FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

NOTE: This is limited to Bluejay Smallville and Coffeebreak Valeria only. I spent a good time in these two coffeeshops last Saturday, so let me compare them based on the following: AMBIANCE It was around opening time for BJ and closing time for CB, so naturally everything was ready in CB like their aircon (though it did cool down at BJ after 30 minutes), food display ,etc. But for this one, Coffeebreak wins. EATS Chocolate midnight cake and walnut cappuccino roulade versus tiramisu and izza. Are you kidding? I still never ate anything worthy at CB (except for those cookies), sad to say so no contest here as Bluejay wins by 10 miles! DRINKS Never had one at BJ that time while a new discovered drink, green tea frap, at CB saved that day. And besides in general, as I always say, CB has better drinks then BJ. Though plain water was served better at BJ that time ( hahaha )but its another Coffeebreak victory. SERVICE This was a close call. We came in as one of the first customers in both ...

Beat the summer heat with these Green Mango heat busters . Photo credit: R.N.PhotoPhilippines / ExploreIloilo

Instead of fasting this Holy Week, I got to feast on bingka . Don't bother asking how many pieces I devoured in just one sitting. So I'll just make a rundown of my previous bingka entries to be "in" this Semana Santa . Bingka sa Mohon. One of the more famous bingka s in Iloilo so naturally I was compelled to blog about it. For Php50, this uniquely rectangular bingka is both a visual and gastronomical feast since it doesn't only look good but tastes good also as it overflows with coconut strips that I refer to it as bukayo cooked bingka style. Ah! Nang Palang's. Its really looks very enticing just looking at the buko strips inside out. Yeah just look at it but dont bother eating for it will disappoint you bigtime. The buko was okay but it was the "base" (I dont know what to call it) that sucked. It was across between a mamon made with native ingredients that was half cooked and a cake that went " sapatos ". At PhP17 each, just scrap...

Burger venture defies recession By Hazel P. Villa Philippine Daily Inquirer First Posted 04:57:00 03/29/2009 ILOILO CITY, Philippines — Grilled, juicy, flavorful beef patty. Crunchy lettuce and succulent tomatoes for toppings. Rich sauce just right to the taste. All these add up to an all-American burger about four inches thick and 21 inches in circumference. The price? P100. The scene? Lines of people waiting, restaurant phone constantly ringing, cars stopping by, and two young and very busy restaurant owners wondering how to keep up their good work. Perri Todd’s All-American Burger at No. 8 Cuartero Street in Iloilo City’s Jaro district is only six months into its operations, yet it is set for bigger things despite having defied the tried and tested methods of doing business. Read more..... (NOTE: This is an old entry. I just bumped to accommodate PDInquirer's article)

Its a croc and squid added to my "panimal" collections

The Iloilo Dainty House Restaurant and Bakeshop make a hopia somewhat different from the usual that becomes special in my case. It is like a piaya that got lost in gastronomic translation and thinks of itself a hopia.  But nonetheless it still is hopia - flaky outside and filled with monggo that has a sort of "good smelling taste". Its not a "typo" but it's how I describe the some abstract taste of this particular hopia.  Its more in the fact that it somewhat has its own taste dimension that one gets overwhelmed to process the actual taste.  Each hopia costs around PhP8 but I advise you toget more than one. You might just love it the way I do. Dainty House Restaurant is located along Iznart Street, Iloilo City,.  a few steps away from Amigo Plaza mall and Shopping Center.

Fried brine-soaked fish cooked again with vinegar. Actually its not tabagak (tuyo) but this is just the nearest one we can have at home. The vinegar makes or breaks this easy to prepare, on the spot ulam , so be sure to partner this with your favorite. This could heaven for breakfast for some but mind the health risk of this unhealthy combination. Justby looking at this, I can finish a cup of rice, lol!

Thanks to Marc of ExploreIloilo Picea transferred their bakeshop behind Iloilo Supermart in Mandurriao.

It wasn't school rivalry match but actually it was my diet gone over the top last weekend. I went to GREEN MANGO, a newly opened restaurant serving mainly Filipino dishes fastfood style and BLUEJAY COFFEE AND DELICATESSEN, a deli, coffee shop, a restaurant and dessert shop. What makes it more "interesting" was that I went to these two restaurants TWICE in less than 24 hours. It was a late lunch at Bluejay around 3pm where I got to enjoy their club sandwich and raspberry iced tea. Around 8pm, it was time to check out the newly opened (the day before) Green Mango resto along Valeria street where it was a bistek Tagalog, pancit canton and chicken barbecue lot for me. Immediately after that it was time to cap the night off at Bluejay again where to enjoy mango passion charlotte and this "forgot-the-name" chocolate dessert. The following day I woke up late then decided to have brunch with a friend at Green Mango. It was a bistek tagalog-pork adobo-beef caldereta ...

I dont usually eat crabs in this state (but pure crabmeat yes) but the bloglure when I saw this one, it was too inviting.