Sunday lunch at Pavia Seafood Place

At the crossroads of Iloilo city and the Iloilo airport, the town of Pavia is now fast developing not only in terms of residential-commercial-industrial but also in gastronomy. But for a small town that has no access to the sea, it seems to be unlikely to hold seafood restaurants. The past few years saw the mushrooming of this type food stops along the highway and yesterday during a birthday celebration I got to taste test the newest of them all - Pavia Seafood Place.

Big! That's how I see the place the many times I passed by the restaurant located in Brgy. Mali-ao. And big it is in the inside with native tables and benches that can accommodate more than a hundred. It's almost "al fresco" as walls are made with screen materials to to let the air and light in while the insects out (but they found other ways in -lol).

Adding a more native flair and a casual ambiance is the pebbled flooring and the turo-turo display where the "eats of the days" are there for the eyes to feast on. That time aside from the grilled specialties like locus (squid), bangus and pork chops they had saucy meat dishes and vegetables plus kinilaw na tangigue? and seaweeds. But what caught my attention was the delectable display of plated lechon - looks really appetizing compared to the ones display at Breakthrough (the last three time I was there) that looks like a day or two old.

Looking at the big menu board on top of the counter I noted their other specialties. It's a seafood galore just like the what its name promises - popular fishes like pantat, blue marlin, tangigue, managat and bulgan come either grilled or sinabawan (add adobado and with tausi for pantat Also coming in grilled, in soup or baked are shellfishes like diwal, scallops, nylon shells and oysters - the latter being reminding me of the famous baked talaba of Allan's Talabahan in Oton.
Completing the seafood galore are crabs, prawns and shrimps that are steamed or cooked sweet and spicy. They also have native litsong manok, crispy pata, kalderetang kambing, binakol na manok, beef bulalo, pork sisig and a lot more.

After all the rundown of the menu, I got a chance to talk to one of the persons in charge. Pavia Seafood House is just 3 months old and is owned by Eugene Chan (of the Kusina Tsina). So that explains the more professional service orientation and food that basically is quite at part with the other seafood restaurants. In the course of the casual talk, my eyes fell on a sort of out-of-this-world item on the menu - Starbucks brewed coffee. A what! (lol)

They also have a live seafood display - pantat and crabs, that time. An airconditioned area that can seat around 40, or so, can also be found within the restaurant for meetings or for big groups. As the place is just new, it was not full that time but from patrons kept coming in and out while we were there. Cabanas lined the outside for a more alfresco dining experience.

All in all, that Sunday birthday party lunch left a good first impression - the place, the ambiance and the food (I'll have a separate blog entry for this). And surely Pavia Seafood House will become a foodie pitstop as soon as this place picks up more and more patrons.

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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 (

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Valenciana

A close relative of paella, this dish originated in Valencia, Spain and probably brought by the Spaniards when they colonized the country. Always a staple in family gatherings, this yellow rice is a complete meal in itself, with pork, chicken, liver, chorizo, shrimps, bellpeppers, peas and raisins to name its basic ingredients. RECIPE Saute your choice meats and vegetables. Cook malagkit rice with turmeric and broth cubes then mix sauted meat and vegetables when almost done. Garnish with hardboiled eggs and onion leaves.

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Just listening to Isidro Panizales Jr. animatedly talking about his life before and after being a “doughnut-preneur”, is like the different flavors of Sidro Doughnuts . Each variant seems to reflect different aspects of his almost three decades of living in America. From his work in corporate America for more than 10 years to that one little spark of deciding leaving work to pursue his delicious passion – life is like a box of doughnuts! IN A DOUGHNUT HOLE Sidro is an offshoot from the name Isidro but as Sid says, it’s a tribute to his father. The first Sidro Doughnuts came out of the kitchen and delivered to one lucky doughnut-phile on Dec. 18 last year. It comes in two sizes – Junior Doughnuts which at 30 grams each are perfect for parties and occasions. But if you can’t enough, there are the Regular Doughnuts which is more than 3x at 100 grams and comes with more toppings and flavours. Choose among nine specially concocted creations - Bugnay Berry, Calamansi, Dulce

FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

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