Bourbon Street: Sumptuous back ribs and more

To urbanites in Iloilo City, the mere mention of “Bourbon Street” creates a vision grilled tender pork ribs so juicy and flavourful that one might forget and reach out for that imaginary ribs. Bourbon Street Grill and Bar is located at the center of city’s most popular night spot area – Smallville. It is famous and synonymous for its back ribs that for all my visits – a rack of backribs is always laid in front of me.

Unlike most backribs that offers back ribs that “fall of the bone”, Bourbon’s ribs still have the meat cling to the ribs yet easily falls off when devoured. This makes it not only gastronomically enticing but picture perfect as well. Cooked almost perfects always – it still tastes the same the moment I had them years ago until days ago. (Bourbon Street hosted the lunch of the speakers and guests during the Visayas Blogging Summit (VBS) and it was among the best summit lunches most speakers had – heard through the grapevine)

And less than a week later, together with one of the foremost travel bloggers in the country, Enrico Dee of Byahilo, we sort of reviewed the best Bourbon Street had to offer. “Reviewed” in two ways – as in 1.) “to go over again or have another” and 2. ) “to appraise, to evaluate”.

But we got more than what we came for; for starters we got Cream of Mushroom and Celery Soup. A plain looking whitish green soup with slices of mushroom and accented with chili oil. It was nothing spectacular when placed in front of us and even a few clicks and flashes. But when we had our first spoon- it was a revelation! A rich blend of cream and celery, flavoured lightly to enhance the slices of mushroom which gave it texture and made it more flavour. It was as if it tasted like meat on the way it was seasoned. I’m not really a soup person but my visit to Bourbon Street, I’d get a bowl all to myself – for “review and review”.

Next was really a repeat of the VBS lunch – Southwest Salad. Grilled citrus marinated beef, greens, tomato confit and roasted bell peppers topped with parmesan cheese and served on a big pastry shell with French vinaigrette. I never really tasted this one during that VBS lunch and if my memory serves me right, we had small servings – in smaller pastry shells, which were custom made for us for easy serving. This serving is good for 2-3 persons with the beef strips giving it the flavour greatly complemented by the beds of greens and other vegetables. Even the pastry shell was good that we almost finished it all –lol.

A surprise came next – a burger! But not just any burger – a US Beef Burger with a patty so thick, just by looking at it, it makes one go from hungry to full. Over a bed of lettuce, tomatoes, onions and topped with cheese and bacon strips with French fries on the side, its one of the most visually overwhelming burgers I had. No, it wasn’t its size but the sight – big patty, bacon, melted cheese, fresh vegetables all in a specially made bun …. Arghhh! How I wish I could eat this photo – lol. The patty was well seasoned, very juicy and surprisingly not very oily. The bacon provided more flavour, the cheese - creaminess, the vegetables – texture, and how I really wish I could eat this photo!

And something new on the menu came next – Korean Sizzling Fried Fish. Never expected that much since it was fish and I’m not really into Korean cuisine (not having that much variety). But just like my Snapper Florentine adventure, it came in surprisingly good. A fried, butterflied fish came on a sizzling plate with kimchi on the side (that what makes its Korean) and the sauce was poured on the table for us to capture its bubbly moments. I’m no fan of kimchi but this particular mix was very good. We were told that this wasn’t an authentic kimchi – fermented vegetables aged in jars for months, but just made instantly. Even true blue Koreans in the city like this kimchi style that most of the time extra orders are made. Now that’s an idea …..

The ribs were served next but for blogging purposes, I had to make it the “buena mano” to create the real Bourbon impact. And that brings us to desserts! First was also a repeat of the dessert we had during the VBS lunch that got very positive reviews (and I had three pieces) – Dark Toblerone and Walnut Cake. Served ala mode with berries and a sugary work of art as accent, it was served like a pizza slice (in contrast to the squares we had before). Still having the same rich chocolatey taste with nuts and raisins to create contrast and yes it is perfect with vanilla ice cream!

And last but definitely not the least was the Million Layer Cake. Made with multiple layers of delicate crepes with semi sweet cream concoction as filling and a dulce de leche glaze. Also served ala mode with that signature sugary accent and berries. I had this dessert before but this one is much better since the crepes were softer unlike the sort of gummy ones I had before. It was a delight seeing all the layers of crepes oozing with filling in every forkful and eating it with ice cream is pure indulgence!

Bourbon BBQ Ribs (Ready-to-Cook) now available exclusively
at Gourmet Club at The Atrium, Iloilo City. PhP695/kilo
Photo from Bourbon Street Facebook

With all these good eats at Bourbon Street, one can really just yearn for another visit even the next day just to have round of delectable and at times surprisingly good eats. Make Bourbon Street a part of your gastronomic journey when in Iloilo City whether to eat, drink or be merry – eat’s all good!

Bourbon Street Grill and Bar
The Avenue Complex, Mandurriao, Iloilo City
Email bsgrillbar@gmail.com
www.bourbonstreet.com.ph