Roberto's House Restaurant

If a list of iconic restaurants in Iloilo City is made, chances are Roberto’s Restaurant along JM Basa Street in the heritage district of Downtown Iloilo City would be among listed. This snack shop has retained the old world charm of Iloilo City as little has changed over the years in the way the restaurant looks and operates.

It has managed to survive with little or no competition all these years, but when competitors decided to challenge Roberto’s, it didn’t even budge. Big league competitors in the likes of Jollibee and Mang Inasal have stores a few steps away yet Roberto’s always almost full no matter what time of the day.

So what made this restaurant strong enough to co exist with really big competitors despite its feeble appearance?

It’s neither the ambiance nor the service, for in this category Roberto’s, flops. Many shared their not so good experiences about buying over the counter, eating inside the restaurant and even suppliers have complaints or two. Most of the time people just order to go and enjoy good ol’ Roberto’s food in the comfort of the homes and offices. Roberto’s may have improved their fixtures but the ambiance of the whole restaurant stays the same, a chaotic blend of the old and the new.

It really is the food and the familiarity of the Ilonggos that made Roberto’s survived. Hamburgers made this snack shop famous and they still served them now. Then there’s their pancit line up – bihon, sotanghon and canton, revered by many.

Their assorted meat menu is also among their best sellers – meatballs, camaron relleno, morcon and fried lumpia to name a few. They also have combo meals combining the above menu with some vegetables or snack items for one big plate of good eats.

And then there’s Roberto’s Queen sio pao. This sio pao has bacon and Chinese sausage on top of the chicken and pork adobo and hardboiled egg. The King has ham instead of bacon. What makes the Queen a gastronomic novelty is that it is available for only 3 days a month. (and for special orders.)

So in the contest between ambiance and taste, convincingly the latter triumphed but it’s not yet too late for Roberto’s to change the feel of their restaurant and even expand with more branches. With these plus an improvement on the quality of service on top the good food they serve, Roberto's will surely survive and claim it's place in Iloilo gastronomic history.

Roberto’s House Inc.
61 JM Basa Street, Iloilo City
Tel No. 335-0484 / 337-1595

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 (

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.

Easy Century Tuna Recipes

If you're looking for simple, easy and delicious Century Tuna recipes online, congratulations, you've found it right here! How about spicy tuna sisig or tuna sinigang ? Maybe stir fried tuna with pickles or just yang chow fried rice . I love Century Tuna from its flakes in oil variety, the spicier the better, but when I discovered the versatility of its solid variant, it became an obsession. At first I was just into the usual tested recipes; pasta and sandwich filling, but then it got simpler – I just eat it straight from the can! Usually with a piece of bread or an apple. I just add a few drops of vinegar to spice it up a bit. Then came the experiments. Yup I got tired of that habit that one day, I decided to test my skills in the kitchen. Serendipity, you might call it yet most of them turned into good recipes that I have shared now and then. Satisfying my Palabok cravings had me experiment on this recipe on the spot. With Century Tuna in lieu of the usu

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

An Ilonggo favorite - Suman Latik

Suman Latik is one of my favorite native delicacies - plain suman/ibos topped with sweetened coconut strips or bukayo . Most of the time those sold in the markets have this two (suman and bukayo) already in one wrap and all you have to to is devour it. But most of the time, the bukayo portion is bitin that I wish there's more. So why not make our own suman latik so you can have all the suman we want with all the bukayo toppings we desire! Here's a simple recipe for Suman Latik

FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

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