THEY SAY you haven’t really been to Dagupan City, Pangasinan unless you’ve eaten at this homey restaurant called Dagupeña.
Dagupan is bangus country, and at Dagupeña, the bangus is the star of all seasons. There’s the sinigang a bangus, daing a bangus, sizzling boneless bangus (which we had for brunch last month; very good), inasin a pait (salted bangus innards) and so much more. The restaurant is also known for its egado, pinakbet, binagoongang pata, rellenong alimasag, embotido, and Dagupan longganisa.
Emma Bernal-Castro, the proprietress, told us that Dagupeña was started by her mother Ignacia Caliolio Bernal or Bai Inacia for short, in 1928 as a small eatery to augment the family income. Widowed at an early age and not having finished school, Bai Inacia focused her efforts on Dagupeña, serving up her signature dishes. The restaurant became so successful that Bai Inacia was able to put all her eight children to school. Dagupeña was also credited for defining Pangasinense cuisine.
Bai Inacia was said to be a meticulous cook, and so care was taken to ensure that her original recipes were followed to the letter. Thus the sinigang a bangus your lolo may have tasted if he passed by Dagupan in the prewar times tastes the same as the sinigang a bangus served in Dagupeña’s charming old style restaurant in Calasiao today.
Bai Inacia has already passed away, but her legacy lives on. The younger generation, however, has introduced new dishes to update the menu. The sizzling boneless bangus comes with a tartar sauce made using herbs freshly harvested from the garden at the back of the restaurant. One of Emma’s children, Ann, is also a chef, and she has concocted some of the new dishes and desserts like the frozen banana mousse.
Emma said Manileños craved for boneless bangus and so Dagupeña started deboning and selling this in supermarkets. Today there is a whole range of frozen boneless bangus they sell under the restaurant brand, from daing to bangus steak to bangus belly in flavors like pesto, teriyaki, honey mustard, and Thai green chili. They even have bangus chorizo and tocino. Talk about innovation!
Dagupeña has been around for 80 years already. What’s the secret to its success? “Ang secret? Inaasikaso talaga, from the kitchen to the marketing (The secret? We take extra care, from the kitchen to the marketing),” said Emma. She is in the restaurant herself 12 hours a day as a hands on entrepreneur. “Also, prayer. I was even led to this place we can afford,” she added. For a long time, Dagupeña was located on AB Fernandez Avenue in the downtown area, and in fact, Emma was born in the little house behind the restaurant. It was only three years ago that it moved to its present location on Diversion Road in San Miguel, Calasiao, just a few minutes away from the old location.
Many people have asked Emma if they could franchise the business but the family is intent on keeping the business among themselves. “Mahirap ang restaurant (It’s hard to run a restaurant),” she said, that’s why they’d rather keep it the way it is now, allowing them to still be hands on and preserve Bai Inacia’s legacy.
January 9th, 2009 at 9:07 pm
This is such an inspiring story that is much needed during these times of financial crisis.
January 7th, 2009 at 6:43 pm
Reading your article makes me hungry. I would love to visit Dagupan city someday and try their restaurant out.