Leo Sea House in Marikina Serves an Eight-Course Tasting Menu for P2,500

Leo Sea House
339 E dela Paz Street, Santo Nino, Marikina City
Facebook: www.facebook.com/leoseahouse/
Open from 6 to 10 p.m. (Wednesdays to Sundays), by reservation.

(SPOT.ph) Tasting menus have become all the rage in recent years. It's not surprising to find establishments with this dining format in posh and busy areas like BGC, Makati, and Quezon City, but who would've thought that in a residential street in sleepy ol' Marikina lies an intimate restaurant serving a Panay Island seafood eight-course tasting menu? Of course, we're talking about Leo Sea House. This charming and hidden-in-plain-sight Marikina restaurant deserves a spot on your list of date night haunts, what with their affordable eight-course tasting menu that showcases the freshest seafood from local shores.

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Check out Leo Sea House, a Marikina restaurant serving fresh seafood from Panay Island:

You might not even notice Leo Sea House while walking along Marikina's E. Dela Paz Street. The highly residential area doesn't look like the kind of area you'd find a restaurant of this kind. But trust the process (and Google Maps), and you'll find it. On the outside, Leo Sea House looks just like any other house in the street, but if you look into its glass windows, you'll see a small bar and an open kitchen—the only indications that meals are shared here.

It's easy to get intimidated by the atmosphere at Leo Sea House. After all, there are only 10 seats—six upstairs, and four on the bar right in front of the kitchen. Everyone sees you as you walk in. Everything is so intimate.

Yet, after a few minutes, you'll realize there is nothing to be afraid of.  The intimacy you feel here at Leo Sea House is the kind where you get to know the people you're dining with. The kind shared when families open their doors to strangers during fiestas. It's the intimacy of small-town or island life. 

Described to be a family business, Leo Sea House is owned by Trexie Marie Dumol and her cousins, who hail from Panay Island and grew up in Marikina. Dumol, her cousins, and some friends in the food business run this small restaurant on their free time and off days. In her words, they started Leo Sea House as a way to honor the food they had growing up.

Dumol and her cousins hail from a town on Panay Island where fresh seafood is always on the table. For them, scallops, shrimp, oysters, and all kinds of fish are always served, and this was done casually; no need for a big occasion to eat these proteins.

More than missing the food, they also missed the people and culture. Dumol likens the vibe they were going for with Leo Sea House as one you'll find in restaurants in Siargao, Cebu, and other beach towns. More than just being a place for people to hit up when they're hungry, they want to build a community. One where people get to know each other and their food. 

What is the food like at the Leo Sea House:

When you dine at Leo Sea House, you get an eight-course menu. This tasting menu includes appetizers, soup, a bread course, two mains, and a dessert. Each menu item is made from locally sourced ingredients and seafood that's shipped daily to twice a week straight from Panay Island.  

Local is the star here, reimagined in a creative light. Sure, you get a salad, bread, butter, and pâté, but all these are homemade and involve some locally sourced ingredient or seafood-related element. 

Snazzy as the dishes look, they don’t make things too complicated for the palate. They take familiar flavors and breathe new life into them by pairing them with unexpected proteins: Capiz scallops go tangy and savory with the flavors of adobo, and shrimps go richer and more umami thanks to miso butter.

As part of their aim to showcase the versatility of local ingredients, Leo Sea House plans to regularly shuffle their menu items, ideally once every quarter. 

For just P2,500, you get a seafood multicourse meal good for two, as well as the everybody-knows-everyone atmosphere sans the need to fly out to the provinces. The hidden Marikina restaurant is one to watch.

Here's a video of Leo Sea House in Marikina:

How to book a table at Leo Sea House:

Due to the limited seats available, dining at Leo Sea House is strictly by reservation only. To book your table, you can send their Facebook a message or check their Instagram profile for open dates. Simply follow the steps on their reservation tab, and you're good to go. 

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