The towns of Angono and Binangonan in Rizal offer an alternative destination where you can admire art and enjoy food trips near Manila. Angono, known as the “Art Capital of the Philippines,” is home to quirky folk art museums, art galleries like the Blanco Family Museum, and homegrown restaurants that serve native and exotic cuisine.
The neighboring town of Binangonan is also considered a cradle of arts in Rizal. It’s here where you can find the famed Angono-Binangonan Petroglyphs (the oldest known work of art in the country) and ArtSector Gallery and Chimney Cafe, an art and food spot that’s grabbed the interest of folk from Metro Manila.
I think that these two lakeside towns are still a bit underrated compared to popular foodie destinations like Antipolo and Tagaytay, but they have lots of hidden gems to offer. Visiting these towns can be combined with road trips to Antipolo if you’re looking for somewhere new to go.
In this list, I’m highlighting few spots where you can enjoy food and local art/culture at the same time. Most of these are ideal for families taking cars, motorcycle riders, and cyclists up for a workout.
Binangonan was once a thriving fish port and relied on the fishing industry, having a long coast line facing the Laguna de Bay including the western part of Talim Island. Recently, it’s become a destination among art enthusiasts with organized tours visiting ArtSector Gallery along with Pinto Art Museum in Antipolo aside from the famed Petroglyphs.
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Cafe Giya
Cafe Giya is one of the newest additions to the cafes in Eastridge, having opened in late 2022. This al fresco cafe offers a romantic pit stop to enjoy coffee and refreshments with a view.
The resto serves an assortment of appetizers, sandwiches, pasta, rice bowls, cold drinks, and coffee. Like most restaurants in the area, you’re paying for the view and ambiance, so expect dishes to be a bit pricey. We tried the Gyudon Rice Bowl and Kimchi Rice Bowl, which cost about P300-P400 each.
The cafe is pet-friendly. Pet cats and dogs are allowed in the al fresco areas (except for the 2nd floor) as long as they are leashed and wearing diapers. It’s also bike-friendly, with bike racks in a small grassy field in front of the main dining area, so you can easily keep an eye on your bikes while you dine.
Cafe Giya is located right beside the main Angono Gate (next to Perlita). The cafe is open for al fresco dining from Tues to Thur: 10am to 9pm, Fri: 10am-10pm and Sat-Sun: 8am-10pm.
Extension, G/F Cafe Giya Building, Block 2, Village East Executive Homes, 3 Col. Guido, Angono, Rizal
Coffee Rush
Coffee Rush is a cafe franchise that adds Filipino pride to the Coffee Culture experience by providing that good rush with their espressos, fresh brews.
The full service coffee shop, restaurant, and liquor bar is one of the most popular cafes in Rizal right now because of the stunning view it provides.
Since it was established in 2019, this cafe inside the private Eastridge Executive Village has become a popular destination for bikers, motorcycle riders, and families on road trips esp. during the pandemic era because of the al fresco set-up.
If you happen to be visiting Art Sector Gallery and want another place to enjoy the view and have coffee, Coffee Rush is a good spot. The spacious resto serves all-day breakfast meals, pasta dishes, some Japanese-inspired dishes and good coffee.
Address: Coffee Rush, Eastridge Village, Binangonan, Rizal
ArtSector Gallery & Chimney Café 360º
Since it opened, ArtSector Gallery & Chimney Cafe 360 has become one of the most popular art and food spots in Rizal. The gallery and art cafe is located in the town of Binangonan, but it’s an easy drive from Angono and Antipolo for those who are already in the area.
The entire space was designed by Antonio “Tony” Leaños, a multi-awarded visual artist and the same architect behind Pinto Art Museum. In terms of size, ArtSector is smaller than Pinto Art Museum and displays fewer artwork pieces.
Chimney Café serves coffee, tea and soft drinks, mainstream beers, cocktails, mocktails, wine and some light snacks including pizza, pasta and appetizers. But more than the food, most people really come here for the view.
