METRO MANILA | Seafood Dinner at Dampa Macapagal

Monday, November 25, 2013

Buttered Garlic Shrimp at Aling Tonya's Seafood Dampa in Macapagal

The usual restaurant haunt for birthdays and special events in our family is at Dampa MOA (Mall of Asia). Here, seafood dishes are so affordable, it’s almost like a buffet for the whole family clan. With a slew of birthdays for the month of September, the gang decided to once again head to the Mall of Asia for a seafood fest at Aling Tonya’s Dampa.

After braving the strong rain, lo and behold, all the the Dampa stalls in MOA were closed. Not because of the bad weather or the lateness of the hour, but they’re simply closed. Everything’s boarded up—no notice, no nothing.

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Al Fresco Dining at Aling Tonya's Seafood Dampa in Macapagal

With no other choice, we all went back to our cars and drove for few minutes to Macapagal Boulevard’s Dampa Seaside Market where restaurants serving seafood, Dampa-style, are also located. We settled at the usual spot at Aling Tonya’s and were soon trotting to the seafood stalls to buy dinner.

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Buying Prawns at Seafood Dampa in Macapagal

Similar to Bacolod Pala Pala restaurants, one buys his own seafood fares and passes them to the restaurant of choice for cooking. Fees for cooking depend of the amount and type of dish you want.

The market is located at the center of the Macapagal’s Dampa Seaside Market. It looks like any regular wet market, with shrimps, scallops, oysters, fishes, and everything in between.

Expensive Lobsters at Seafood Dampa in Macapagal

One should haggle for prices, especially if you’re buying lobsters.

A single piece, which usually weighs in at two kilos, sell for a wallet-wrenching ₱1,800.00. So that means no lobsters for us. Instead, we bought three kilos of shrimps (₱380.00), two kilos of pink salmon (₱300.00), three kilos of tahong or mussels (₱80.00) and two and a half kilos of squid (₱280.00).

The View from Aling Tonya's Seafood Dampa in Macapagal

The Dampa Seaside Market at Macapagal sits right next to the Libertad Channel, a body of water that connects directly to Manila Bay. The view is quite nice at night, with the usual trash hidden in darkness. There were times in the past where the bay was pretty stinky, but during our recent visits, the unappetizing smell is thankfully not present.

Dining Hall of Aling Tonya's Seafood Dampa in Macapagal

But not to worry, if ever, for some unfortunate reason, the stench of the bay comes back during your visit, you can always resort to eating inside the well-lit, air-conditioned dining halls of the restaurants.

Two-Piece Band at Aling Tonya's Seafood Dampa in Macapagal

Us, we almost always dine al fresco. It just seems more fun that way—with show bands taking requests and playing it right in front of us. They even entertain jammers—they play and you sing your song. It’s really fun, well, if you’re into that kind of thing.

Serving at Aling Tonya's Seafood Dampa in Macapagal

It took quite a while for our orders to arrive, which is usually the norm in Dampa. The fresh seafood we bought heads straight to Aling Tonya’s kitchen with specific cooking instructions.

The shrimps were to be turned into buttered garlic shrimps, the pink salmon into sinigang sa miso, the mussels into baked tahongs and the squid into calamares. Their cooking fee is usually in the range of ₱200.00 per kilo.

Sinigang na Miso at Aling Tonya's Seafood Dampa in Macapagal

After almost thirty minutes of waiting, our seafood feast started to arrive, one overflowing plate at a time. The pink salmon sinigang na miso landed first and bowls were soon filled with its sour soup. I’m not a big fan of fishes floating in soup with the exception of this one.

Was it good? If sinigang is your thing, this is fantastic.

Baked Tahong at Aling Tonya's Seafood Dampa in Macapagal

Another favorite is Aling Tonya’s baked tahong. Overflowing with cheese and topped with garlic bits, it makes my mouth water just writing about it.

Calamares at Aling Tonya's Seafood Dampa in Macapagal

And the squid calamares, which is coated in very crunchy breading; crunchy on the outside, very tender on the inside. It comes with unlimited mayo dip too.

Buttered Garlic Shrimp at Aling Tonya's Seafood Dampa in Macapagal

Last, but definitely not the least, is the buttered shrimp with garlic. Going to Dampa without ordering this is a capital crime. After peeling off the shrimp’s shell, we usually dip the meat on its own sweet garlicky sauce. An absolute favorite.

