PHILIPPINES: Dampa - Seafood Trip in Manila

Salmon, tuna, scallops, shrimps, sea snails
and mussels cooked in different ways.
All these was only about 25usd.

"Dampa" literally translates to "hut" or "shack". Story goes, in a beach where fishermen sell their catch, there's a little hut nearby whose resident thought of offering cooking service for the catch so that the customers can eat their just-purchased seafood as fresh as possible. It became a huge hit that other people started building huts near the beach to offer the same service.

Little huts and shacks slowly turned into air-conditioned restaurants as the industry became bigger and eating really fresh seafood became more popular. The concept stays the same where people still buy fresh catch from the market by the sea front and choose a restaurant where they want to have their seafood cooked and eat in.

There are now a number of Dampa setting places in Manila due to its popularity but the most popular ones are in Sucat road(as per some locals, this is the original Dampa), Macapagal road(near SM Mall of Asia), and in OngPin/Chinatown(this one was featured in Travel Channel's "No Reservation", Anthony Bourdain's show).

Too much food for a party of four. We took
home about half the food we ordered.

Another good thing about the Dampas is that their cheaper compared to other restaurants and even much cheaper compared to quality fresh seafood restaurants here in the US. So this is the time to pig-out on fresh seafood without the burden on your wallet.