This gallery and café perched on a hill is ideal for those who want to enjoy modern artwork and dine with a spectacular 360º view of Laguna Lake, Sierra Madre Mountains, Pililla Windmills, sunset, moon, and city lights.
ArtSector Gallery & Chimney Cafe 360 is located in Lot 18 Block 178 Eastridge Executive Village, Col. Guido Rd, Tayuman, Binangonan, Rizal. Ticket prices: P200 each – regular rate, P225 each- holidays
Hiraya Restaurant / Trabi Cafe
Hiraya Restaurant and Trabi Cafe are two lovely spots within the same al fresco compound located within a vine-covered garden in the town of Tayuman in Binangonan, very near the Angono town proper. Trabi Cafe, near the entrance, specializes in coffee and tea, pastries and light snacks.
Hiraya Restaurant’s menu lists mostly Filipino specialties like all-day breakfast and silog meals, Sinigang, Tokwa’t Baboy, and more. The restaurant also serves pizza, pasta, ramen, and steak and other dishes.
Trabi Cafe is one of the few places in Rizal where I’ve found craft beer from Angono Brewery being sold. Did you know that the lakeside town of Angono in Rizal has its own homegrown beer? Angono Craft Brewery, established in 2019, brews Higantes IPA, which features artwork of the iconic papier-mâche caricatures that are usually paraded in the streets during the Higantes Festival.
The beer has a tropical and fruity flavor and aroma that will remind you of chill countryside scenes. You can also order beers in cans directly from their Facebook or Instagram page. Delivery can be arranged to Metro Manila.
Col. Guido Juicy IPA is named after one of the streets in Angono, Rizal where the brewers grew up.
This dining destination is a rustic and airy spot for drinks and light snacks, with the cafe’s glass walls, wooden tables and native nipa huts. At night, the garden gets lit up with fairy lights, resulting in a charming, magical dinner experience.
Hiraya Restaurant and Cafe is located at 0905 Tambayan Road, Sitio Hangganan, Pag-asa, Binangonan, Rizal. Nearby landmarks include Angono Private High School and Bloomingdale Subdivision.
Perlie’s Garden Restaurant
On the way to ArtSector and Thunderbird, you’ll also pass by Perlie’s Garden Restaurant in Eastridge. This resto serves home-cooked Filipino meals like buttered fried chicken, pancit, tuna sisig and sinigang and the like.
Perlie’s Garden Restaurant is a possible stop if you’re heading up to the Angono-Binangonan Petroglyphs or staying in Thunderbird Resort Rizal.
READ MORE: Thunderbird Resorts & Casino, Rizzal
If you’re into folk art and food, lots of restaurants in the main town proper of Angono offer an interesting pit stops for those based in the metro. It’s easy enough to get here by public or private transportation.
We usually pass Angono going to and from Art’s hometown in Binangonan, so we’ve managed to sample some of the restaurants and visit some art galleries over the years.
Angono is best known for celebrating the Higantes Festival, a fiesta held in honor of San Clemente, which is celebrated with a procession of higantes or gian paper mache effigies, which have become a symbol of the local culture. You can see Higantes and festival masks and heads decorating a lot of the local restaurants.
For those who want to get a taste of Angono’s distinctive folk art with native cuisine, here are my top picks of where to eat there.
Blanco Family Museum & BRKD Cafe
The Blanco Family Museum houses the vast collection of artwork produced by the Blanco family of painters. Headed by renowned painter Jose “Pitok” V. Blanco, the entire family has produced an array of visual art depicting Angono’s idyllic rural life, colorful fiestas and religious celebrations.
You can see the work of Blanco, his wife and their 7 children, and their talent and amazing growth over the years. Paintings are displayed by the age the kids made them, and what they could do when they were only 4 or 5 years old will astound you.
