The Tryst Restaurant at the Paradise Garden Resort Hotel (formerly One MGM) played host to the Sooo Pinoy team after lunch. Aptly named, the resort has a world on its own away from the Boracay beach crowd.
It presented two Sooo Pinoy dishes - Pork Chop sa Ibabaw ng Rema and Inihaw na Lapu-lapu na may Gata at Nakadapang Sugpo. The former had a flavourful pork chop and utilized rema (or breadfruit which belongs to the same family of langka) which is abundant on the island. And the latter had the prawns “mounted” on two variants of kamote – white and violet.
Back to the beach front and we found ourselves at Deparis Beach Resort. I thought they specialized in French cuisine until Mr. Roger Deparis appeared to meet and greet us.
Together with his trusted chef, he presented their best selling Filipino dishes – Sinigang na Sugpo and Pork Steak! The chef shared that they actually adds Knorr chicken powder in her Sinigang soup, yup it’s really is chicken and is not a typo error. And come to think of it, we may have crowed with satisfaction after trying the sour soup!
Another quick break had us all indulging with the talk of the town – Magnum Ice Cream bar, which incidentally is a product of Unilever Food Solutions. It prepared us for our next stop – Traviesa Restaurant at Canyon de Boracay, which was like an oasis set up in paradise.
Formerly the Asya Boracay Resort, it is set away from the hustle and bustle of island living. First impression is that of serenity as it has a garden in the middle of it all. It gave new dimension to popular recipes by giving it a Sooo Pinoy twist with their Grilled Honey Chicken with Peanut Sauce and Pan Seared Blue Marlin with Cheesy sauce.
And to cap off our final night in Boracay we found ourselves at the elegant set up of Ambassador in Paradise Resort. Another appropriately named destination, the resort is really like paradise both inside and outside of its turf.
The deluxe resort prepared two recipes that excited our palates – Chicken Binakol and Brazo de Mercedes. But they were no ordinary recipes as the chicken binakol had truffle oil and the Brazo de Mercedes was infused with langka making these Filipino favorites also cater to the taste of the foreigners.
DAY 5: NAMIT GID MANGIN PINOY
Finally on our last day, a refreshing Pandan-Vanilla-Dayap drink welcomed us at Astoria Boracay as it hosted our breakfast.
On top of their Sooo Pinoy dishes we also had a taste of their breakfast buffet while a big bowl of Pork Sinigang found its way on our table and I almost finished half of it for it tastes like home! They also served Beef Kare-kare presented in such a way that those unfamiliar with the dish will see the ingredients and those familiar will just go and dig in such a deliciously presented kare-kare.
Our final stop was at the rooftop of The Tides Hotel Boracay in a restaurant named Ka-on. Set in the middle of D’Mall the hotel was like a beacon in its almost all-white glory.
We then satisfied our appetites with Pinakbet, Gising-gising, Monggo Soup with Chicharon and their Sooo Pinoy recipes – Beef Ribs Adobo and Grilled Bangus with Lemongrass and Ginger sauce. The adobo, avant-garde as it may seem, still had the home-made adobo taste while the grilled milkfish was perfectly complemented by the tanglad and luya sauce.
After two years of campaign, Unilever Food Solution’s Sooo Pinoy advocacy is slowly but surely establishing a stronger identity for Filipino cuisine by it unique and modern ways of promoting Filipino gastronomy. And eating one’s way around the Philippines, savoring the local and regional cuisine, is just a flavourful start of more delicious things to come!
To know more about this local gastronomic affair, food lovers are invited to like the “Sooo Pinoy" page on Facebook and follow @SoooPinoy on Twitter.