La Salette: Dining pleasures and treasures .....

Even before its ground floor renovation, it was already home to countless food shops. Turo-turo, batchoyans, snack and pasalubong shops made up majority of the ground floor of this 3 storey building.

Located along Valeria Street, La Salette building has long been a gastronomical magnet. Its being almost located at the center of big shopping centers makes it a melting pot in this part of the city. Spanning almost a block, its accessibility to most destinations creates a foot-traffic the envied by other buildings

Surprisingly last year, it embarked on a move now common in this part of the city. It gave a new and refreshing look to its ground floor with a line up of restaurants and food shops showcasing the Ilonggo pride. From history to the cuisine it presents and the innovations it brought after the reinvention, the new La Salette beckons.

Mang Inasal

The country's fastest growing chicken inasal and Iloilo's most famous restaurant export nationwide. This store proves how strong the Mang inasal brand in the city since there is also another branch approximately 100 meters (a 3 minute walk) and both branches are doing well. More ...

Deco's Original La Paz Batchoy

The home of the original La Paz batchoy since 1938, Deco’s flagship store, upon its entry to mainstream market, reintroduced more than just the original batchoy taste but also a sleek and modern ambiance. More ...

Deco's Pasalubong Shop

Truly touristy one stop shop where it sells not only the famous brands of pasalubong food items but also novelty items from shirts and key chains to other native products. Video documentaries about Iloilo often play inside the store. More ...

c/o YLA virtualtourist.com

Dapli by BreakthroughA modern setting of the restaurant serving native food. Unlike its branch along Villa beach this has a more fast paced and crowded ambiance especially during mealtimes. More ...

Ted’s Oldtimer La Paz Batchoy

The most famous and largest chain of La Paz batchoy store in the country. La Salette is also the home of their flagship branch and it may as well be their biggest. It’s the only food shop that has survived the trying times of La Salette. More ...

Dulgies Cafe

A great place to unwind and enjoy delectable cakes, mouth watering pastries, creamy pasta and sandwiches (almost) to die for. Words of mouth about its quality cakes made this an overnight success. More ...

Fiesta Sarap

Aptly named since its decoration inside-out is a medley of colors from the walls to the furniture. A budget friendly fast-food style restaurant serving ala carte meals .

Iloilo Kansi House

LA SALETTE RESTAURANT LOCATOR

2nd UPDATE:

Dulgies has indeed taken over the Fietsa Sarap space and it's interior space is 2-3 bigger as before

The spaceIloilo Kansi House and Crest barbershop and Cafe will be taken over by Luna's Arroz Caldo

UPDATE:

As I have predicted, Fiesta Sarap was the first one to feel the heat and gave up the fight in this restaurant row. Rumours has it that Dulgies will take over the vacated space.

Also a new restaurant has opened; Iloilo Kansi House, located beside Crest barbershop and cafe.

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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