Restaurant Review | Dampa Sa Libis

Dampa sa Libis
Libis
Type of Cuisine: Seafood
Average cost per person: Php 300-350 (US$6 - US$8)
Overall Rating:

There were only a handful of us when Plurk started. That was around July of this year. Soon enough, it caught on and a lot more people started using it. Plurkfiesta is a term coined by Manuel L. Quezon III. It's when people from Plurk gather together to eat and hang out--or so Tiffy always believed.

Since Tiffy has never attended one and she kept on missing out, she decided to drag people from sitting in front of their computers and gave a time place: Saturday, 6PM, Dampa sa Libis.

Interestingly enough, we had a good turnout (aside from Bong and Tiffy): Josh and Arthur from Chickenmafia.com, Lizz, Jeff, Fritz, Marcelle, Arbet, Manolo, Ozy, Mark, and Jeric.

Dampa is known for its market -- you can buy your food from the market fresh. And then after, you get to decide how it's cooked. If you're not the type to buy your food raw, then you can choose to skip the whole buying-from-the-market process.

But since Tiffy was up for some haggling, then market they did. Did she get good prices for the seafood? What do you think?

Scallop (350Php/kilo, US$7.20/kilo)
Cooked in butter and garlic (140Php/kilo, US$2.88/kilo)
Fritz, Arthur and Tiffy specially liked the scallops. It was sweet and soft. True enough, a few minutes into the meal and they were greatly lacking in scallops. Although Ozy thought that it wasn't as good as he expected. He was expecting it to be sauteed in butter and garlic--the buttery syrup was unexpected.

Snail or Kuhol (100Php/kilo, US$2.06/kilo)
Cooked in coconut milk or ginataan (140Php/kilo, US$2.88/kilo)
Everyone had a fun time eating the snails. And they especially had more fun making fun of Jeff -- a snail virgin! It was his first time. And even with toothpicks for weapons, he failed miserably. It was all for the best--take one for the team! Lizz was a bit wary at first because there were parts which were red in color. She wondered for a moment if the snails were still raw. But then ate it anyway.

Clams (100Php/kilo, US$2.06/kilo)
Cooked in soup (140Php/kilo, US$2.88/kilo)
There wasn't really anything particularly note-worthy about the dish except that it was "divine," as mentioned by Fritz. The flavor of the soup wasn't too strong -- yay. Considering that Tiffy dislikes soup, she certainly liked this one. Arthur thought that it could've used more garnishings -- maybe spinach or watercress.

Shrimps | medium-sized (300Php/kilo, US$6.17/kilo)
Cooked in butter and garlic (140Php/kilo, US$2.88/kilo)
It was Fritz's turn to question why the shrimp had buttery sauce. He expected it to be clear. Like the scallops, it had a sweet buttery flavor. It was a bit of an ordeal removing the skin from the shrimp, though. Either that, or Jeff had no poise once again! Fritz thought that maybe they should've ordered the larger shrimps for this kind of cooking. And Arthur thought that it could've been better -- it wouldn't have been how he'd prepare it.

Oysters (70Php/kilo, US$1.44/kilo)
Baked (140Php/kilo, US$2.88/kilo)
They all thought that the oysters would be bigger. They were a bit shriveled up and dry. It wasn't as moistly yummy as Tiffy would think. But Arthur thought it was good so all's well. Well apparently, because of the cheese.

Mussels (100Php/kilo, US$2.06/kilo)

Baked (140Php/kilo, US$2.88/kilo)
Both Jeric and Jeff pointed out that the mussels were yummy. Although Arthur thought that it was so-so. Tiffy didn't really got to eat a lot of it because they all but gobbled it up!

All in all, it was a pretty good trip. The place played out like a canteen, except cleaner. The food was a notch above average although buying the food is one heck of an experience -- made the food more enjoyable. Serving time was a bit tiring, though. Plus, they didn't serve the food all at once. Marcelle mentioned about their inihaw na liempo being excellent. But since he came late, we didn't get to order that.

Reviewed by Bong and Tiffy.
Special thanks to everyone from the Plurkfiesta for their inputs.
Photography by Tiffy.

Address: 107 E. Rodriguez Jr. Ave. Libis, Q.C.

Tel. No.: 637-3301 or 395-5050