Gluttony: My favorite “sin”

Just a single mistake made my dinner "crashed like dominoes". But that will come later.

Today’s gastronomy trip started in Deco’s La Salette with Lee and Marc for Lee’s batchoy survey. With super special batchoy and two kinds of pan de sal; pre war and that of Pa-a. Over these, we talked about almost anything under the sun.

We then had a side trip to Deco’s pasalubong shop where, as I always say, you can find almost everything for your pasalubong box. Ever since this opened I have been very vocal about my “thumbs up” for this one stop shop.
On our way to the Capitol, we met accidentally bumped into Rex, under the pedestrian overpass of all places. Having idle time at hand, he joined our adventure that afternoon.
We decided to let our lunch settle down first before having our next batchoy meal, this time at Ted’s, by visiting the Capitol and going up the 6th floor for (almost) a birds eye view of the city of Iloilo and beyond. It was really a great first time for me and Lee, thanks to Marc who came up with the idea.

Then it was time to continue our batchoy survey at Ted’s Casa Plaza. Fortunately for Rex they serve chicken batchoy or else he might have “fasted” too early for the Lenten season. Unfortunately for me I had the worst bowl of batchoy in my entire gastronomic life! No further explaining needed.
My worst bowl of batchoy

I then separated from the group who went to INHS and to Marc’s secret hideout nearby; whereas I had an appointment with my optometrist which unfortunately went “haywire” and kept Lee waiting for me.
It should been a Bauhinia dinner but since Marc wasn’t available, he went to Pototan for its annual Christmas Lights festival; we decided to look for another restaurant. And found Maki.

And this is where my title comes in. We were browsing the menu for our orders when Lee suggested a bento box that came with various combinations of what they had to offer. Taking the only table available that time, we had no choice but to sit at the center of the restaurant. But this came in “handy” when owner Chef Pauline Gorriceta-Banusing herself went to our table (I guess as she would always do) and introduced their Bento-Bento promo. It was a Create-Your-Own and Eat-All-You-Can bento meal promo. She then gave us a list of what was included in that promo and upon seeing how it compared with a single order of a bento meal, it was “it”. We also had Long Island and refillable Red Iced “teas”.

It was fun making our own bento meal. We just chose one from each category, gave it to the server and after a few minutes, our bento box comes out of the kitchen. It was a dismay that my camera phone failed me again. It would have been great taking pics. After my good bento #1 combo (California maki, Japanese sio mai, Beef teppanyaki and shrimp tempura), I then made my #2 (crazy maki, gyoza, beef teriyaki and squid tempura). But it was a long wait. And I was served with New York maki and Japanese sio mai which was actually Lee’s combo (he was already eating his).

And this is where it all began (ironically at the end of my story), instead of returning the wrong bento box, I just ate it and made my #3 (crazy maki, sio mai, gyoza, squid tempura). And it came within a few minutes. Then I made my #4 (vegetable tempura, gyoza, spring roll). As I was enjoying my #3, my correct #2 combo came. I was literally dumbfounded and I just told them to keep in the kitchen for a while. After finishing my #3, I then asked for my correct #2. Before I finished my first piece of crazy maki, my #4 arrived. I literally had two bento boxes that time waiting for me to devour. If only I had pics to show, it was really a “priceless” moment. With superhuman effort, I finished my #2 and was on my #4 (actually my 5th bento box that night) when Lee ordered green tea ice cream. Though I was really bursting with those I mentioned above, I still gave in when Lee divided his 2-scoop green ice cream. It was a miracle that I still finished it and what was even more surprising was that I still tasted how good (really GOOD) it was. Of course it’s Haagen Dazs!

To summarize my dinner gluttony I had .....

4 pcs California maki
4 pcs New York maki
8 pcs Crazy maki
6 pcs Japanese sio mai
6 pcs gyoza
2 pcs Japanese spring rolls
8 pcs squid tempura
3 pcs shrimp tempura
4 pcs vegetable tempura
1 beef teppanyaki
1 beef teriyaki
1 scoop of green tea ice cream
Bottom less iced tea (around 4 big glasses)

Damn! This is embarrassing, lol!

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FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

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