Eats All at SM Southpoint : San Jose Cafe

I can still vividly remember my first orders at San Jose Cafe when it opened years ago - Watermelon Slush and Chocolate Cake. It was just an on the spot order for the sake just ordering something and I expected nothing special about them. But I was wrong...

SM City Iloilo invited members of the Iloilo Bloggers for a gastronomic adventure showcasing SM Southpoint.

The newest hang-out of the Ilonggos is an al fresco wing of the biggest mall in the region consisting of local and home grown restaurants and cafes as well new local and "imported" players in the food service industry. It's time to discover what SM Southpoint has to offer ...

Photo credit: The Appletizer

The Chocolate cake was very indulgent - moist, full of flavour and easily ranked as among the best I've tried. And the Watermelon slushie was so thick and fine (and full of the good taste of the "sandiya/pakwan") that I asked for a spoon instead.

During our food trip at San Jose Cafe at SM Southpoint, the Chocolate Cake was again my top favorite. Good thing it was placed in front of me so its just easy to reach out and enjoy one of my fave chocolate cakes.

A Baked Mango Cheese Cake was also an arm's length away from me so it was just easy for me to counteract the chocolatey taste just in case I've had enough. But the mango and chocolate created quite a nice taste combination that I sort of combine them in the end.

How about some Chocolate Sylvanas? Hoping they could have a mango flavored one soon.

Also served were their specialty hot drinks - Caramel Macchiato and Moringa-Lemon Tea, perfect to ease our tummies from our foodtrip

They also have Tsokolate Tablea with homemade biscocho for a dessert that you can actually drink.

And I was surprised that they also serve Kutsinta which is not usually on the menu of most cafes and dessert shops.

And I thought that was just all for the night - coffee, chocolate, cakes and other desserts. But I was wrong. Again...

Three of their specialty pasta came right in succession on our table. There's Spicy Chorizo Pasta which ignited our "tired and weary" appetites and the Sausage Pasta which also had its own tamed fiery flavor.

Our of the best-sellers - the Bangus Pasta, gave us a lighter take on the pasta yet it still had its own spicyness.

San Jose Cafe also serves sandwiches to those who want a not so heavy meal. We tried their Chicken, Tuna Delight and Bacon & Egg Sandwiches. Of course, obviously we all enjoyed the latter and even wanted more.

To cap off the night, we decided to energize ourselves so all had some cold drinks - smoothies, frappes, detox juices and more.

Detoxing, we had some had Pink Guava and Hibiscus juices to get rid of the day's excesses.

And some Cucumber-Lemon too!

But there's are really some temptations around like the Northpole Mocha - their best-seller!

And the perfect-ender for the night - Halo-Halo Smoothie! It's your favorite halo-halo taking the form of a rich and indulgent drink with all the works - ube, sweetened coconut and bananas, nata and others.

I will end this SM Southpoint series with my Top 3 picks based on my personal taste. This is just limited on the food served to us during the food tasting and is not representative of the whole menu.

My San Jose Cafe Top 3 Picks

Chocolate Cake
Halo-Halo Smoothie
Sausage Pasta / Bacon & Egg Sandwich

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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