“Lawud” is the Cebuano (and also Ilonggo) word for deep open sea, and Lawud Seafood Restaurant in Biri Island epitomizes this very meaning to the hilt.
While riding the habal-habal (motorbike) from Bel-at and Caranas area to Magasang and Magsapad area, I asked Louie, our tour guide, where we could eat seafood. He suggested Lawud since it was along the way to our next destination. After our soaking wet trip to Magasang and Magsapad, we stopped by Lawud to order our dinner (I asked two puto on our way out because I was starving 🙂 ). Then, we left to take a shower and make ourselves presentable.
At 630pm, we arrived at Lawud. We were warmly welcomed by three people and two dogs. I am not particularly fond of big dogs, but I love friendly people.
The place had colored lights and wooden tables and chairs were set up to accommodate big groups. On one side there was a microphone stand for those brave enough to hit the karaoke and entertain the crowd. At that time, there were only Juan, Louie, and me. Nobody sang. 🙂
Our food arrived, and I knew that Juan fell instantly in love with kinilaw (Filipino take on ceviche). The entire meal that fed three people, with sufficient leftover, cost P950.00 (US $18.54).
Scallops platter, also known locally as paya-paya, P190.00 (US $3.74). I cannot forget this because when I saw the price, my eyes immediately lit up and I just knew I had to order it. It was so fresh, not rubbery and delectable. It had little to no other ingredients, just good old unadulterated seafood. OMG. I must have eaten half of it.
Crabs, known as masag, P190.00 (US $3.74). Now, Juan knows how to crack the crab open and eat it with his bare hands.
We had a bad customer service experience from her. I think their people needs to be trained. This is specific experience from their young waitress who got our orders wrong and insisting that I didn’t order the fresh buko juice that i claimed I ordered for me and my boyfriend, even tho, our tour guide repeated it to her and my boyfriend heard when i was ordering. She also got us one more dish than what we actually ordered but we just ate and paid for it. She also insisted that I didn’t order a beer. So, they were not able to provide us these orders, and any alternative for our drinks except from the room temperature water that we can get from a jar. And this lady insisting herself that she is right and I’m the fucking wrong, going to my table and showing her incorrect note of our order is SO NOT A GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE AT ALL. Since I don’t want any stress and I just wanna enjoy the food and drinks that we’re supposed to be enjoying. I just let it go. But the attitude of the young lady makes me cringe every time I remember our experience there. She didn’t shout at all (otherwise i probably brought the matter to the owner) but probably you can imagine the scenario — insisting that i am wrong when it’s it’s 2 people who heard me. And the reason why they don’t have beer and buko juice anymore? They said there is buffet earlier, they almost can’t accommodate their order, so they’re out of beer and buko juice and they can’t give us those. Yeah. So I just let it go and tried to enjoy our food but we didn’t go back there anymore.
Hello, Pinky.
I am sorry that you had an unpleasant experience there. I hope it did not mar your impression of Biri island.
Having said that, the two women who attended to us were polite, kind, and accommodating. They were a little shy, which I attribute to language barrier more than anything else.
May you have a good day.
Roselee