LUMA: 2017

An artsy cute cafe with a Spanish colonial ambiance.

Tampuhan, meaning "sulking", is an 1895 classic oil on canvas impressionist painting by Filipino painter and hero Juan Luna. It depicts a Filipino man and a Filipino woman having a lovers' quarrel. - Wikipedia

The Place

Inspired by the above-mentioned painting, Tampuhan Cafe, located in Taal, Batangas is an 1870's bahay na bato (stone and wooden house) which houses a weekend cafe, gallery and a bed and breakfast. The cafe has a view of the Pansipit River which flows just behind the house and situated beside Villa Tortuga.

The place is surely hard to miss with all the artworks on its wall depicting some of the well-known heroes and life during the Spanish colonial era. That doesn't end there, wait until you see the interior of the cafe and the casita.

The Cafe

Decorated with artworks from local artists, the cafe will give you a certain old-fashioned ambience with a twist. Of course, Tampuhan cafe will not be complete if a replica of the painting is not present. The vintage-inspired decorations are overwhelming despite the fact that it is small but cozy enough for those who are looking for an intimate place to dine.

We just can't resist leaving a note on their board.

The Food

The food tastes surprisingly good at a reasonable price. We tried their rose iced tea, vegetarian pizza, pesto pasta and gourmet bangus. All of them are mouthwatering but my favorite is the gourmet bangus. We spent only around P500 for all of those and we will definitely be back to try the others.

The Casita

The price of their overnight stay is P850/person inclusive of set breakfast. The house is beautiful, well-decorated with antique objects and preserved. It has two rooms and a clean common bathroom found on the ground level of the house. Luckily, we were the only ones who stayed there and we're happy to have enjoyed the house all by ourselves.

The staff are very accommodating and nice. The owners, Ms. Marj and Sir Benj, even gave us a complimentary glasses of wine and pretzels for midnight snack.

The room that we had, which is probably the family room, has wide space, two beds, a prayer kneeler and altar, and a good working air conditioning unit. It is not fancy but pleasantly comfortable and cozy.

Room lock - the old soul in me is rejoicing.

Complimentary glasses of wine and pretzels from the owners.

The breakfast were served in the common living room in the second floor and we chose to have tapsilog (made with the famous tapang taal) and spamsilog served with kapeng barako.