Pizza, Pasta & Steaks at Arabela

It was a hot day when we went to the small town of Liliw, Laguna. Liliw is best known for making shoes.  However, our trip to Liliw was not only to go shopping on their shoes. We learned about a famous restaurant in Liliw while going there.

Located in the narrow streets of Liliw is an Italian restaurant offering pizza, pasta and steak. Arabela is named after Ara and Bela, the daughters of the owner Bobby and Tonet Camello. The restaurant opens at 11:15AM however as early as 10:30AM there are already two groups waiting to have a taste of their food. Our group decided to have another stroll on Gat Tayaw Street to check the stores for slippers.

When we went back to Arabela after our short stroll, we found ourselves second on the waiting list of hungry people waiting to be seated inside. The waitress gave us an option if we would like to have our lunch outside where they have set-up some tables. We agreed to her offer however when we went inside to check the interior of the place we immediately change our mind and decided that the wait is worth it. We actually didn’t wait that long to get inside.

The restaurant is just small with low ceiling giving it a homier feel. Paintings are hanged on the walls of the restaurant. Once the waitress took our order we started taking photos.

Included on our lunch are their best seller pizza – Kesong Puti and Deluxe. We requested if we can combine the two pizzas. So half of the pizza is Kesong Puti and the the other half is Deluxe. Of course, the Kesong Puti pizza has Kesong Puti as its main toppings while the Deluxe is for meat lovers. The Deluxe pizza has bacon, pepperoni and ham in it.

Since we are having pizza, my sister and I just ordered pasta. My sister chose Penne while I had Lasagna. The serving is good for only one person but the other pasta can be shared to at least two to three persons. There is a distinct smell of herbs or seasoning on their pasta that makes me even much hungrier than I already was.

After a few minutes the steaks came in that were ordered by our other two companions. If I was hungry they are I think even hungrier. With rice and mashed potato on their steak they will also have pizza. The long travel to Liliw might have really exhausted them. Their steak is a thin slice of meat and just by the looks of it; it is definitely tender and juicy.

The finale of our lunch is a slice of their Blueberry Cheesecake. Presented in a sophisticated way; we almost do not want to eat it just to preserve its looks. However, our stomachs win! The cheesecake was so smooth on the mouth. The taste of this cheesecake is just perfect. Aside from cheesecake they have other cakes and pastries.

After eating, we were surprised that there are a lot of people still waiting in line outside Arabela. This place is indeed a must visit restaurant in Liliw.