Across “Amazing Thailand” in a Days Hotel Iloilo buffet

With only a handful of places where Thai cuisine can be appreciated by Ilonggos, Days Hotel Iloilo dishes up with its own take on this popular Asian cuisine. Every Monday night, The Promenade is laden with delicious Thai dishes and specialties that speak nothing but authentic.

“Amazing Thailand” enthralls guests with mouthwatering Thai cuisine as every dish is accented with the distinct spicy tang that’s characteristically Thai in a setting that is both comforting and elegant.

Soup and appetizers

Roll your sleeves up for Tom Yum Kai. This Hot and Sour Chicken Soup proves to be a perfect way to whet your appetite. Sour at first, then you’ll feel the tinge of spice creep in, that in order to hold it back, you’ll just have to have keep on going.

Begin your appetizer food trip with the hard-to-resist Man Plaa. These Fish Croquettes are soft and meaty, with thick servings are full of flavour that one can savour the goodness even without the chili sauce dip.

Make room for Rhoom (Crunchy Pork in Egg Nest). They are not only visually appealing but give another dimension to the palate – a crunch that melts in your mouth!

The Porpiatod or Thai Style Spring Roll is a medley of noodles, vegetables, pork, shrimps and other spices folded in a transparent wrap. It’s a burst of contrasting flavours and complementing textures made more appetizing by the spicy vinegar dip.

A mix of salads

Salads are staples in all the buffets at Days Hotel Iloilo and for this Thai selection, you can opt to mix your own from an assortment of fresh fruits and vegetables (all grown organically) that make up the salad bar or savour Thai specialty salads.

Try the Spicy Mung Bean Noodles Salad (Yum Wun Sen). A cold mix of seafood (prawns, squid and crabsticks) plus assorted vegetables (chilies, shallots, fungus, tomatoes, etc) mixed with mung bean noodles all in a fish sauce and lime juice dressing.

The Spicy Fluffy Fish Salad known as Yum Pla meanwhile, is a mix of crispy fried fish with chilies, shallots and green mango strips sprinkled with nuts on a bed of lettuce dressed in fish sauce, lime juice and sugar.

Create your own

With more than 20 ingredients to choose from the Thai noodle station presents a challenge to first timers. Which noodles to use, which meat and vegetables to choose and which spice goes well in the mix? But if in doubt just tell the food server to make a special order of this Thai specialty.

That means pork asado, chicken strips, squid balls, hardboiled egg, squid, mushroom, chives, cilantro, chilies, garlic, chili garlic oil, fish sauce, soy sauce, coriander, etc with noodles of choice (glass noodles or egg noodles) – all in one bowl!

Thai specialties

And for the main course, must-try is the Pork and Shrimp Fried Rice (Khao Phat Moo Kung). Locally referred to as Bagoong Rice, this aromatic delight will surely linger long after you’re done. With pork, egg, crunchy shrimp fries, chives and green mango strips – it’s already a meal on its own!

Relish the delight of the Green Beef Curry (Kaeng Khiaw Waa Neua) – a savoury mix of beef and eggplant in green curry sauce.

Complementing it are the Steamed Fish (Pla Pae-Sa), a serving of tender fish with a lasting spicy tang and Nam Phrik Pla, a mix of steamed vegetables served with staple Thai specialty sauce.

Savor the sinfully delicious Spicy Stir Fried Pork and Yard Long Beans (Phat Phtik Khing Moo). Distinctly Thai, the succulent fried pork dished with the flavorful long beans, wonderfully tied in a knot, will satisfy your palate.

Sweet ending

Treat yourself with an indulgent helping of your favorite sweets with hotel’s dessert buffet, Sweet Cravings. Each buffet comes with different sets of desserts.

The most eye-catching that time and as always, are the dessert cups on a tiered display. A delectable sight with even more delectable names like Jamaican Cherry Mousse, Strawberry Mousse, Green Tea and Cream mousse, Blueberry Jelly and Leche Flan, proving the cliché “looks good tastes even better”.

Also on display was the Corn Gelatine with Anglaise Crème Sauce. A mix of corn in a subtle gelatine base, full of flavour and yet not too sweet. There was also a Creamy Fruit and Jelly Salad plus Banana Pudding on top of delectable cakes, cookies and fresh fruits. And finally, there’s a corner where you can mix, match and make your own halo-halo – now what more can you ask for!

The Promenade at Days Hotel Iloilo is haven of all things sumptuous with amiable and attentive staff plus the interiors that are chic and never distracting. Now every Monday, the restaurant is oozing with a distinct Thai delight, with the engaging classical Thai music that will set an engaging mood for a quiet and mouthwatering dinner. Just perfect for a rendezvous or delectable family time across “Amazing Thailand!”

The Promenade at Days Hotel Iloilo is located at the 4th level of The Atrium, Gen. Luna Street, Iloilo City. For reservations, call (033) 337-3297 or visit their website www.dayshotel.com.ph.

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An edited version of this article appeared
in my column FLAVORS on The News Today last July 4, 2011

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

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.

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?"

A native (foods) welcome in Guimaras

Even after having breakfast less than an hour that time, we couldn't say no to this lot of native delciacies that welcomed us in Guimaras. First and foremost, Guimaras best known produce is their sweet mango famous almost worldwide. And it comes with it's best partner, ibos. This brown baye-baye variety is made from toasted rice thus giving it a more disctinct flavour compared to it's more "caucasian" cousin. I like the one wrapped in banana leaves compared with the one in plastic for it gives it a more native feel. So when you're in Guimaras, be sure to check out the markets for these native delicacies that can make your trip more gastronomically satisfying.

FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

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