Days Hotel Iloilo goes Thai-Chi for the Mooncake Festival

Every Monday, The Promenade dishes up Thai cuisine as Days Hotel Iloilo welcomes guests to an “Amazing Thailand” dinner. The specialties of this Asian kingdom delight everyone as every dish is accented with the distinct spicy tang that’s characteristically Thai in a setting that is both comforting and elegant.

But it was a different gastronomic story last September 12 as Days Hotel Iloilo fused Chinese cuisine to its Thai buffet line up in celebration of the annual Mooncake Festival. The resulting mix of Asian specialties brings back the memories of their Flavors of Asia buffet last year.

As always I make it appoint to try every dish served and the Tom Khaa Kai (chicken in coconut cream soup) was a perfect start. A creamy and soup with lots of chicken chunks ignited my appetite.

I then feasted on Thai fish cakes, mini Thai pork balls and fresh vegetables springs rolls. The sauces that came with each of these dishes provided the blend that I took second helpings of each forgetting they were just appetizers.

Salads were next and there were three prepared salads on top of the salad bar featuring organic fruits and vegetables.

The grilled chicken spicy salad reminded everyone that Thai is basically a spicy cuisine as seen on the chillis dotting the dish. The mixed seafood salad with vermicelli noodles had a hot and sour sensation to it as opposed to the cold, sweet and creamy taste of the corn salad.

The grilling station had a variety of satays (barbecue) and we tried them all – pork, beef, and chicken. The pork barbecue became an instant favorite as it was piece of “bacon” placed on barbecue sticks and that I lost count on how many I had that night.

Beside it was a noodle station which at first I thought it serves Thai noodle soup. But when our order came it turned out to be a big serving of Pad Thai.

A Thai noodle specialty in the likes of pancit canton, chow mien and a lot more.

The main buffet had pineapple fried rice as the special rice. I was really expecting to have another go of their bago-ong rice I got to taste before during its launch. Good thing I was with “VIPs” that time that a special order of bago-ong rice found its way on the table.

A mix of two Asian cuisines were lined up at the main buffet station including roasted chicken with red curry and lychees, mushroom with tofu, chow mien noodles, stir fried pork and mandarin fish fillet.

The dessert station at Days Hotel is incomparable to other hotels buffets and as usual it didn’t fail. A choco peanut mousse cake was the center of it all with an array of dessert cups providing both visual and taste satisfaction.

Individual servings of almond-lychee jelly, dragon fruit jelly, Thai crème brulee, taro balls in coconut milk and coffee jelly.

A mixed fruit bowl in ginger syrup and despite the fact that I don’t like ginger, it was a refreshing dessert as I also had it with black gulaman and sago. Another new dessert that time was the Thai pumpkin custard which became a “hot pick” for me because of its simple but delicious taste. Dessert staples like pudding with caramel sauce, soufflé (orange flavour that time), apple crumble bars and peanut butter cookies complete the sweet stop.

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 Thai dinner.

Or in this very special case, a Thai-Chi buffet. Or maybe Thai-nese. Perhaps Chi-Thai.

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.

More photos on Flavours of Iloilo FACEBOOK Page

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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