After a long joy ride coming from Hundred Islands in Alaminos, my brother-in-law’s brother suggested we try Ha!Ha! Bar and Restaurant for dinner. He says that what makes this place a bit different is that the British guy who owns the place also juggles as the chef. My other come-on for trying this out was the name itself. Ha! Ha!

When we came in, my initial reaction was “who would have thought that I’d find my kind of bar and restaurant in a quite secluded place in the city of Dagupan?” The place is not easy to find. From afar you’d think the place is just one of the eskinitas, yet the ambience is very appealing to me especially once inside the place.

There is a billiard hall, wine bar and the sight of the owner personally preparing the meals ordered on the first floor. I noted he didn’t have any assistant save for waiters which is why everything is on a first-come-first served basis. The second floor is a small room that can probably fit only about 20 persons. But the catch is that when you open the door towards the porch, you will be embraced by the view of a river. There are two tables within the porch area, by the way. Personally, I would have preferred to dine in this area if only we didn’t bring our kids.

On the other hand, I was halfway towards getting disappointed as it took nearly an hour for our order to arrive. But upon tasting its margherita pizza, spaghetti, vegetarian lasagna, chicken-potato-nacho n’onion ring sampler over rounds of softdrinks, I’d say you can forgive the lengthy preparation time. I can only wish the owner maintains its great food quality especially the freshness. I also wish that the restaurant will have a larger carports for its growing number of customer.

I have a feeling I’ll keep coming back to Ha! Ha! everytime I’d find myself in Dagupan.