Skip to main content

An avenue of great foods and dining concepts

When The Avenue Complex was built a few years ago, I was excited to see a new development in the Smallville area that eventually brought nightlife to a higher level in terms of food and entertainment. It offers a complete dining and entertainment experience that cater to different crowds and palates as well as a club, mini-casino and function rooms. It has a Filipino fusion restaurant named Bauhinia Filipino Cuisine, an Italian restaurant Amalfi Cucina Italiana, an American bistro named Bourbon Street, a Greek inspired joint named Terra, a steakhouse named Mojave, an all dessert shop aptly named Nothing But Desserts, and a coffeeshop Coffeebreak. It also has function rooms named The Venue, Golden B mini casion and a club, Aura. It's a one stop dining and entertainment destination when in Iloilo City. A few weeks ago, together with popular travel blogger, Eric D of Byahilo travel blog, we experienced the best of The Avenue Complex upon the invitation of it's Marketing Manager, Ms. Arvi Sumayo. An alfresco dinner set up that started with assorted bread crisps from Amalfi Cucina Italiana. I always like them ever since especially when dipped in the balsamic vinegar concoction.
A bowl of Roasted Pumpkin Soup from Mojave whet up our appetites with it's smoky flavour that well complimented the rich taste of the pumpkin. A plate of thin crust and crisp Sausage Pizzafrom Bourbon Street started our gastronomic trip that delighted our palates. Each bite came in with the crunch I looked for a for thin crust pizza and ended with the delectable goodness of the cheese-tomato-sausage mix of the pizza. I chose angel hair pasta for our Salsiccia Pasta order at Amalfi Cucina Italiana and enjoyed it very much. The pasta was cooked perfectly with the sauce being savoury on each forkful. Now I know my pasta order next time I'll be at Amalfi. We had the popular Lechon de Rondalla from Bauhinia Filipino Cuisine which is like a rolled lechone kawali. The order was overwhelming - from it's size and presentation to it being scrumptious in every bite even without dipping it in the concoction it came with. How salivating even just by looking at it! Another order from Bourbon Street was the delectable Baked Salmon that had the right crisp outside but still moist and soft inside that retained the flavour of the salmon. Complementing our dinner was trio of houseblend iced teas from three restaurants - Bauhinia iced tea, Amalfil iced tea and Mojave iced tea. The first had had the tropical flavour as it was a concoction of fruit juices while the Amalfil iced tea is cranberry based giving that distinct flavour of the fruit. The Mojave iced has a strong tea flavour to it. And finally, we changed location and had our caffeeine fill that night at Coffeebreak. The Avenue branch could be the biggest coffeeshop in the country as it sits around 300 patrons in it's aircon and al fresco setting. I had my usual order of Cafe Latte without sugar and it perfectly ended that one gastronomic night.

For almost 4 hours, The Avenue gave us a lot of gastronomy with out having to get up and change venue most of the time. That's the great deal about being a one complete stop - everything is within reach and all tastes good. And eating is really more fun at The Avenue!


Popular posts from this blog

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.