A Taste of Old World Flavors at Marivent Café

Kath C. Eustaquio-Derla January 18, 2015 0

By Katherine Castillo Eustaquio
Photos by Nicole Alvaro
Published in Balikbayan Magazine


Food plays an integral role in defining a country’s culture. The more we travel, the more we open our taste buds to unique flavors, which give a nation its distinct identity.

The food at Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar reminds one of summers spent in the province, where women prepare good, old-fashioned dishes for their guests in an open-air “dirty” kitchen.  It reminds one of a time when “lunch” was served on a long table, whether in the immaculate dining room or in the backyard. Hearty dishes like paella, morcon, pinakbet, and callos grace the table, served on brightly colored platters and clay pots.  The food here reminds one of a time when grandparents provide refreshing treats like freshly churned homemade sorbetes (sorbet) or a platter of fresh fruits like pineapple and mangoes picked earlier that day.

The casas (houses) at Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar are named after the places they came from. Marivent Café, the resort’s main restaurant, offers the trademark dishes each town, city, and province is famous for.

“Bawat makikita mong bahay [dito sa Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar], alam mo na kung anong ilalabas mong pagkain. Puro mga sinaunang pagkain, Filipino and Spanish. Ang Filipino food para bang nawawala e, kaya ngayon binubuhay namin ang pagkaing Filipino at Spanish,” Executive Chef Terencio S. Cabrera said. (Every house you see here, you know exactly what food you will serve. It’s all about old-fashioned food that is Filipino and Spanish. Old Filipino food seems to be fading, that’s why we are reviving them.)

At a time when more and more restaurants and resorts are going gourmet, Marivent Café prides itself in serving authentic Filipino and Spanish dishes served family style.

“Ginawa naming pampamilya ang pagkain, hindi yung one serving lang, isang order lang, [o] isang tao lang ang kakain,” Cabrera shared. “Kasi ang [pumupunta] dito sa Las Casas, mga pamilya e, kaya kailangan matikman nila lahat.” (We made the food family style, not just one serving, one order, or just one person will eat the food. The guests here are mostly families, they need to taste everything.)

One of Marivent Café’s bestsellers is the Chicken Binakol, a Tagalog dish that is similar to the tinola but uses coconut juice instead of chicken stock. “When you come here and you have kids who refuse to eat rice, you serve them binakol and they will eat with gusto,” said General Manager TK Solvason.

The beauty of the casas and the taste of great Filipino and Spanish flavors placed Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar on the list of the must-visit tourist spots in the country. For three years, more and more Filipinos have been “rediscovering” their glorious cultural past through this one-of-a-kind living museum. After all, coming home is always the best respite. Why? Because even the most discriminating palate seeks the flavors of home.



(Set to open this June 2012 is the La Bella Teodora, a 100-seater Italian restaurant that will serve brick oven pizza and a variety of delectable pasta dishes.  The new restaurant, which is named after Jose Rizal ’s mother, Teodora Alonzo, will find its home at the ground floor open veranda of Casa Biñan, the replica of Rizal’s ancestral home in Biñan Laguna. Headed by Chef Edgardo Matus, the chef de cuisines at Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar, La Bella Teodora will offer an authentic Italian dining experience through a seven-course meal.)