Leisure eating by the beach at Breakthrough Restaurant

Breakthrough Restaurant in Villa Arevalo has perfected the art of leisure gastronomy.

From the ambient beach-side location to the delectable food they serve - life seems to stop whenever one dines beside the beach.

The cabanas are my favorite location for they bring one closer to the sea and as if having a personal space amidst the throng of hungry people.

Of course, there are duyans which makes a perfect stop after being filled with the delectable Ilonggo dishes and cuisine dished up by Breakthrough.

Their specialty is the Managat fish - the tail's grilled and the head part ends up in a soup whether sinigang or just plain sinabawan.

They have a live tank where fishes, crustaceans and shellfishes are in a death row of sorts as customers can pick their choice and have them on their plates a few minutes after.

A recent discovery were the "krusan" crabs. I have no idea if this is the right term and I just deduced they are called as such for they have "crosses" on their heads which are visible even after being cooked.

Even just their rice are sort of "gourmet". You can have the over indulgent aligue rice - rice mixed with crabfats or aligue.

Or you may opt for a subtler one - Kalkag rice. Kalkag or alamang are "baby shrimps" that have been sundried. Usually they are made into fritters or mixed with rice.

They also have native litson manok, which is characteriscally gamey yet full of flavour.

Don't forget to order grilled scallops. Make that two orders!

And finally what's a food trip to Villa if you won't partake of the specialties of the district - Lechon!

Breakthrough is located along Villa Beach in Villa. They also run Ponsyon - a sort of fine dining of Ilonggo cuisine at Plazuela de Iloilo and Dapli - a fastfood restaurant across SM Delgado.

Ultimate Ilonggo Favorite: KBL Kadyos, Baboy, Langka

K.B.L. or Kadyos, Baboy, Langka is the ultimate favorite dish of most Ilonggos. It is also one of the most missed native dishes as kadyos and the souring ingredient, batwan , are hard to find when outside of the Ilonggo region. Basically, it is boiled/stewed pork dish owing its "deliciousness" to the combination of the soft and tender pork, the tamed sourness of batwan and the malinamnam na sabaw . One of the "secrets" of the malinamnamn na sabaw , is the fact that the pork, whether just the plain meat or pata (hocks) are first grilled or broiled. This gives the broth a rather smoky taste that makes it more appetizing.. Learn how to make the Ilonggo dish KBL (Kadyos, Baboy, at Langka) with the recipe below. Ingredients 1 kilo Pata (pork hocks) or pork cubes, GRILLED and sliced into bite size pieces 1 unripe Jack fruit, cubed 2 cups pigeon pea (kadyos) 6-8 pieces batwan fruit (or tamarind powder) 1 piece pork broth cube (

An Ilonggo favorite - Valenciana

Found in almost all occasions like fiesta, birthdays, reunions and others, Ilonggos really love valenciana because most if not all have grown accustomed of having it in special gatherings at home. A complete " go, grow and glow " dish because it has the carbohydrates, protein and vitamins and minerals in just one spoonful, Valenciana is really an " occasional dish ". Here's the recipe for Valenciana

Takway

The gabi (taro) is just one of those plants which is edible from "roots to tops". The most popular of which is the tuber part which is used in a variety of dishes and mostly in combination with coconut milk. Its leaves, of course, is the main ingredient of a Bicol specialty, laing . It is dried then chopped and sauteed with other ingredients including, again, coconut milk. Then there is takway . The local term for its tendrils/runner, that part which is torn between being a stem or a root for it neither grows upwards nor downwards - it grows sideways . Scraped off of its outer skin, takway is often a key ingredient in vegetable dishes like laswa and the gabi tuber with coconut milk and local snails know as bago-ngon . It is also popular when cooked adobo style with guinamos , the local bago-ong . It is very popular in the region that even big supermarkets sell takway in style - cleaned and plastic wrapped in styro with some additions to make it easier to prepare.

Batwan

Ilonggos know batwan or batuan by heart as the fruit is almost endemic to the Western Visayas. Its scientific name is Garcinia binucao, derived from the Tagalog name for the fruit, binukaw. It is a large green fruit with large seeds and its a favorite souring ingredient in most Ilonggo dishes especially KBL or kadyos, baboy, langka and the Ilonggo-style paksiw known as "pinamalhan". It is characterized by a tamed sourness compared to tamarind and kamias . The fruit is sold by pieces or kilo in wet markets and even big grocery stores. Batwan is the preferred souring ingredients for the Ilonggo favorite- KBL. The photo shows boiled batwan with skin and without skin (right) A favorite riddle when we were young - "Among the many fruits in the forest, but one (batuan) is the best. What is it?"

A native (foods) welcome in Guimaras

Even after having breakfast less than an hour that time, we couldn't say no to this lot of native delciacies that welcomed us in Guimaras. First and foremost, Guimaras best known produce is their sweet mango famous almost worldwide. And it comes with it's best partner, ibos. This brown baye-baye variety is made from toasted rice thus giving it a more disctinct flavour compared to it's more "caucasian" cousin. I like the one wrapped in banana leaves compared with the one in plastic for it gives it a more native feel. So when you're in Guimaras, be sure to check out the markets for these native delicacies that can make your trip more gastronomically satisfying.

FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

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