The flavors of modern Iloilo at Punot Restaurant

SEAFOOD ALA PUNOT

Discover the flavors of modern Iloilo as the pride of Estancia, Iloilo now caters the discriminating tastebuds of the Ilonggos in Iloilo City. Literally translated as "fishpen" in Hiligaynon, Punot restaurant is named as such as the town is considered to be the "Alaska of the Philippines" as it houses a lot fishpens and also is located in one of the country's richest fishing grounds - the Visayan Sea.

ESTANCIA CHOWDER

A special food tasting session was arranged for the members of the Iloilo Bloggers Inc. a few days ago by the Arañador siblings - Singapore-based advertising executive Andrea and Center for Culinary Arts graduate Chef Tope. Punot is the first venture of the siblings paying tribute to their parents Lea and Rogelio who built the family's two restaurants in Estancia - Friends (1987) and Punot (2000).

KILAWIN SHOTS

Whetting our appetites that night we had the Estancia Chowder which is a light and creamy soup with mixed seafood, bacon and potato . Despite the lightness of the soup, it was so full of flavour that I had a second serving. I love the Kilawin Shots especially the shrimp version; the tanginess was just right complemented by the chili - it was a burst of freshness in every shot!

POMELO BALINGON SALAD

Over the two salad offerings we had that night, Andrea explained how she and her brother have been exposed in the food business since they were young through their parents first food business. She said it was inevitable that they will continue the gastronomic legacy their parents have started. I was so glad they did, for if they didn't, how can I discover that balingon (dilis) is perfect with pomelo. I just love the Pomelo Balingon Salad - the crispiness and saltiness of the dilis was a perfect match with the sweet-tangy pomelo. Of course sprinkled with their special vinaigrette, laying on a bed of lettuce and topped with cashew. With Romaine lettuce, pan de sal croutons and crisp bacon on top of barbecued chicken, the Chicken Inasal Caesar Salad is a different take on one of the most popular Ilonggo specialties.

CHICKEN INASAL CAESAR SALAD

It was a full house that night and Chef Tope never came out of the kitchen as he was busy concocting recipes. Andrea just briefed us that his brother first studied Commerce at Central Philippine University. But he could not resist pursuing his first love - cooking. He then enrolled at teh Center for Culinary Arts.

BAKED TALABA

Then came to our table two shellfish specialties of the house - Baked Talaba and Punot Imbao Gratin. The former had oysters baked with hollandaise sauce and herbed crumbs sitting on a bed of kangkong leaves. The green leafy vegetable gave the rather rich mix a sort of "breath fresh air" as it makes it more native not to mention I love kangkong. The imbao, on the other hand, was topped with a special sauce gratine and mozarella.

IMBAO GRATIN

Having worked in the advertising industry for almost 10 years, Andrea thought now is the right time to venture out with his brother and realize their long-time dream of having their own restaurant. Having been exposed to different restaunrats all over the world, both Chef Tope and Andrea value the whole dining experience - quality, presentation, location and ambiance. With his training and experience, Chef Tope knows and values the importance of using only the finest and the freshest ingredients.

KASAG CAKES

And it was evident on the Kasag Cakes that came next. Their classic crab cake recipe is now made even special with aoili, honey-mustard sauce. It was crisp in the outside but inside the crabmeat oozed with flavour. Even without the sauce, I can finish more than what I am "entitled" to (lol).

KASAG CAKES

We had two kind of sabaw and both reflect traditional Ilonggo recipes with a twist. My favorite was the Corned Beef Kansi - corned beef shank in soured broth with jackfruit, lemongrass and achuete oil. Kansi is roughly the local equivalent of the bulalo and using corned beef (of course people might really associate it with the one in cans) it becoems even special. The broth alone is already worth the order -full of flavour and with just the right balance of sourness and the beefy flavour. This alone can make my foodtrip back to Punot already worth it!

CORNED BEEF KANSI.

The Chicken Binakol - chicken with coconut water in the broth, coconut meat sweet peppers and potatoes, among others was topped with toasted desiccated coconut.

CHICKEN BINAKOL

Then there's Creamy Kasag - blue crabs with native spinach and green chillies in creamy coconut sauce.

CREAMY KASAG

One of the more visually interesting eats that night was Pasta Dinagyang made with penne pasta blackened with squid ink and topped with mixed seafood.

PASTA DINAGYANG

CALLOS NI ELVING

CHICKEN BARBECUE

CRISPY PATA

WATERMELON SHAKE

LECHE FLAN

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