FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

It maybe a regular salad at first glance but "something blue" makes you do a double take.  Its the Blue Ternate flower which has been appearing recently as a novelty in some restaurants and food places here in Iloilo.    Basically it's the blue hue that makes the flower stand out when used in food preparation. For salad, it creates contrast with the greens before you mix it with other ingredients like this organic salad bar at Orchard Valley Farm . It also appeared in the fresh ginger cooler they served us during a seminar on Organic Agriculture. The blue ternate created a cool color to the ginger drink which made it look and tastes "cooler". Before, I had an ice cream at a snackshop at The Molo Mansion that had blue ternate bits in it making it interestingly bluish in color. Soon, there could be a lot more lot food and drinks that will utilize the rich hue of blue ternate.

Want a slice of heaven? You're looking at one! I just love this Ube Flan Cake from Tinapayan. It is among their newest items as I was told, so as curious as I am, a pack found its way home where I enjoyed every bite of it. To start with, I am a big fan of Tinapayan's chiffon cake especially the orange chiffon but this Ube  chiffon base also has its own taste wonders. Now that's its topped with mouth-watering leche flan, it's the best of both worlds in a single bite. Fluffy ube cake meets delectable densed leche flan - can't help but jut drool over this pic. And speaking of pics, here' what it looks like as a whole cake (taken from the FB Page of Tinapayan ). They also have a plain chiffon flan cake and both are PhP 250 per order. And that's next on my target list... 

I attended a seminar on organic farming recently held at Orchard Valley Farm in Tigum, Pavia, Iloilo. Entitled "Orientation on Organic Agriculture for the 4th Estate" , it was organized by the Panay Organic Producers Association in cooperation with the Dept. of Agriculture Regional Office. As it was an enlightening discussion about organic farming which I will blog separately, food served were as interesting as the seminar. Like this corn, squash and malunggay muffin topped with kesong puti which is an "off the beaten path" combination for muffins or even baked goodies in general. It had a subtle flavor switching from corn to squash with "whole" malunggay leaves giving a visual contrast that also says "don;t worry, you're eating healthy". The kesong puti gave it a mild flavor contrast with its subtle saltiness. It was served with a refreshing buko juice that had hints of calamansi giving the coconut drink a delightful twist of it...

I don't usually blog about fastfood restaurants for they are too mainstream. Yet once in a while when they offer something that is out-of-the-box from their usual menu, then its time to eat and blog. For this year's Philippine Independence Day Celebration,  fastfood giant Jollibee reinvents two well-loved Filipino specialties - Adobo and Halo-Halo. The adobo forms part of the Adobo Flakes Burger (PhP59) which is a premium yumburger variant. The patty is topped with a saucy adobo flakes that gives the well-loved burger a more Filipino taste perspective. Meanwhile, the halo-halo becomes part of the Halo-Halo Sundae (PhP35) which is a sundae in a cup that comes with a topping buko strips, red beans, sweetend banana, langka, nata de coco and ube syrup. A combo of the two plus a regular sized drink cost me PhP109 which was more than worth it as it both satisfied my hunger and curiosity for this very Pinoy combination which I hope would be become a permanent staple on the...

There's chicharon, liver, egg and noodles. And then there's narutomaki (fish cake), chasyu (classic Japanese roast pork) and a tonkotsu (pork bone)- miso (soy bean paste) flavoured broth. Now you know that there's something different about this bowl of noodle soup as gives the well-loved Lapaz Batchoy a Japanese twist! "Welcome to OISHI BATCHOI " greets Chef Benjie Garcia during the restaurant's opening at SM City Iloilo. Chef Benjie-San as he is fondly called used to work in Japan for more than 20 years as an executive chef. His love and passion for food made him dream to someday create his own line of food offerings where he can make use of his skills in preparing exquisite foods he learned in Japan at the same time looking back to the dishes of the Philippines.  With this knowledge and passion, he began experimenting in the fusion of ramen and batchoy recipes - one ingredient at a time. When he finally perfected the combination of miso, chi...

When one cannot get enough, another serving or two is just the delicious thing to do. Exactly a month ago, we found ourselves in a deluge of mouth-watering specialty dishes prepared by SM City Iloilo Food Hall  for a food tasting session . Among them was How Fun and based on it's logo, you'd know that it specializes in Chinese cuisine that would tickle the Ilonggo palate.  My taste buds recalled the familiar taste of the Chinese-style Beef Steak served to us then and now (actually around 2 days ago). Its so tender that it almost melts in your mouth with all the delicious flavour. And just how I like any beefsteak, it was served with generous amounts of onions, what more can I ask for? Maybe extra rice or more onions! I was told that most, if not all, of the specialties served here came from the menu of Blue Chili restaurant - a sister restaurant of Bluejay Coffee & Co . While the former is already closed (they were located at Urban Inn in Lapaz before), the latt...

This fluffy, soft and delicious ensaimada was a perfect welcome to the newly opened Bluejay Coffee shop that we've been eyeing since last year when SM City Iloilo's expansion opened. Located on a prime spot, coffee afficionados will surely follow the aroma of freshly brewed coffee as it entices their senses.  And when they're there, the coffeeshop's interiors provides some more visual treats. Like it's other branch in Smallville, interiors design plays an important role in complementing the Bluejay's gastronomic offerings. Like it's wide array of desserts ranging from mini cakes to artisan breads and cookies. Of course, it's signature ensaimada and cheese roll top my list of favorites. Sandwiches, pasta and other dishes complete my long list of must-tries and must-eats. As an opening treat, food and drinks like ensaimada and cheeseroll plus coffee and juices were on-the-house today. I just love my raspberry cooler!  And speaking of ho...