THE first thing that strikes you when you visit Matam-ih Restaurant in Clark Freeport Zone, Pampanga, is the fact that the servers are Aetas and that they go by the names of popular foreign and local celebrities such as Angelina Jolie, Kris Aquino, Regine Velasquez, Heart Evangelista, Brad Pitt, Dingdong Dantes, Richard Gutierrez and Vic Sotto. But employing Aetas as wait staff is not meant to look down on them. It’s a noble effort of the restaurant owners to provide them with a steady and permanent source of dignified livelihood. And making them go by the names of celebrities is just an idea of the owners to make their names a conversation starter and help them engage in light and animated conversations with diners.
Owned by the Rodriguez family of Capas, Tarlac, led by Mayor Antonio Rodriguez Jr. and managed by son Antonio ‘Third’ Rodriguez III, Matam-ih Restaurant serves authentic Kapampangan cuisine and stands right in the heart of the Clark Freeport Zone. The Rodriguezes had originally planned on getting a franchise from an established food chain when they decided to diversify from politics and go into the food business. But they wanted their business to employ members of the Aeta and Abelling tribes of Capas, Tarlac, to help raise their status in life. So they thought of a concept that would fit their objective better, and the idea of making it a local restaurant come about. Still, the location was a problem. Capas, Tarlac, was not a strategic location, as travellers would simply pass through and not stop over there for a meal. Clark was a better choice of location, as it was not just strategic but a favorite destination of both foreign and local tourists. When the family found the perfect location for their planned restaurant, the concept became whole. The final decision: It would be an authentic Kapampangan cuisine, and the Aetas of Capas, Tarlac, would be a major part of it. So the Rodriguezes named the restaurant Matam-ih (which means ‘delicious’ in the Aeta dialect) and transported the Aetas to Clark, providing them with housing, clothes, food and transportation allowance, among others.
Finally, Matam-ih Restaurant formally opened its doors to the dining public on August 19, 2014, and easily became one of the must-try restaurants in the Clark area of the Culinary Capital of the Philippines, which is Pampanga. A pavilion-type open-air restaurant that showcases indigenous arts and crafts and Hispanic heritage in the form of antique-style wood and steel furniture and décor, Matam-ih has a main hall that’s named after Apu Namalyari, a deity who, according to local legend, dwelled in Mount Pinatubo. The main hall features a one-of-a-kind birdcage chandelier, as well as a giant fish trap called Balisasa, an crude fisherman’s implement in the olden times.
Situated around the main dining hall are six safari-style tents or pavilions named after the major Aeta sitios of Capas and serve as function rooms. Built around the restaurant are facilities for local recreational activities, including an archery facility to try Adiu-adiu, a primitive bow and arrow game that makes use of a wooden bow, crude bamboo stick arrows and a hay-type target. There’s also a Dugang ni Kapalaran wheel of fortune that provides answers to questions and a Sana wishing well where diners can close their eyes and make a wish.
But the best part of Matam-ih Restaurant is the food. Its menu provides one of the widest selections of Kapampangan cuisine, ranging from the regular dishes to the more exotic fares.
Non-adventurous diners can enjoy such dishes as Begukan Babi (Php195), which is pork binagoongan or pork sautéed in shrimp paste; Pritong Hito, Mustasa at Buro (Php210), fried catfish with fresh mustard leaves and fermented rice); and Adobong Babi or Pritong Adobo (Php185), pork marinated in a sauce of vinegar, soy sauce and garlic, browned in oil and simmered in the marinade.
As for diners who are out to try exotic Kapampangan dishes, Matam-ih offers an authentic taste of Betute Tugak (Php180), native frog stuffed with meat and vegetables, then fried; and Pritong Adobong Camaru (Php130), which are mole crickets sautéed and cooked in soy sauce, vinegar, pepper, garlic and onion, then fried to a crisp, among others.
Matam-ih also offers certain dishes that can only be found in the restaurant, such as Sale Neytib Manuk atin Ebun (Php150), which is native free-range chicken with eggs stewed in lemongrass and cooked like tinola; and Bule Baluga (Php190), white native flat beans harvested from the mountains and stewed with tomatoes and pork into a soup. For the later, the Rodriguezes took extra care to be politically and morally correct by trying to look for another name.
“The term ‘baluga’ has some kind of a derogatory connotation to it, and we didn’t want to call the dish by this term, but the white native flat beans are really known as Bule Baluga even in the market when you look for it that you cannot call it by any other name. We consulted our Aeta employees, and they said it’s really known by that name, so we had to call it by its name,” explains Third.
Even the dessert menu of Matam-ih is quite extensive, but two standouts are the Sampelot atin Inangit (Php45), which is rice paste cooked in coconut milk with anise, young coconut strips, gelatin, boiled bananas and sweet potatoes, served with boiled and flavored glutinous rice; and Ale Ube (Php40), which is purple yam cake and is the Kapampangan take on the Halayang Ube. It also has a taro version called Ale Gandus and a sweet potato version called Ale Kamote.
With the unique kind of Kapampangan food that it serves, Matam-ih Restaurant is truly worth a visit not just once but time and again.
(Matam-ih Authentic Kapampangan Restaurant is located in Clark Freeport Zone, Pampanga, with telephone numbers (045) 499-2382 and 0998-9962382.)
