As the Dinagyang Festival is also the "fiesta" of the City Proper district of Iloilo City, it has been a tradition for most residents to have a feast in their homes despite the abundance of food in the city. And I was part of one of these fiesta's the Dinagyang Sunday of 2012. Together with the awesome couple Anton Diaz (Our Awesome Planet) and wife Rachelle, we snaked our way through the crowd and found ourselves in a more crowded place - Roberto's Restaurant.
During regular days, Roberto's is already crowded so given this is one very hectic day for the Ilonggos, the crowded never thinned out. With their famous Queen sio pao selling like "hotcakes" plus their other specialties like meatballs, pancit bihon, hamburger and a lot more, the Ilonggos still favor the homegrown taste of Roberto's.
But we went further up the building and joined in the fiesta fare prepared by the family of Claudes, that guy you'd often see manning the cashier's booth and often heard shouting "Isa pa ka Reyna" - referring to an order of Queen sio pao. It was my first time to be in this part of the Roberto's for usually I just have some take outs. It was two flights of stairs before we reached where the gastronomy was and it was already teeming with people - mostly acquaintances.
So we wasted no time digging in the fiesta fare which included lechon, chicken inasal, beef stew, caldereta, chopsuey and pancit canton, among others. I can't help but long for meatballs, bihon and camaron rebosado for these are among the popular food items at Roberto's. It was just a quick lunch but satisfying for there were a lot more friend lining up the stairs down below plus we had a lot to discover in the streets - from food and stuff to interesting people and places along the way.
After all it's Dinagyang, the biggest street party in Iloilo and it comes only once a year so we had to make the most part of it. And for Anton and Rachelle, it was their first time to join and celebrate Dinagyang so it was also a time for them to discover the things Iloilo has to offer especially during this big celebration. Hala Bira!