Eats and misses at Eleos Cakes and Pastries

From the outside Eleos looks as if its a Greek restaurant given that font especially that lambda letter in the place of "L" in the name. Turns out that the owner has a fascination with Greece - myths, cultures and a lot more. Thus you'll find hint of these on their menu ...

But that's all about the "Greekness" the restaurant has to offer just a name and what's on their menu are the usual food fare we can find in most restaurants.

So we ordered their best-sellers Baby Back Ribs which came with rice and mixed vegetables. Since I had a big appetite, I got an extra garlic rice. At 99pesos, its a fair price for a Back Ribs meal and good but it was nothing spectacular. A separate order of iced tea at 35 pesos tht came in a tall glass had more money's worth even (like the garlic rice) though it was just a regular powdered iced tea.

Now came these Food for the Gods orders which consists of meat, pasta of you choice and toasts. Too expensive (169 pesos) at first glance but doing the math, it could be just as okay if you order them separately.

This is the Poseidon Adventure combo which is made up of beef stroganoff, lasagna (we added 10 pesos) and toast. The stroganoff wasn't that savory and tasted like any beef dish with cream sauce.

Athena's Wisdom consists of beef steak, pasta deliciosa and toast.

Beef Burger Steak in mushroom sauce, a pasta and toasts made up the Apollo's Oracle plate. The steak looks good but haven't it yet. This could be my order if I get to visit the place again

Now it can be told that Eleos is more of a cafe that serves cakes and pastries as their menu suggests. So tried their dessert line up and see if they were better than that what we just tried. I was glad they had boxes of the Papaya Flower Candies they import from Dingle. This consists of thinly sliced green papaya boiled in a sugary concoction then dried and shaped into a flower and filled with yema.

We also had a change of scenery and mabiance as we trooped to their alfresco rooftop. It was really a breath of fresh air - very relaxing, nice place to let time pass by without minding the hustle and bustle of the city.

Then came the cakes and pies we order and i was dismayed with almost all of them. The Durian Cheesecake was okay but nothing much to be excited about.

The dessert is called Alpine Cake - looks like layers of broas or a hard chiffon with chocolate sauce and shavings. Nothing much to ponder our taste buds upon.

Big disappointment over this Ube Cake. This is how it came to us, on this photo, it still wasn't touched by our forks. Had the same broad of hard chiffon cake with really artificial tasting ube icing. The Mud Cream Cake (below) proved to be the saving grace of the desserts we had but still it wasn't that outstanding. It was just better than the rest...

Doing the math, all in all we spent 1,100 pesos for all these (each of the cakes above cost 75 each, a rip off off really) and others. The ambiance was way better than the food they served. Though of course we haven't really tried their other specialties, this is just my first impression and experience at Eleos. Will I come back? Yes but as of now, its not something I'd really find time and exert effort. Hopefully by then, I can taste better food and desserts.

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 native (foods) welcome in Guimaras

Even after having breakfast less than an hour that time, we couldn't say no to this lot of native delciacies that welcomed us in Guimaras. First and foremost, Guimaras best known produce is their sweet mango famous almost worldwide. And it comes with it's best partner, ibos. This brown baye-baye variety is made from toasted rice thus giving it a more disctinct flavour compared to it's more "caucasian" cousin. I like the one wrapped in banana leaves compared with the one in plastic for it gives it a more native feel. So when you're in Guimaras, be sure to check out the markets for these native delicacies that can make your trip more gastronomically satisfying.

FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

Search This Blog