Cobb Salad and more at Days Hotel Iloilo's American Lunch Buffet

Made with hard-boiled eggs, avocado, tomato, grilled or roasted chicken (not fried), bacon, cheese onions and lettuce, the Cobb Salad was created in the 1930's and named after Robert H.Cobb, owner of a chain of American chain of restaurants called Brown Derby.

This classic American salad headlines a week-long gastronomic celebration at The Promenade at Days Hotel Iloilo as it celebrates Fourth of July with an American Lunch Buffet starting today, June 29 until July 3. And on July 4, its Indulgence Saturday Dinner Buffet goes American!

So after the Cobb Salad, I set my eyes on the Potato Salad right next to it and eventually concocted my favorite Pineapple-Carrot-Cucumber-Jicama Salad with thousand island dressing.

When my "Salad Days" was over, I had some New England Chowder before I trooped over to the appetizer station and had the classic Buffalo Wings...

... Beef Fillet wrapped in Bacon, which I gorged on...

and mini Corn Dogs which I referred to as "Corn Pups".

Moving on to the main gastronomic agenda, how can I say not to these Pork Ribs in Peach and Hickory Sauce?!

Or to another bacon-wrapped dish which was Chicken in savory mushroom sauce?

The Fried Fish Fillet with lemon sauce broke the my meat indulgence.

How about some chunky mashed potato with fried garlic? It's a must-try!

The Jambalaya Rice with browned vegetables, chicken, and sausage completed my simple American gastronomic lunch journey.

But one's food journey at The Promenade isn't complete without the best dessert buffet in town!

And so it began with these Snickers mini-cupcakes - so delicious, I almost finished the whole display!

Reese's Chocolate Slices had me at first bite, so I had another bite and another and another...

The delectable Choco Velvet cake almost shouted "Take me home!". But ofcourse, I couldn't so I just contented myself with one BIG slice...

Not just a regular apple pie but one with walnuts that made it even more delicious with crunch in every bite! Can you say this - Salted Granny Smith Apple Caramel Walnut Pie?!

Choco Chip Caramel Brownie or something like that! I may have forgotten what the name was but never how moist, soft and chewy it was. This would have been a perfect take home - if no one was looking at me LOL!

Of course my favorite that time was the Cadbury Mini Cheesecakes - they were pure chocolate bliss in every bite! And I had more than enough bites to content myself and satisfy my would-be cravings for these dishes and desserts.

Check out more (yes, there were more than what I featured) of these main course and desserts on Flavours of Iloilo on Facebbook. Lunch Buffet is PhP360++ and Dinner Buffet is PhP595++.

Check out more of this buffet at Days Hotel Iloilo on Facebook.

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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