Valentine 2020 Dinner Buffet at Days Hotel Iloilo

The Valentine Dinner Buffet at The Promenade at Days Hotel Iloilo is no doubt among the top Valentine gastronomic events in the city during Hearts' Day.

Dubbed as FEAST OF THE HEART, it is one of the most indulgent buffets the hotel has to offer throughout the year with its wide selection of food.

From hors d'oeuvres, soups and breads to the organic salad bar, sushi & sashimi, main entrees, carvint station and desserts, it's all one big delicious gastromantic celebration!

And for the NTH year, I spent Valentine's Day 2020 together with the Iloilo Bloggers Inc. indulging in the sumptuous offerings Days Hotel Iloilo has in store during the most romantic day of the year.

Here's what we enjoyed last Valentine at The Promenade at Days Hotel Iloilo's FEAST OF THE HEART

Let's whet up our appetites with the HORS D' OUEVRES/APPETIZERS/SOUP Stations.

Breads come in many variants.

Make your own salad in this organic salad bar with vegetables coming from Orchard Valley.

But you can have a ready-made Russian Salad.

How about some Baked Oysters?

And don't forget the wasabi to go with these mouth-watering sushi galore!.

Aside from the APPETIZERS/STARTERS Station

Dainty pizza bites so that you won't pile up on carbs!

You can mix and match to create your own pasta!

Sashimi! Loved the way it was presented. I regret not having a selfie with it!

Will it be tuna or salmon?

But of you're no fan of fresh fish, there's some grilled ones with lemon butter sauce.

Roast Beef! Need I say more?!

And when you get to the MAIN ENTREES, you'd probably make some belt adjustments!

Unfasten your belts as we take a foodie flight!

Delicious Paella!

Vegetables to balance all the meat we had.

Something fishy and fried!

Don't chicken out one me!

Lovee this Pork with apples!

Don't get tongue-tied with this delectable Lengua.

And my (and almost everybody's) favorite station - DESSERTS!

Heart-shaped French Macarons that come in Choco Mint and Strawberry Nutella

Loved this M&Ms Brownie or was it butterscotch?

Mini Toblerone Cupcakes!

Nutella brownies! Choco explosion in every bite!

Snickers cheesecake! Indulgence in every bite!

Chocolate lovers' ultimate moist cake with Ferrero

Strawberry Trifle with Beryl's White Chocolate.

My all time favorite pudding!

Yummy custard. On my sugar!

Always my favorite - chocolate covered fresh strawberries! Might have eaten a dozen!

Fresh fruits remind us all to be healthy.

And as if all the chocolates and sweets weren't enough - everybody got to take some chocolatey sweet raffle prizes. Except to those lucky ones who got the May Sparkling juice.

It was (and always) a great dining experience every Valentine at The Promenade at Days Hotel Iloilo.

See you again in 2021!

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 cooking weed called Lupo

Lupo is a weed that is commonly found in ricefields and roadside in provinces. It is most prevalent in Ilonggo cooking compared to others as it is mostly the Ilonggos who can recognize lupo , though maybe called differently in other places. Most commonly used in laswa or monggo dishes to add greens like kamote tops, it also makes a good partner in sinabawan na isda recipes. It has hints of bitterness but don't expect it to be ampalaya-bitter like. It is mostly sold in wet local wet markets by the tumpok .

FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

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