We were 17 in the group and our dinner at Dampa totaled at ₱3,840.00 ₱5,480.00. ₱1,040  Php2,680.00 for the seafood and ₱2,800.00 for Aling Tonya’s cooking fee. That’s a measly ₱225.00 ₱322.35 per person and we weren’t even able to finish everything off. Not bad, eh?

Closing Time at Aling Tonya's Seafood Dampa in Macapagal

We’ve been ordering the same old seafood dishes every time we visit Dampa, be it in MOA or at the Dampa Seaside Market at Macapagal Boulevard. But with the former closing, I guess we’ve no choice but to transfer our family celebrations to Macapagal. But really, it’s almost the same—the only difference I guess is that we can’t shop at MOA while waiting for our dishes to cook.

Seafood at Dampa Macapagal



UPDATE 2014


Our family went back to the Dampa Seaside Market in Macapagal for this year’s September birthday feast and as usual, we dined at Aling Tonya’s. A few changes were immediately noticeable since our last visit—especially the removal of the al fresco dining area along this part of Dampa. The staff said it was gonna be made into a road.

My parents did the usual market stuff, getting three kilos each of squid (₱260.00/kilo), shrimp (₱330.00/kilo), and mussels (₱100.00/kilo) with an additional two kilos of pink salmon belly (₱350.00/kilo).

We passed everything to Aling Tonya’s for cooking. We asked them to turn them into calamares (₱220.00/kilo), shrimp butter with garlic (₱250.00/kilo), baked tahong (₱250.00/kilo), and pink salmon in sinagang na miso (₱220.00/kilo). Note that the prices quoted above are the cooking fee.

Veggies at Dampa Macapagal

An additional order of pinakbet (₱250.00) and ginataang sitaw at kalabasa (₱250.00) were also added to the mix.

Compared to last year’s market price, the prices of seafood was more or less the same. While cooking charge on some of the dishes rose up to as much as ₱50.00 per kilo. The food was still as superb as I remembered it to be, with the exception of the calamares which seemed to be a bit overcooked. The veggies were totally unremarkable.

This time we were 21 in the group, and if we compute everything sans the rice and drinks we ordered, it totaled to ₱5,870.00 or ₱279.50 per person. Even with the slight price increase, it was still a good price (actually, cheaper this time since we have added four more persons in the group) for an almost seafood buffet experience. And yup, as before, we still weren’t able to finish everything.



Aling Tonya’s Seafood Dampa Location MapAling Tonya’s Seafood Dampa ►MENU
Address: Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard, Pasay City
Contact Number: (02) 8889-2504
Opening Hours: 10:00AM to 2:00AM, Daily
GPS Coordinates Map: 14.544622, 120.986830

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54 comments

  1. Dampa! Definitely one of the best places to eat seafood. I find it a bit expensive though (because I'm kuripot like that hehe...)

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    1. Marjorie, mahal pa ba yung almost unlimited servings of four different seafood dishes plus almost unlimited rice din for P225.00 per person? :)

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  2. Ang tagal ko nang di pumupunta sa Dampa. Nagci-crave tuloy ako ngayon :|

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  3. Aling Tonya's rin kami lagi. Aside from baked mussels, we always order baked scallops. GRRR, kagutom :(

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  4. I think your computation's wrong. "we bought three kilos of shrimps (Php380.00), two kilos of pink salmon (Php300.00), three kilos of tahong or mussels (Php80.00) and two and a half kilos of squid (Php280.00)."
    Does that mean that a kilo of shrimp is only at Php126.66? Just saying.. :)

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    1. Hi, I think you're right, so the 380 must be per kilo then? :D

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  5. how about if we have 10 in the group, and this coming end of march i am going to treat my family..do i need to call for the reservation and the food?

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    1. No need to reserve, we were always more than ten in the group when we eat at Dampa Macapagal and we never reserved a seat even once. Enjoy your Dampa party! :)

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  6. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  7. Is there a place there that opens at 6 or 7am on thursday 4/17? Well have team breakfast.

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  8. Total price is wrong

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  9. hi...is the price still thesame as of today?

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    Replies
    1. Hi, we recently dined at Dampa Macapagal last night, I updated the post, complete with the prices and the new menu. :)

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  10. what time nagbubukas po yong dampa

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  11. May i know if they accept credit cards? Literal ba na palengke yung bibilhan? And nagissue ba sila ng resibo?

