cap off my first day in Puerto Princesa.

Getting there: Gypsy's Lair is located at Mercado de San Miguel. If you're getting a trike, just tell the driver to take you to Mercado. If he doesn't know where that is, just tell him Skybox and he'll know. Trike fee ranges from P8 (if shared) to P10 if you're riding alone. If you're coming from the other side of town, the driver might charge you with P20, P50 if you're a foreigner. - 3/13/12