Formo Restaurant and Lounge in Banilad, Cebu City

New York Beef Burger

As I was in Cebu last month, going around looking for places to enjoy food was is always in my itinerary. Much more when I found my self in the company of Chef Miner del Mundo who was also in town to check some things out. So we found ourselves at the newly opened Formo Restaurant and Lounge somewhere in Banilad, Cebu. Chef Miner has overhauled the whole menu (being the food consultant of Formo) as well when the restaurant had its renovations then. So it's fitting that now it's tagline is New Interiors, New Menu, Hotter Vibe.

The newly renovated portion include the bar where the actions takes place every night. They have this daily schedule: Laidback MONDAYS featuring Chilwave, Electro-Acoustic, Ambient & Indie House, Wired TUESDAYS with Blues, Acoustic Pop Rock, Alternative & Progressive Rock, Sexy WEDNESDAYS with Salsa, Latin, RnB, Sexy Vocal & Tribal House; Pumped-Up THURSDAYS with Soulful, Funky, Techno, Electro, Progressive Vocal and Deep House ; Old School FRIDAYS with 2K Pop, HipHop, RnB and House Hits; Retro Rewind SATURDAYS having 70s, 80s and 90s Disco and Dance Hits and Soulful SUNDAYS Ambient, Balearic, Chill Out, Beach Lounge and Soulful House Music

But if you're not into the party scene, you can go there for lunch (11am-2pm) or dinner (6-9pm) to enjoy the new items on the menu. They have a lounge and private rooms for quiet dinners while the party is on-going on the other side.

So what's new on the menu? A bowl Cream of Wild Mushrooms and Truffles for starters consisting of a puree of mushrooms and fresh cream.

Have some Mussels and Shrimps Salad to whet up your appetite. Enjoy these seafood with orange and mustard vinaigrette with the fruity goodness of fresh grapes and oranges.

Or try their Smoked Salmon Nicoise with grilled salmon, marble potatoes, feta cheese, poached egg, olives and anchovies.

Among the old time favorites is this Seafood Platter having gratinated mussels, fried calamari and shrimp cocktails.

Add spice to your gastronomic please with this Mexican Chili con Carne Nachos.

To have this soy and honey marinated chicken, just order the Glazed Fried Chicken.

Indulge with this Rigatoni Four Cheese and Truffle Pasta with mozzarella, camembert, parmesan and creme cheeses with truffles all in one plate! or with the New York Beef Burger (topmost photo) made with US ground beef with spicy aoili and chili con carne.

For desserts, you won't go wrong with Molten Chocolate Cake served caramel sauce and vanilla chocolate chip ice cream.

or this Pear and Apple Turnover with the fruits wrapped in filo pastry and served with ice cream.

But you' surely love this lemon Creme Brulee served with sauteed berries.

With its new interiors and new menu, certainly Formo got the Hotter Vibe!

Formo Restaurant and Lounge

Banilad Town Centre, Banilad, Cebu City

Tel No: +6332 416 1990 (operating hours)

Mobile: 0923 190 0858

Email : info@formolounge.com

Official Facebook Page: http://facebook.com/FORMO.lounge

Official Twitter Account: http://twitter.com/FORMOCebu

Official Instagram Account: http://instagram.com/formocebu

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

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.

Batwan

Ilonggos know batwan or batuan by heart as the fruit is almost endemic to the Western Visayas. Its scientific name is Garcinia binucao, derived from the Tagalog name for the fruit, binukaw. It is a large green fruit with large seeds and its a favorite souring ingredient in most Ilonggo dishes especially KBL or kadyos, baboy, langka and the Ilonggo-style paksiw known as "pinamalhan". It is characterized by a tamed sourness compared to tamarind and kamias . The fruit is sold by pieces or kilo in wet markets and even big grocery stores. Batwan is the preferred souring ingredients for the Ilonggo favorite- KBL. The photo shows boiled batwan with skin and without skin (right) A favorite riddle when we were young - "Among the many fruits in the forest, but one (batuan) is the best. What is it?"

A cooking weed called Lupo

Lupo is a weed that is commonly found in ricefields and roadside in provinces. It is most prevalent in Ilonggo cooking compared to others as it is mostly the Ilonggos who can recognize lupo , though maybe called differently in other places. Most commonly used in laswa or monggo dishes to add greens like kamote tops, it also makes a good partner in sinabawan na isda recipes. It has hints of bitterness but don't expect it to be ampalaya-bitter like. It is mostly sold in wet local wet markets by the tumpok .

FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

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