Skip to main content

Senator Kiko Pangilinan opens Lamesa Grill Iloilo

An event almost two months in the works and finally it became a reality. Lamesa Grill Iloilo had its grand opening last Thursday, June 2, 2011, with no less than Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan as the guest of honor. The mega senator who is one of the owners of Lamesa Grill just had made a “cut, eat and run” for this literal “Iloilo food trip”. He was just in the city for about 3 hours then went back to Manila.
But it was enough to give thrill and appeal to grand opening to one of Iloilo City’s up and coming hotspot for good food and entertainment. It was also a gathering of VIP’s as invited guests include Congressman Jerry P. Trenas and Councilor Lex Tupas among others plus added glitter to the event. Other invited guests included businessmen, friend, relatives and the media.
Armed with red candles, guests listened to short mass after which the owners together with Senator Kiko and Councilor Lex led the ribbon cutting ceremony. The blessing of the restaurant commenced as guests poured in the posh interiors of the restaurant – upping the ante of a Filipino dining experience.
A photo ops session filled the gap as guests took the chance to have their pictures taken together with the guest of honor. The media also took chances of interviewing the senator with current issues as well as “his favorite lamesa Grill specialty” which turned out to be the “Crispchon”.
The buffet dinner line up consisted of the restaurant specialties like Mixed Seafood ala Gambas, Garlic Chicken, Baguio beans in Coconut Milk, Lengua with Mushroom gravy and of course “Ang Aming Bida” (as the restaurant prides itself) – Crispchon.
Suckling pig fried to crispy perfection, it came in the signature presentation – bite sized portion wrapped in pandan crepes with wansuy, cucumber and leek garnishes plus six sauces to choose from. But for those preferring the original “lechon” experience, there was a plate with nothing but lechon on it!

Servings of turon finished off the night and as guests started to trickle out of the restaurant (Sen. Kiko had a flight to catch), the restaurant slowly transformed into a bar to continue the celebration of it’s grand opening.

PS. Do watch out the highlights and sidelights of Lamesa Grill Iloilo’s grand opening on The News Today, I-Events Magazine and Good Morning Western Visayas on Island Living Channel on Cable Star (Ch.10) and Sky Cable.

Popular posts from this blog

Fruits from the grocery

These packs of cut up fruits were bought from SM Delgado's grocery. Got enticed by their color and luckily, they were as good as they looked, especially the papaya. Each was just less than Php 22, really a bargain!

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 (

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

Batwan

Ilonggos know batwan or batuan by heart as the fruit is almost endemic to the Western Visayas. Its scientific name is Garcinia binucao, derived from the Tagalog name for the fruit, binukaw. It is a large green fruit with large seeds and its a favorite souring ingredient in most Ilonggo dishes especially  KBL or kadyos, baboy, langka and the Ilonggo-style paksiw known as "pinamalhan". It is characterized by a tamed sourness compared to tamarind and kamias . The fruit is sold by pieces or kilo in wet markets and even big grocery stores. Batwan is the preferred souring ingredients for the Ilonggo favorite- KBL. The photo shows boiled batwan with skin and without skin (right) A favorite riddle when we were young - "Among the many fruits in the forest, but one (batuan) is the best. What is it?"

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.