Annie's Place along Villa beach in Arevalo

Annie's Place along Villa beach in Arevalo had me "with a plate of kinilaw". It's the best tasting fish kinilaw I had in years. Actually it was the vinegar concoction that made it the bomb!

Its sour then becomes "fruity" sweet despite the presence of onions, chilis and ginger. I suspect they add an "atsara" concoction to create such delectable melange of flavours that even non kinilaw eaters will surely love.

It was so good that it made me almost forget my misadventure in going to Annie's Place. I took the right jeepney and the right route but had sort of dilemma when I got off and saw the sign to be "Annie's and Juaning's".

As I entered, it was a typical scene of beachfront restaurants - bamboos everywhere and a display of their offerings line up the sides.

Chicken barbecue, pork barbcue, liempo, isaw and my favorite - chicken liver. There were also sibingan (blue marlin), bangus, squid and a lot more seafood on the display.

Further inside, you actually get to walk on the sand where tables are set up to accommodate more guests during peak hours.

But where we were seated was an elevated big bamboo "shack" with a great view of Guimaras Island.

During high tide, the water level reaches the bottom of the shack. But its not really advisable to look down when you're already starting to eat, it could make you lose your appetite.

But good thing, it didn't happen to me that time, as i really enjoyed this bowl of "sinabawan nga isda". Not soured to be sinigang - its just like any flavourful soup dish with fish essence. Good on it's own but better with rice.

And it also went well with thie native litsong manok which is the "Juaning's" specialty. Annie's expertise seems to be seafood and both complement each other.

Juicy and full of flavour - it had the right mix of spices that every bite seem to explode with good taste. But I gave it a twist and brought it to a new level - I sprinkled the kinilaw concoction and kaboom! An explosion of great flavours in my mouth!

Same with the talaba (oysters), I had it "kinilaw" rather than the sinamak it came with. And it was just like fireworks in my mouth with explosions of delicious flavours.

I also enjoyed their chicken liver barbecue as every bite was fully savoured - slowly munching so the good times will never cease. I'm a sucker for chicken liver - no matter how it is cooked. And sinugba (barbecue/grilled) is my ultimate favorite.

We also had pantat (catfish) which my companions devoured with gusto.

And we had to order another serving of fish kinilaw - I just don't want to be "bitin".

Looking back to this impromptu lunch at Annie's Place, it was the kinilaw that got me. Even until now I have cravings for it that it made my first food trip to be really unforgettable. The price range seems to be unforgettable too - affordable and not OVERPRICED. A very typical Ilonggo seafood dining experience - good food, affordable price. Not to mention along the beach with a nice view of the sea and Guimaras.

Definitely, it's a place worth going back to and not just a "one time experience"!

And I would love to see the "mutated" electric fan again...

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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 por...

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 us...

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. ...

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