Trippin' Fish: Ocho Seafood and Grill - Tara na sa Leyte June 2013

Before going to this Leyte trip, we checked the internet for places we would like to go to and eat at while we were there. One place that is often suggested by netizens is Ocho Seafood and Grill.

So after unloading our stuff at the hotel, we immediately set off to finding Ocho. We knew it was in the downtown area so we got on a jeep that heads to downtown. It has a sign that says "Imelda Downtown" (can't go wrong with that, eh). The fare going to downtown is only, I think, Php11 or Php12.00 per head.

The driver is familiar with Ocho and he said he will drop us off at Gaisano Central and we have to ride one of the tricycles to Ocho. Once we got off the jeep, there were tricycles lined up at the side of the Gaisano building. One took us to Ocho for the price of Php50.00. In less than 3-4 minutes, I think, we were at Ocho. We all looked at each other and then, where we came from, all agreeing that, "shit, we should've just walked!". LOL. I guess that's normal since it's our first time there.

Ocho was packed! We didn't have a reservation but fortunately, there were still a few tables upstairs. We didn't go up immediately but instead went towards the area where you will choose the seafood you want and tell them how you want it cooked. Aside from seafood, there were vegetables and meat like pork, chicken and beef. One of my friends took a picture of the showcase but was surprised to see that there was a sign asking people not to take pictures of the seafood.

A lady who works there also asked her not to take pictures. My friend immediately obliged. She didn't notice the sign. We ordered some seafood and also pork to grill and sauteed vegetables. Too bad, no scallops that night. I was looking forward to finally eating one. Or two. I was waiting for the lady at the counter to give us a number or something to identify our food with us but she just said, "Akyat na po kayo." I guess within the chaos of ogling customers over seafood and the hustle of servers, they have an underlying system to get the correct orders to the correct customers.

So we went upstairs to find our table then suddenly a server appeared beside us, leading us to the available table. I noticed that upstairs, it was divided into several rooms, probably for functions and group dining. It was not like what I expected, thinking it would be a big room with several tables. It was all rooms. Our table was located at a room probably for meetings and business lunches because there was a big white board at one of the walls. There was like 4 tables set up in this room. And then there was a door inside our room where people were also coming in and out. Probably another set of diners inside.

Like if you happen to open the wrong room, you'd see a table with mahjong players having a go at it. Hehehe. It was crazy. If I worked at this place, I'd probably be lost and my boss would always be smacking me on the head for not finding the right customers.

Finally our food arrived. It didn't take long so props for that. And indeed, they were delicious. We ordered squid, fish, mixed vegetables with tofu and pork liempo.

We were stuffed afterwards. And for that much, we only paid a little over Php1,000. That's what the netizens were talking about, especially if you are in a group and would be sharing the cost, it's a good place to dine.