FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

Living up to its name, it was really SALMON everywhere - appetizers, grill, main course, sushi and sashimi station, during Meshi's Salmon Festival that started last Wednesday at The Promenade at Days Hotel Iloilo. The long-standing Japanese dinner buffet of the hotel offered its guests and patrons a lot of salmon- inspired and salmon based dishes like the Sweet and Sour Fish with Salmon Head as one of the main courses.  But to the appetizers we go as we gorged on Salmon-Tamago Maki - salmon rolled in egg, a salmon omelet .Then there's the Salmon Wafu Salad which had Salmon with Shredded vegetables.  Wafu is "Japanese-style dressing" is a vinaigrette-type salad dressing based on soy sauce, popular in Japan. The standard wafu dressing consists of a mixture of Japanese soy sauce, rice vinegar and vegetable oil.(From Wikipedia ) The Salmon Kamameshi (steamed rice with Salmon and vegetables) already had all the flavours and the ingredients of a complete me...

With a commanding view of the main street in the poblacion of Janiuay, Celine's Bamboo Grill - Bar and Restaurant, offers more than the scenes of hustle and bustle of the town most people dearly refer to as " Honey, Why? " Indeed you'll be asking that too if you miss the delectable and affordable offerings of the newest gastronomic pitstop of this town, 33 kilometers northwest of Iloilo City. Mouthwatering sandwiches like their specialty, Clubhouse Sandwich goes for only PhP50 and you can't get a better deal than that. Crisps toasts filled with all the works -ham.,egg, cucumber, tomatoes and lettuce, among others - you'll be asking for more.  Yummy burgers will also get your attention, as they don't only look and smell good, but also lives up to being yummy.  They also have Nachos with Salsa and Tacos with Mexican Beef for some pica-pica as one may opt to spend leisure quality time at he same time experience gastronomic pleasure - out of tow...

 Now it gets event better as Angelina's Buttered Toasts get a new look making it more appetizing even inside its package. A favorite pasalubong everytime I go back to Manila then, it just came as a "substitute" for biscocho but it became a very big hit. From then on, I always bring back more than 20 packs to satisfy the demand back at the office then. Good thing their take out branch offer discounts when you buy 15 packs above. Now who wouldn't salivate (yes, that's the term I use) to these crunchy butter and sugar topped pieces of bread that to borrow a popular tagline "once you pop, you can't stop". It had that addicting sweet and creamy taste that also forms around your lips from too much munching - lip smacking good!   I often dip these toasts in cold water to soften it on first bite buy still retains its signature crunch. There's something to the mix of cold water then the taste of sweet and cream plus that resounding crunch. Well...

It was the lure of the rustic style of cooking that got me very interested with this restaurant located two towns away from Iloilo City. As what Sir Eugene Jamerlan describes, Branch 88 Beach Garden Restaurant in Tigbauan has this  " inuma " (farm-style) cuisine as the owners are keen in introducing rustic Ilonggo food ways to their diners. So one afternoon we set off for Tigbauan and found ourselves a mini garden beside the beach greeted by a cheery Atty. Anette Gengos. Indeed Branch 88 has lived up to it's name as a beach-garden restaurant. Atty Anette toured us through her simple garden but one that beckons - with ornamental plants, coconut trees, a grassy and rocky lawn plus native bamboo huts. Behind is the beach with a beautiful sunset in the horizon.  It is set up the perfect ambiance for a leisure eating as we started with off with an Ilonggo atsara made with pineapples, ampalaya, singkamas and carrots, among others. It was a delicious blend of sweetn...

It's a mouth watering feast good for three at a very reasonable price. Green Mango launches its Salo-Salo Combo meal that will surely be be a big hit among it loyal patrons. Good for three, it consists of 3 pcs. of Crispy Fried Chicken, a plateful of Fish Escabeche, a serving of Pancit Canton (one of the country;s best according to the Sooo Pinoy Campaign of Unilever Food Solutions in 2009), a plate of rice, three servings of their popular Heaven's Torte and comes with a 1.5 liter bottle of Coke. Now that's really a feast! Crispy Fried Chicken Fish Escabeche Pancit Canton Heaven's Torte A feast for three or even more only from Green Mango (Green Mango has branches at Valeria, E. Lopez, Jalandoni, Nelly’s Garden, SM City, Plaza Libertad. For delivery services, call 508-1818)

Just felt another round of earthshaking a few minutes ago just like a few weeks earlier.As parts of Western Visayas were rocked by the strongest earthquake since July 1990, I can't help but reflect on the current events with food. And here's linugaw - c ommonly known as ginata-an , this concoction of sticky rice flour, coconut milk and sugar plus ube, cassava, saging na saba, sago, coconut strips and a lot more. And while we're at it LINUG is the local term for earthquake. We were often joked during our younger years that if we are naughty days before our birthday, our “handa” during the party would be “linugaw”. And that made us become little angels prior to the big day. There’s nothing really degrading but for kids, exchanging cakes, spaghetti and hotdogs on sticks among others for linugaw would seem like a horrible birthday party. Of course that never happened and linugaw became more appreciated now than before. The recipe varies from place to place much mor...

One of the simplest dishes in the plethora of Ilonggo cuisine is laswa. This dish is one of the most versatile vegetable dish for it can include any vegetable you can find. Most of the ingredients can be easily found in the market or even just in your backyard garden. The most common ingredients are kalabasa, sitaw, talong, saluyot and takway. Other veggies can be added to or me made "in lieu" of like malunggay for saluyot. Also good for laswa are patola, puso ng saging, sgarilyas and a lot more. Just mix and match, add salt to taste or use dried fish to flavour if shrimps aren't around .

Right in the middle of Lapaz Market in Iloilo City stands among the more authentic batchoyans in town. There you'll find a busy eatery/ batchoyan that proudly announces "The Pride of Iloilo". Welcome to Netong's Original Lapaz Batchoy , where batchoy is still what it was like more than 50 years ago, thus many claim it to be one of the most authentic Lapaz Batchoy. When I dine at Netong's, I just love how their batchoy still looks original or to be "safe", the batchoy look I grew up with. The noodles form the base and the pork, liver and intestines for a heap in the middle sprinkled with chicharon , garlic and chives. Then you'll see the bone marrows floating around on the caldo .I almost always complain of the "lost art"  of batchoy preparation but good thing there's still Netong's, among others, where the art is still alive. And I never season my bowl of Netong's batchoy with soy sauce and/or pepper since I ...