Tambok’s: Ilonggo Comfort Food in El Nido

a review by Joanna Ruiz   “Maayo-gandang gabi!” Josef Sagemüller says to a security guard, and quickly laughs at himself. Bacolod-born and bred and German-educated Josef has just opened a restaurant in El Nido, Palawan, and is still getting used to the language differences, although Ilonggo is one of the dialects commonly spoken in El Nido. Tambok’s is Josef’s second restaurant, after Lina’s in Bacolod. Unlike Lina’s which serves more experimental, fusion Asian food in a gorgeous landscaped garden setting adjacent to their family home, Tambok’s serves simple yet hearty Ilonggo comfort food in a casual, airy, utilitarian, yet still genteel space along a Palawan highway. Yellow walls and screened windows…