Bistro Carcosa at Uptown Place

One of the newest dining spots in town, Bistro Carcosa opened months ago to the delight of Ilonggo foodies. Located at the far end of the Uptown Place condominiums along Gen. Luna Street, it was among the featured food stops during the Blog The City of Love campaign of Injap Tower Hotel. To promote Iloilo City was the main focus of the3-day and 2-night event with bloggers and writers from around the Philippines experiencing the heritage, cultural, historical and gastronomic offerings of the City of Love.

From Bistro Carcosa's Facebook Page, it writes

Kitchen, bar, hip vibes and music. A perfect venue to sample and discover exciting food in the heart of Iloilo City. Wonderfully located with the most stunning views of the river, it's a convivial place to unwind or get stimulated according to your mood and taste.

A relaxing ambiance
Photo courtesy of Bistro Carcosa Facebook Page

Drawing on the same ethos of innovation and creativity that started Tijuana and the Mellow Mangrove, Bistro Carcosa continues to redefine the cool lounging and dining experience.

Enjoy an array of unique, local and international hearty dishes made of fresh, high-quality ingredients prepared to absolute perfection. Welcome to our new place.

APPETIZER GALORE: Bread with Olive oil and balsamic vinegar; shoestring fries;
carnitas taco; chicken wings; and chorizo croquettes. Collage courtesy of The Libotero.

As I was late for dinner, I just arrived in time for the main course but had some last bites of the appetizers - chorizo croquettes and shoestring fries. Yum! I almost finished the fries, myself.

It was an "open house" that we can order what and all we want. Our table of four got different dishes so that we have a variety of eats we can share. First to arrive was Big Boy Ribs - pork ribs in sweet and tangy sauce on a bed of potato mash.

We also shared the Beef Shanks in Red Wine Sauce (if I remember correctly) also on potato mash.

My order was the Southern-style Fried Chicken with honey and hot sauce. A perfect combination of texture and flavour, crispy fried chicken with smooth mash then sweet and spicy sauce!

But everybody;s favorite turned out to be the Seafood Curry - with prawns, squid and fish together with imbao, green shell and another shellfish with assorted vegetables. The curry sauce was mild but had all the right blend of flavours that it was finished as soon as it laid on the table (after the obligatory food porn shots).

Finishing it up for me, was a glass of freshly squeezed lemonade to toast a hearty dinner at Bistro Carcosa.

BLOG THE CITY OF LOVE
is an InjapTowerHotel event that aims to promote Iloilo City.

Bloggers from all over the Philippines toured Iloilo - the city and province plus Guimaras

last Aug 16-18, 2014.

Check out more of Blog the City of Love through Facebook page of Injap Tower Hotel

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BISTRO CARCOSA

The Uptown Place

Gen. Luna Street Iloilo City

Tel. No. 033-5148086 | Mobile number 0926-745-5808

Facebook Page: Bistro Carcosa

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

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