A Bounty of Good Eats at the Barn Breakfast Bistro

What’s the latest food buzz in Iloilo City?

It’s got to be the Barn Breakfast Bistro. Located at The B Lifestyle Complex along Diversion n Cuartero, Jaro – you won’t miss it as a big blue B waves at you from afar.

Get ready with your cameras when you go there for the interiors are worth the shot. Modern yet quaint, it makes you slowdown from the hustle and bustle you see outside the window.

Don’t expect haystacks and farm animals roaming around but neat wooden fixtures and the only animals are the ones coming into your plates

Restaurateur Roy Betita, who’s glad to be back in the food business, hosted a breakfast meet up with the Iloilo Bloggers to showcase his latest “baby”.

So what’s in store for you at the Barn Breakfast Bistro?

For starters, you might consider chowders named Mighty Mikki or Ali Actually, Roy’s Rolls (served with butter, bacon jam and tomato marmalade) and Will Power (Chorizo and Egg served on top on steak cut fried, cheese and gravy).

WILL POWER

From the Flour Mill there are Pancakes and Waffles which you can mix and match with assorted toppings – raisin & ham succotash, grilled Spam, breakfast sausage & baked beans, garlic sausage & cheese and muscovado rusted bacon. They come ala mode with burnt butter ball cream and maple syrup.

WAFFLE WITH BREAKFAST SAUSAGE AND BAKED BEANS

They also have crepes with interesting names: Jessie (with artichoke and mushrooms), Barbie (filled with four cheeses), Ken (with bananas and Nutella), Buzz (chocolate ganache and cashew) and Woody (potatoes, roasted pepper and chorizo).

PANCAKE WITH BACON AND SPAM ALA MODE

Burgers and sandwiches complete the flour mill selections with Barn Burger (beef patty, bacon, egg, mozzarella, caramelized onions and remoulade), Beachfront Burger (garlic chorizo, tomato and salted egg in whole wheat pan de sal bun), Tuna Turnover, Morning Meltdown (sourdough bread, poached egg, ham, mushrooms and dill pickles) and Breakfast Club (French toast, glazed ham, bacon, chicken mayo and cheddar cheese)

BARN BURGER

From the Eggery comes 3-piece omelettes that tennis aficionados would love to "play" with. There’s Vamos Rafa with chorizo, roasted pepper and tomatoes; Hurray Murray (ham, cheese, bacon, tomatoes), Ole Nole (artichoke, spinach cheese), Roger That (smoked salmon, cream cheese, capers and dill) and Ave Maria (tapa, tocino, salted egg and onions).

VAMOS RAFA

From the Fields come salads that are good to share. Jazmin Garden Salad has mesclun, romaine lettuce, poached egg, parmesan and anchovy while Emilda Salada has fried salami, pineapple, turnips, and apples in red peppercorn dressing

From the Pond are two fish specialties – Something Fishy and Salmon Samurai. The former comes with the freshest fish from the market stewed in malt vinegar with remoulade and steak cut potato fries while the latter is salmon cooked in mirin, sake and Japanese soy with sesame and red cabbage slaw on the side.

Meat lovers rejoice as there are plenty to choose from. From the poultry comes Parm Chicken which is grilled chicken fillet in rich tomato sauce (an adaptation of the Italian classic Parmigiana) with mozzarella and mashed potatoes on the side. There’s a platter of Chicken Nuggets with sriracha mayonnaise and steak cut fries. Of course, the comfort food of many – Fried Chicken, with Barn's signature mushroom gravy.

PARM CHICKEN

From the Pen come pork specialties every carnivore loves – sausage, bacon and ribs. The Barn Sausage is home-made sausage served with salted egg, onion salsa and garlic rice while Bacon Bomb grilled thick sliced bacon in rum maple syrup pineapple raisin gastrique served with red cabbage slaw and mashed potatoes. And the “Baby Come Back Ribs” – ribs smothered in sticky Texas barbecue sauce and Jack Coke glaze; you would certainly come back for more!

BARN SAUSAGE

From the pasture comes the Barn’s version of tapa named Easy Beefy, Viva Cuba (ground beef and chorizo stew, raisins, egg, banana), and my personal favorite Corned Beef Crave (home-made corned beef served with pickles, tomato jam and garlic rice).

CORNED BEEF CRAVE

Pasta lovers would surely love Sunrise Surprise, Barn’s version of carbonara – linguine served with poached egg, cream sauce bacon and cheese. The Breakfast Lasagna has Bolognese sauce, mozzarella cheese and poached egg while 24 Hours Awake is linguine with braised beef, roasted tomatoes, basil and parmesan.

Desserts make a grand slam finale! Choose from New York (salted caramel cheesecake with chocolate chips and cookie dough crust), Wimbledon (bread pudding, salted caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream), Paris (crème brulee with glazed bananas and ice cream) and Melbourne (chocolate cake and chocolate fondue with mallows and fruits.) Now that’s an ace for your sweet tooth!

The Barn Breakfast Bistro with its delectable food offerings in an ambient and lovely setting has certainly created quite a buzz following its opening just a few weeks ago. So if you're looking for something new to try out or if someone asks what's the latest food buzz in the City of Love - all you have to do is look for the B!

Barn Breakfast Bistro

3/F, The B Lifestyle Complex

Diversion Road, Cuartero, Jaro, Iloilo City

Tel. Nos. 033-323-3333 | 0917-878-1890 | 0939-933-3930
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/barnbreakfastbistro

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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