The American Legacy Restaurant makes a comeback with burgers and more

With a sign that says DRY RUN, I couldn't help but satisfy my curiosity about this restaurant which I wasn't able to blog about a few years and eventually closed down. But now, The American Legacy Restaurant is back and its bigger and better!

Very juicy and delicious burger during the "dry" run.

Located across SM Delgado, in the space vacated by Andok's, the burger joint entices passersby with its screaming but chic restaurant design inside out. So I found myself lining on what was their dry run Saturday and had to look closely at the menu board to choose the best order that would make an impact at the same time satisfy my gastronomic curiosity.

A fitting order was a burger and it was a Regular Joe over Uncle Sam. What intrigued me more were the categories "Freshmen, Sophomore, Junior and Senior" that turned out to be the number of patties that go in your burger order. Without much thought I went for the Senior Regular Joe with add-ons - mozzarella and garlic mushrooms. And a with a regular softdrink order the bill was Php173 (Php118 for burger, PhP15 each for the add ons and PhP25 for the drinks).

While waiting for my order, owner and former Iloilo City councilor Dave Jamora was around mingling with customers. And a quick introduction was made when he got to my table. The test/dry run, he says is to let the staff and crew familiarize themselves with the actual work before their grand opening on August 15. They have to test everything from their POS that handles orders queue to the food handling and preparation then the serving. And most important of all, they get the "reviews" on how their burgers and items taste.

As if on cue, my order arrived (Dave said it's their first order of a Senior burger on their comeback!), smelling very good and looking appetizing. It was around 12 minutes after I ordered as each patty is cooked per order and American Legacy is "not a fastfood". I specifically requested it not to be wrapped for my "photo session". Each patty for a Regular Joe order is 70 gms (compared to a quarter pounder patty (113.4 grams) of Uncle Sam). They are all It comes with the works - onions, peppers, salsa, tomato, greens, almost between each patty. With the patties being flame grilled, all these makes a burst of good flavour in evey bite. And there's no better way of eating a burger, even this big, but by opening your mouth as wide as you can and taking a very big a bite!

Aside from Grilled Burgers, other items on the menu are Fries, Premium Sandwiches, Steak Meals, Grilled Ribs, Milk Shakes, Fresh Fruit Shakes, Ice Cream Swirls and more.

As their grand opening near,s The American Legacy is slowly but surely making their comeback felt - online and of course through the tummy. And I will really make another "comeback" there even before their grand opening as I set my eyes on more of their other specialties. Really love to meet Uncle Sam, by then...

The American Legacy Restaurant

Delgado Street (across SM Delago), Iloilo City

Tel. Nop. 330-2889

Facebook Page : The American Legacy Restaurant

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

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?"

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.

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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