FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

Buon Gelato opened its second branch in Iloilo at the expansion wing of SM City Iloilo. Located at the Lower Ground Floor near the activity area, the gelateria and desserts shop promises great tasting gelato as well as cakes and other desserts. It was an all-out tasting session during its opening day as invited media and bloggers enjoyed the different flavors of its Italian ice cream line - I chose the watermelon and blueberry combo. And a whole lot of cakes, cakes and cakes which we all shared as we took  forkful or two given its indulgence.  Fulfill your cool desserts, luscious cakes and hot coffee cravings at Buon Gelato!

A craving for ensaimada had me spend a Friday-the-13th afternoon at The Granary at Richmonde Hotel Iloilo . Their gigantic version of this pastry was and is still the talk of the town ever since it opened four months ago . And who said that day was a unlucky when the usually out-of-stock specialty of the house had a few pieces available enough for my gastronomic needs.  I had them heated to bring out the softness of the pastry as well as to create a delicious gooey mix of cheese, butter/cream and sugar that I love to "dunk" the pastry bread in. This is often overlooked by those who order the ensaimada who just have it as it is, thus missing the deliciousness of the pastry. And with that I can finish 2 or even 3 of these in just sitting! But I just had one that time for me to have space for a "side"  order of Spaghetti Prawns Aglio y Olio (which costs 3x as much as the ensaimada). I love olive oil based pasta so this was default order. The serving was too sm

Churrasco is an Iberian (both Spanish and Portugese) term for grilled meat - mostly beef which is very popular in Europe and Latin America. It is most popular in Brazil  wherein they have churrascaria , which are restaurants serving these "pieces of meat roasted on the embers". Most offer "all-you-can-eat" with the waiters moving around the resto bringing skewers of meat and slicing them on the customer's plate. This serving style is called espeto corrido or rodízio. ( Source ) But I didn't have to travel around 20,000 kilometers last Saturday to have this taste and feel of Brazil .  I just found my way to The Promenade at Days Hotel Iloilo for their long standing Saturday dinner buffet "Indulgence" featured Brazialian churrasco served  rodízio.   I just love the buffets at  The Promenade at Days Hotel Iloilo  and I always can't say no to every invitation I get to feature what's new in their offering. The gastronomic Saturd