Cilantro brings the Flavors of Vietnam to Iloilo

It was through my friend Cecil of Casa Baluarte that I learned about the newest restaurant in town. She also just heard about it through a relative who was invited to the opening of two Saturdays ago. And we sort of promised to meet there when she has the luxury of time.

But I broke that promise last Friday when I decided to have lunch at Cilantro: Flavors of Vietnam … alone. I got off near Fine Rock Hotel as it was my landmark, walked the rest of the journey and almost missed the restaurant on my way to Jalandoni-Delgado Street junction. Good thing a (Mormon) church across the street seemed to say “Go the RIGHT path”. And behold to my right was my gastronomic destination!

The first thing that caught my attention then was the affordability of the offerings of Cilantro. I wasted no time looking for the Vietnamese specialties marked with the stars as they are the “specialties”. Of course, mention “Vietnamese cuisine”, their noodle soup dish called Pho is sure to follow. So I got myself a small bowl of Pho Bo (beef pho) for only PhP55.

It had the signature “glass noodles”, beef strips, onions and cilantro with a clear broth. On a separate plate came the trimmings – bean sprouts, mint leaves, a piece of lemon and a hoisin sauce and chili sauce. I only used the bean sprouts for the soup itself was already to my liking.

That plate of spicier looking chili sauce turned out to be for my main order – Hainan Ga or Hainese Chicken (PhP88). If I’m not mistaken Hainan is a place there in China that where this style of cooking chicken might have come from. And since Vietnam is just adjacent they could have adapted this style of cooking too.

It came with a cilantro-fied rice and very tempting roasted chicken. I never had the chance of savoring how the chicken tasted for I literally poured the sauce over thus it was more of the spice I can remember then.

My routine of taking a gazillion of photos might have surprised the staff and eventually the owner. Who wouldn’t be – my right hand was holding a digital camera while my left was busy updating Facebook on my mobile phone. It was then one of them asked if I was a blogger and before I told them which blog, I think they already knew.

So that’s when a complimentary Goi Cuon or fresh spring rolls (PhP68) made their way to the table. It had noodles, vegetables and shrimps as filling, rolled in a rice paper (?) wrapper and came with a peanut sauce. And it was very good and tasted very fresh too – especially the wrapper. It will definitely be a staple order the next time I’ll be there.

I ordered the only Vietnamese sounding drink on the menu - Vietnamese Iced Coffee (PhP45), and it came complete with how the Viets drink their coffee. The server poured hot water over the sieve contraption and coffee dripped down and mixed with the condensed milk.

I let it stood for a bit to cool down then poured it in a glass with ice and enjoyed every drop of it – well most of it since I accidentally spilled some of it on my pants.

Good thing it wasn’t the complimentary Brownie ala Mode (PhP60) that I “threw off” the table or I would regret not able to taste how good the brownie and the vanilla ice cream combo was. Even the brownie itself was already good – I forgot to ask if they were homemade or just order.

And next time I won’t forget to ask but definitely I won’t be spilling that coffee - for that lunch turned out to be one satisfying gastronomic food trip in discovering the Flavors of Vietnam here in Iloilo at Cilantro.

Cilantro Flavors of Vietnam is located along Jalandoni Street a few meters away from Fine Rock Hotel. It is open from Mondays to Saturdays at 10am to 8pm.

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

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.

An Ilonggo favorite - Suman Latik

Suman Latik is one of my favorite native delicacies - plain suman/ibos topped with sweetened coconut strips or bukayo . Most of the time those sold in the markets have this two (suman and bukayo) already in one wrap and all you have to to is devour it. But most of the time, the bukayo portion is bitin that I wish there's more. So why not make our own suman latik so you can have all the suman we want with all the bukayo toppings we desire! Here's a simple recipe for Suman Latik

FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

Search This Blog