Pitok’s famous masterpiece “Angono Town Fiesta” is a large oil mural painting that shows the jovial celebration of the San Clemente Festival. All of the faces depicted on the painting are actual residents of Angono.
A new addition within the museum is BRKD Cafe, a hidden urban garden cafe where diners can enjoy local coffee, tea, and snacks with a view of lush mini jungle area and koi ponds.
Blanco Family Museumn. 312B A. Ibañez St, Angono, 1930 Lalawigan ng Rizal. General admission: Gallery & BRKD Cafe – P50 only. Museum Tour (Museum Proper, Gallery & BRKD Cafe).
- Regular – P150
- Students with ID – P10
- Senior Citizens with ID – P120
- PWDs with ID – P120
Balaw-Balaw Specialty Restaurant and Art Gallery
One of the most famous restaurants in Angono is Balaw-Balaw, which dishes out a healthy serving of folk food and folk art. It gets its name from the condiment made from fermented rice, shrimps, and bamboo shoots, which is a staple in every household in Angono. The sauce goes great with grilled dishes and fish. Another Angono specialty is Minaluto, a localized version of Spanish paella.
The resto serves a few exotic dishes on the menu including Soup No. 5 (butt and balls of cow), sinabawang balut (duck eggs cooked like bulalo), nilasing na palaka (frogs either marinated in wine or cooked as adobo) and kamaro (crispy deep-fried crickets) which makes the place popular with adventurous foodies.
One exotic dish we’ve sampled here was uok (larva of a beetle, found in fallen coconut trees, whitish in color, cooked as adobo or steamed in tamarind fruit and tomatoes just like escargot).
Balaw-Balaw has extensive collection of folk art work and furniture which are displayed on three floors of the building.
Balaw Balaw Specialty Restaurant. 16 Doña Justa Subd. Ph. I Manila East Highway Angono, Rizal, Philippines, 1930 Angono, Rizal.
Nemiranda Arthouse and Atelier Museum Cafe
Nemiranda Arthouse and Atelier Museum Cafe is a family art museum owned by renowned Angono artist Nemesio R. Miranda (more popularly known as Nemiranda) who specializes in paintings and sculptures celebrating the rural scenery and figures from folklore.
The Atelier Museum Cafe serves local specialties like fried itik (duck), pesang dalag (stewed mudfish), sinigang na kanduli (a type of catfish), alongside regular Pinoy staples like tapsilog, grilled liempo, chicken barbecue and pork sisig at affordable prices.
You can visit the art gallery and museum for a small entrance fee. Oh yeah, this restaurant has one of the most graphic bathroom signs I’ve ever seen. :p
Atelier Museum Cafe is located at #5 Dona Elena St., Dona Justa Village, Phase 1, Brgy. San Roque, Angono, Rizal.
AngNewNo Arts Design Cafe
AngNewNo Arts Design Cafe gives a more modern spin to folk art and food. The cafe’s name is the shortened version of the term “Ang New Angono” (The New Angono) and the place serves as a gallery for aspiring artists.
The two-story main dining space serves as an art gallery for paintings, woodcrafts and sculptures by talented young artists from the province of Rizal. AngNewNo serves some interesting fusion dishes including pizza topped with tinapa and itik pulutan favorites like red hot itik, sisig, and crispy pata, as well as budget-friendly rice meals.
The colorful Higantes-inspired festival masks in front of the restaurant’s facade and in the outdoor dining/garden area add a nice local touch.
AngNewNo Arts Design Cafe. 6 Manila East Road, Brgy. San Roque, Angono, Rizal.
Art Capital Cafe
Art Capital Cafe is a cozy cafe that serves coffee and non-coffee based frappes and more. They have interesting drinks like Butter Beer, Mocha Mint and Salted Caramel Mocha. The cafe also showcases showcases art pieces from up and coming local artists.
Art Capital Cafe. M. L. Quezon Ave. Angono, Rizal