FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

A perfect ending to a sumptuous meal at Jo's Chicken Inato is their "gourmet" version of this Pinoy smorgasbord dessert. Aptly called Buko Halo, it comes in a coconut shell with all the coco meat mixed with all the ingredients like saba, kamote, gelatin, ube halaya, rice crispies, ripe jackfruit, milk and their home-made ice cream. The sugar comes separate, which I like since, I'd always request not to have one in other restos. This big serving of buko halo costs PhP75 (if my memory serves me right) but the taste memories it bring back - the college years where it become out sort of hang-out , is priceless! 

A sumptuous lunch of grilled, fried, sauteed and barbecued favorites highlighted the day after the stressful yet very, very , VERY enjoyable Iloilo Zombie Run. Good thing we were based near the new branch of Jo's Chicken Inato along Commission Civil Street in Jaro, so it was very accessible that we just walked our way.  The smell of freshly grilled chicken welcome us and a pecho combo was already in the bag, they ran out of pa-a then. Jo's is one of my favorite inasal places for years now having tasted it during college in their branch outside school. The taste still is pretty the same - mouthwatering, that you'll never stop until you feel the pain in your stomach because of gluttony. It looks good and taste even better even without the toyomansi-vinegar dip. Instead I reserved it for the Lumpiang shanghai side order - vinegar and fried lumpia ... heavenly. I almos finished this order of friend spring roll all by myself as I was lost in the delectable combo....

Balay Manokan is a native themed restaurant along Quezon Street that takes pride in serving Jo's chicken inato - a specialty/restaurant that came from Dumaguete, Negros Oriental. Chicken inasal is so big here in Iloilo City that this import readily clicked with the Ilonggos. But don't expect you'll find inato na manok sa buko pandan at Balay Manokan if ever you find yourself there. I just find it amusing that what we ordered seemed to "interconnect", literally. Inato na manok is simply just chicken inasal or chicken barbecue. Each restaurant has it's own "closely guarded" recipe and Jo's is among the most preferred. It's always a staple order due to it's popularity and one can simply enjoy this simple meal - kinamot style (eating with barehands) Manok sa buko (chicken with coconut) is another variant of the more popular Ilonggo dish, chicken binakol . Though the latter is more of a tinola style dish with coconut strips and wa...

Dinner at Jo's Chicken Inato restaurant near St. Paul's University proved to be a meal of discoveries and rediscoveries. Though it was their buko halo that lured us to this inasal house that time, we can't say no to their specialty; chicken inato. It's chicken barbecue served Dumaguete style for which the said restaurant originated. A favorite during my college years, Jo's chicken inato has seen many treats, events or even just simple eats. For this dinner, we rediscovered their chicken inato and discovered a new dish, manok sa buko.Their chicken inato was still the same - delicious until to the last bite that I can't help but eat bare hands. Grilled and flavoured like the way I liked it then, it has maintained all throughout these years its distinct barbecue taste with local touch when dipped in a calamansi-soy sauce-vinegar concoction. Manok sa buko turned out to be almost quite like chicken binakol. Akin to tinola, only added with coconut meat and juice, th...

Monday just became BUKOlic, with buko -halo and manok sa buko at Jo's Chicken Inato and boxes of Nang Palang's buko , buko -pandan and buko -pinya pies. Nang Palang's homemade delicacies now has a new look that even makes it more appealing and big time as it's very famous buko pie. It is now more of a delight to carry these boxed of treats from this little but big time store from Trapiche, Oton, Iloilo. From main course to dessert, Jo's Chicken Inato restaurant makes use of buko. From being an ingredient in the dish to being the "dish" itself, buko plays ang important role in the cuisine of this chicken restaurant.

Jo's Chicken Inato is among the most popular chicken barbecue in Iloilo City and it was my first time to eat at Balay Manokan located along Quezon Street. A stone throw's away from SM Delgado, this chicken house is among the biggest I've been to also one of the best ambiance despite located in one of the busy spots of downtown Iloilo City. Aside from their famous chicken inato, they also serve a variety of native dishes whether soups, grilled, fried or cooked whatever it maybe. They also have seafoods, pork and beef aside from chicken - lol. Another "magnet" at Jo's is their buko-halo, the usual halo-halo served with buko strips inside a coconut shell. Others swear by their buko pandan. But whatever one's reasons are, every visit at Jo's Chicken inato always have a thumbs up afterwards. Photos courtesy of Beyt/Chie and JakeM ( WeekendPastime )

FOOD is simply one of the highlights of any trip to Iloilo; from its iconic cuisine and a wide variety of delicacies to its landmark restaurants and (of course) pasalubong. La Paz batchoy, baye-baye, Tatoy’s Manukan & Seafoods and butterscotch are just a few of the reasons why tourists love the Iloilo gastronomical scene. This week, I played host and guide to a former officemate and his wife who made an Iloilo side trip from their Boracay honeymoon. The places we went and activities we had were almost centered on food that I called it an EATinerary (lol) After settling at the hotel, we had late lunch around 4pm. The great ambiance and view plus good cuisine and delicacies made Breakthrough Restaurant my first choice where to bring them. Grilled scallops, sizzling crabmeat, grilled and sinabawang managat, adobong pato, kilawin na hipon and fresh lumpia made up our lunch table. We then left for “Smallville” for a taste of Iloilo nightlife and after a quick survey, we settled at Bourb...

Jo's Chicken Inato restaurant was among my favorite hang outs in college. Aside from being conveniently located near our school, they serve very delicious chicken barbecue and among other, a halo halo that makes "half" of my memories of this cold dessert. Called Buko-halo , this all time favorite Pinoy dessert comes in a coconut bowl with the halo halo ingredients almost overflowing on its sides. The coconut shows how big the serving of halo halo you get since it is much bigger than most bowls or cups. Though it may just contain more ice, milk and other less expensive ingredients, you still get the best bargain compared with other restos. Though these photos show otherwise, I remember before that buko-halo comes i nthis coconut shell bowl with the coconut meat still "intact". It adds "something more" at the end when you personally scrape off the coconut meat yourself using your spoon. Based on the photos, now they've been scraped for the customers ...