No pork? No beef? No problem!

No pork allowed on Good Friday. No beef. No chicken. No duck either. No problem!

There’s a wide variety of fish and seafood to choose from, whether you’re cooking your own food at home, ordering for takeout or delivery, or dining out.

Owing to the demand, or due to need, restaurants and food delivery places stay open most days of the Holy Week these days, unlike in the past when commercial establishments are quick to shut down operations for the entire Holy Week and everyone heads home to the province for much needed rest and reflection.

While restaurants and fast-food chains continue to serve their usual fares, including chicken and meat, they also offer fish, seafood and vegetable alternatives.

Café Ysabel, for one, has added a number of fish, seafood and vegetarian dishes to it’s a la carte menu this Lenten season. These include Aglio Olio Pasta with Seared Kesong Puti (fresh Pomodoro sauce with braised garlic and grilled kesong puti, with a choice of fresh pasta or dried pasta), Seared Salmon and Lapu-Lapu al Gratin (lapu-lapu in Spanish sofrito with roasted red peppers, olive oil and a gratin of cheese, which is reminiscent of old style Spanish-Capampangan cuisine).

Diners may also order Caesar’s Salad, which is done tableside, with no bacon.

“We also serve heritage breads, such as Capampangan ensaymada, bonete and taisan,” says Chef Gene Gonzalez, founder and president of Café Ysabel and the Center for Asian Culinary Studies (CACS), which is also housed at the Café Ysabel premises.

Over at Chef Sau del Rosario’s Café Fleur at Molito-Alabang, a number of fish and seafood dishes and even plant-based selections are on the restaurant’s Lenten menu. These include Black Cod (Gindara) with Miso Glaze, Pea Puree, Ikura, Buttered Mushrooms and Potato Pavê; Vongole with Chorizo (clam pasta with chorizo, which diners can skip should they choose to) and Aligue Risotto Topped with Crispy Soft Shell Crab, as well as the vegetarian Cauliflower Steak Served with Hummus and Fattoush.

A very interesting Lenten lineup that is so Chef Sau in flavor, combination of ingredients and presentation!

However, if your Holy Week schedule leaves you with very little time to cook and you’d rather order in to save whatever time you can still have for yourself and the family, Tito Toto offers an interesting option with his Boil Series. The usual seafood paluto is available, and most of the dishes, including rice, are fish and seafood selections.

His Boil Series is actually a variety of packed cooked food that customers need only to submerge and cook in boiling water for a few minutes and they are ready to serve. Each pack, which contains 250 grams of delicious chef-cooked food, is good for one to two persons.

The Boil Series selections include Laing with Hipon (taro leaves cooked thoroughly in coconut milk and shrimps), which is perfect for Lenten abstinence from meat. But if you’re having it for Easter Sunday onwards, you might as well try the other, mostly meat, choices, such as Roast Beef (slow-cooked beef in wine, rosemary and mushroom brown sauce), Beef Rendang (slow-cooked beef in aromatics, coconut milk and Thai curry), Korean Beef Stew (soy and sesame braised beef cooked until tender), Beef Caldereta (Spanish style braised beef cooked in red wine, olives and paprika), Bistek Tagalog (tender beef slices in calamansi, soy sauce, black pepper and onion), Goat Kaldereta (Spanish style braised young goat cooked in red wine, olives and paprika), Duguang Mukha (pork mask dinuguan, coconut milk, ginger and green chilies), Boilbecue (12 pcs. grilled pork barbecue) and Bicol Express (coconut cream braised pork with chilies and special alamang).