Angeles Food Trip: Downtown Cafe by Chef Claude Tayag

Crispy Aromatic Duck at Downtown Cafe, Angeles City

Angeles City is not just the birthplace of the iconic sisig (read about my sisig crawl here) but is also home to legendary restaurants and world-class chefs. So when I was doing my research for an Angeles food trip, I found out about chefs Claude Tayag and Sau Del Rosario and their restaurants.

Chef Claude struck me as familiar. I thought I saw him before. Then it hit me! He was the chef who accompanied the late Anthony Bourdain in his visit to the Pampanga! The American chef went to Angeles City for his show No Reservations to eat goat dishes, sample sisig, and visit Cheg Claude’s Bale Dutung for traditional Filipino dishes.

So in one of my Angeles trips, I went to Bale Dutung...’s sister restaurant. The “Bourdained” Bale Dutung, which is also the residence of Chef Claude and his wife Maryann, is strictly by reservation. I’m guessing that with a feature from Bourdain’s show, it’s hard to get a slot and prices must’ve gone high. Fortunately, one can still sample the Angelean chef’s dishes at affordable prices and without prior reservations at Downtown Cafe.

Downtown Cafe is conveniently located at the Nepo Quad, so it can be easily accessed by either driving or commuting. The restaurant has a nice 50s/60s feel, decorated with cool retro stuff, including a jukebox machine.

Let’s talk about the food starting with the appetizers. Unfortunately, their Trianggulos were unavailable. These are samosas filled with tinapa (smoked fish), spinach, kesong puti (white cheese made with carabao’s milk), and Pili nuts (a kind of nut indigenous to the Philippines), served with a tomato dip. So I got the sandwiches instead.

Men, they serve amazing sandwiches! I got the Humba Cuapao and Pan De Bagnet. The cuapao (a kind of Chinese meat-filled bun) has a mantou (steamed bun) which is a bit chewy in a good way. The pork humba (sweet marinade) is soft and fatty. The sandwich is just slightly sweet with the subtlety of cilantro flavors. It reminds me of Taiwan’s gua bao.

Humba Cuapao (P180) and Pan de Bagnet (P200)

The bagnet sandwich has true Ilocano flavors because aside from the bagnet (a deep fried crispy pork belly of Ilocano origin), it also has tomatoes, onions, and a hint of bagoong isda (fermented anchovies).

For main dish, I wanted to order the Pork Belly Adobo Confit but I was told that it’ll be available at a later time. Another unfortunate moment! So for pork, I got the Sinigang na Lechon (sour soup with lechon or roasted suckling pig). Now I thought that the lechon in it is a lechon kawali (deep fried pork belly), which is typical for a lechon sinigang. Boy, I was wrong! Downtown uses the meat from a roasted suckling pig! Wow! I can really taste the lechon flavors. The lechon skin was already soggy rather than crispy, but it contributes to the flavor and is still delightful to munch on. The broth is fruity and not too sour, which is wonderful. I love this dish!

But let’s go to the star of the show: the Crispy Aromatic Duckling. It’s a half spring duck covered with Downtown’s 9-spice dry rub then fried to perfection. Man! The duck is so fragrant and the meat is tender and flavorful!

The duck is served with Chinese pancakes, hoisin sauce, mango salsa, and shreds of cucumber. The way to eat it is to assemble a wrap just like what you would do to a Peking duck. This adds to the “duckxperience”!

Finally, dessert time! I got the bestseller Halo-Halo with Crema de Pastillas. It’s a simple dessert with a few ingredients, which is typical for a Kapampangan halo-halo. It’s creamily good!

Halo-Halo with Crema de Pastillas (P120)

There are other dishes that I didn’t get to try at Downtown Cafe. Aside from the ones that were unavailable during my visit, I considered trying the Bagnetta, which is like a porchetta but deep fried. But seeing pictures of it, I feared that it might spike my cholesterol levels. So I hope to try it next time along with other dishes. I’ll update this entry once I have tried them.

So how was my Downtown experience? It was awesome! All the dishes are good and reasonably priced. (If not for the duckling, I’d be paying lower. But I don’t mind paying P650 for an amazing duck experience!) I highly recommend that you drop by when you visit Angeles.

PS As I was drafting this entry, news broke that Anthony Bourdain passed away. That saddened and affected me. RIP to the person who inspired meto travel for food.

Other entries in the Angeles Food Trip series: The Search for the Best Sisig at Its Birthplace | Cafe Fleur by Chef Sau del Rosario