Skip to main content

Foodie's wish list

For the past three years of being a food blogger, my foodie wish list has lengthened to see “this and that” branch out to Iloilo City. Not that Iloilo lacks quality restaurants; it’s just that having popular brands enter our city would give a go signal for bigger developments in all aspects not only in the dining scene.

FAST FOOD
To start with, Wendy’s is an all time favorite fast food though it will be considered sort of high end. But every bite (those juicy burgers) and every sip (biggie iced tea please!) would be all worth it.

Burger King is another fast food I would love to see in Iloilo. Flame-grilled burgers that give distinct taste and aroma plus the novelty of the getting-your-own-bo
ttomless-drink, makes it more than gastronomic experience.

Yoshinoya would be a good addition to the fast food selection in the city especially if Ilonggos can discover its beef bowl. Thin and flavourful beef slices seasoned with spices and placed on top of steaming rice – it’s really heaven in a bowl!

In the same concept would be Teriyaki Boy and Tokyo Tokyo. Japanese specialties served fast food is no stranger to Iloilo City but with the entry of more of them would surely increase the level of competition, thus more promos (hopefully) on top of quality food and service.

MORE BUFFETS
Buffets in Iloilo are mostly associated with those inside hotels. I love going to Cabalen, and Kamay Kainan when in Manila for they offer a lot of Filipino favorites in a casual setting (mostly in the malls).

But on special occasions, I often find myself at the ultimate/crossov
er buffet of Dad’s, Kamayan and Saisaki - a mix of Continental, Filipino and Japanese buffets and one can jump from one setting to another.

FOODIES SPEAK
I asked some Ilonggo foodies what’s on their wish list and they hungrily respond.
I simply love cheesecakes ever since I tasted the homemade blueberry cheesecake. My palate then learned to like different variations of it - with mango, strawberry, choco Oreo, peach and a lot more. Thus, one of my wishes is to see a branch of Cheesecakes Etc. in Iloilo City. I was lucky I got to eat one of their cheesecakes when I was in Davao. - CLAIRE PONSARAN | Freelance Writer/Link Builder

I want a few more fast food franchises like Burger King, Wendy's, and Taco Bell so that junkies can enjoy more variety. It would be great if Subway can make a comeback, because I think Ilonggo foodies will now be more appreciative of its sandwich offerings (albeit a bit expensive). Also, a Filipino restaurant that does not focus on serving only Ilonggo fare would be great. I want to sample the other dishes of the Philippines!


I love sushi, sashimi and other specialties so I want more Japanese restaurants to branch out in Iloilo City particularly Kimpura or Saisaki.
- ANA CHUASIENG | Retail Store Manager
I would really love Cyma to branch out here. Iloilo certainly lacks Mediterranean cuisine in its gastronomic offerings and local restaurants can't quite match up. Eating there might burn a hole in your pocket but every peso spent is very much worth it. My favorites are Roca salata, hummus with pita, paidakia, shish kebab and gyro.
-
EFRENEFREN | Jump shot addict/Freelance photographer
Taters! I want that in the cinemas. All those potato goodness in their Munchers, I definitely want more!
- JUNELLE CARAVANA | A “glutton” but trying to be the biggest loser
It would be nice to have Burgoo here. I used to indulge in their burgers, pastas and pizza during salary days in Manila. I know it’s a bit pricey but the quality is well worth it. Their burgers are large and flavorful plus it’s not “bitin”. Aside from the usual Italian cuisine, there’s a wide selection of seafood and barbequed dishes. Plus you can actually doodle on the paper table cloth with crayons provided while waiting for the food to be served.

Steakhouses like Racks, Dad’s and TGI Fridays - I visit them always when I’m in Manila so it would be nice to have them here in Iloilo
-
REXCEL SORZA | Executive Producer of Arangkada, GMA TV-6 Iloilo

WISH COME TRUE?

Last May, I was able witness the groundbreaking rites of Megaworld’s multibillion peso “Iloilo Business Park”. In two years time, the old airport will be transformed into a commercial hub that includes a hotel, BPO buildings and a strip mall, among others.

Two weeks later, I was a part of a discussion forum, commissioned by another big business developer, getting the vibes of the locals on the feasibil
ity of having yet another center for shopping, leisure, entertainment in Iloilo City.
With these big developments in Iloilo City, it’s like having a real life genie to grant our every wish. What’s in our list would hopefully soon become a reality. And expect one of us foodies to be the first in line at Krispy Kreme, if ever, for they are usually giving out a year’s supply of doughnuts to their first customer. No, it has to be me!


Popular posts from this blog

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

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 (

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

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.

A native delicacy called Inday-inday

Now you may ask, what is Inday-Inday ? It's another repetitive-feminine named native delicacy that is made from rice like its more popular sister - baye-baye . While the latter is has its own original flavor and make, inday-inday is actually a combination of two well loved native delicacies - muasi ( palitaw ) and bukayo . But the muasi portion is not the the usual palitaw  recipe for the it's more firm and gummy (I don't know the English term for kid-ol ). Actually its more like a hardened kutsinta and this makes it more to my liking since I'm not really fond of muasi in the first place.  And its not quite easy to find inday-inday in the market today, though I've seen and tried it in Sabor Ilonggo stalls but their's is more like suman latik for the based is ibos -like. Ibos is malagkit rice boiled in gata which is called suman in Tagalog. Despite the uncertainty for its nomenclature (I've read that inday-inday is just plain pal