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    1. I think some of the restaurants accept credit cards. The market are your typical wet markets. The restaurants issue receipts, I just don't know about the market

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  12. hello , may i ask ung lobster is it one lobster had 2 killos and only sell for 1800 pesos or one lobster had 2killos sell for 3600pesos or one killo lobster sale for 1800pesos lang talaga kahit ilang piraso or gaano kalaki basta 1 kilo 1800? sorry kase di ko alam dun eh pero gusto ko pumunta... and try..

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    1. Michael, the lobsters are priced per kilo. But I think you have to buy it per piece :)

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  13. Hi Christian, any updates about this place? I want to bring my in-laws from the US here but saw some nasty reviews at tripadvisor. Plase advise.

    http://www.tripadvisor.com.ph/Restaurant_Review-g298452-d1461827-Reviews-Aling_Tonya_s_Seafood_Palutuan-Pasay_Metro_Manila_Luzon.html#REVIEWS

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    1. Hi, I just checked the reviews and most of the negative ones seem to stem from Aling Tonya's buffet offerings or their pre-cooked food. The best way to enjoy this place is to buy the seafood yourselves from the market area and then have them cook it for you, that's the Dampa way anyways. :)

      By the way, if your in-laws are a bit picky when it comes to a place's cleanliness or smell, Dampa might not be for them as it is a bit messy since the marketplace is just a leap away from the restaurants :)

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  14. Hi!ask ko lang po kung yan p rin ung price?kc magceleb po kami ng family q for may grad.if 20 po kami magkano po kaya ung range ng budget for us?thank you.first time kc.hehehe! :)

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  15. This nov 24 po kami magceleb. :)

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  16. Anong restua kaya tumatanggap ng credit cards specifically AMEX? Thanks!

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    Replies
    1. I know for a fact that Aling Tonya's accepts major credit cards

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  17. sir ask lng po kung mainly the seafoods lng po ang bibilhin sa wet market? yung gulay at pampalasa eh sa resto n manggagaling? thanks!

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    1. Hi Bryan, that's correct, you only need to buy the seafood :)

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  18. Sir planning to eat at dampa tomorrow. Thanks for this blog btw. Pero konti lang kami. Mga 4-6 pax magkano kaya magagastos sir? Ganun din kaya kamahal? Birthday kasi ng mom ko gusto ko siya treat dyan. Thanks in advanced sir.

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    1. Hi, sorry for the delayed reply. Cost for 4 to 6 persons at Dampa Macapagal would definitely be lower than what we had. Could you share your experience, by the way?

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  19. Hi, Thank you four your blog! We're planning to eat there next weekend and we don't know kung mas Ok ba kumain sa restaurant na lang or try Dampa. Medyo matagal na rin kasi kaming hindi nakakain dyan. Approx. 10pax po kami and do you think po with a budget of 5,000 is enough na po? Thank you and more power.

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    1. I think 5,000 pesos is more than enough for ten people when eating in Dampa. It is definitely much cheaper to eat there than at regular restaurants

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  20. Hi. How about po yung price ng kanin if ever? Thanks!

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    1. Hi, rice in dampa is quite affordable. At Aling Tonya's, they serve it by bowl, which is good for about four to five people.

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  21. Can you suggest any restaurant with free videoke? Is there available at Aling Tonya's? Where planning to go there this weekend. Thanks!

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    1. Aling Tonya's doesn't have videoke, although there are a few around the area that has. Sorry for the delayed reply. We're you able to find a restaurant in Dampa that has videoke?

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  22. Hi is 4k budget is enough for 10 pax? Thank you

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    1. Yes, I think a 4k budget is enough for ten people at Dampa

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  23. May I know the new location of aling tonyas restau.. dati kc dun lng sya sa may big ferris wheel, pero ngayon wla na sila dun di b.. tnx

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    1. Hi, I posted the new location of Aling Tonya's below the article. They're now in Macapagal :)

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  24. Hi, question, can I host q group of 80 pax in your resto? How much will it cost me? And can I get it exclusive? If so, how much am I looking for?

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    1. Hi there, please contact Aling Tonya's place directly for this. Here's their contact number (02) 556-1781 to 82

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    2. Dampa Macapagal is not open 24 hours, as far as I know.

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  25. 1500 budjet for 2 people ppewd naba??

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    Replies
    1. Yes, I think, 1,500 for two persons is okay in Dampa

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  26. Pwede na po ba senior and kids sa dampa.?

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    1. I think, as the pandemic is almost at an end, seniors and kids are now allowed in dampa

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