FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

There was a time when okra was over-abundant and one could get a bundle of having 15 pieces for PhP 20. I have no idea though if its really the cheapest price but for me it's already a steal. With so many okras , almost every meal I had at home had this nutritious vegetable - whether part of the cooked dish or just a side dish. The simplest would be steamed (or even microwave cooked) okra with corresponding dip. But if I have time to spare, I would experiment like this simple Okra and Sausage Omelette. Though obviously, I used one or two eggs short  for it to become more omelette looking, but this one turned out to be more appetizing. Just a mix of sliced okra (I microwaved the sliced first for it to be really cooked) and canned sausage plus a little salt for seasoning and beaten egg.  The result is a lip-smacking omelette that I still crave for everytime I see this photo for i can still remember the first bite. With a combination of ketchup and hot sauce as dip, it su...

Army Navy  - synonymous with mouth-watering burgers and delicious burritos, is set to conquer Iloilo soon. With this advert posted in Urbanscape Philippines  forum , it is very likely that it will open before the ends at very early next year at most. CONIFRMED LOCATION: Shops @ Atria Photo as posted in USP Forum To be located at the The Shops at Atria Park District , an Ayala Land Development right in the heart of Iloilo City's new central business district in Mandurriao.  The last time I enjoyed Army Navy was at Ayala Center Cebu wherein it was just quick snack when I sort of detoured my from malling upon seeing it was not a crowded as it always is.  It is not really cheap to start with, so in that case I went all out for this once in a while "luxury". I got Army Navy Double Burger consisting of 2 quarter pound pure beef patties with lettuce, tomato, onions, mayo and ketchup in a toasted sesame seed Kaiser bun. "All out" then meant additional b...

One of my favorite kitchen activities is to make canned goods NOT look and taste like canned goods after doing some experiments with it. On top of my list would be canned tuna and I've made quite a lot of yummy canned tuna recipes , if I say so myself. At times, I would do some sardines recipe too. But one of my personal favorites would be using canned mackerel. I start by draining (and setting aside) the natural oil it comes with and then fry it to give it a crunch. I then saute garlic and onions and add the the oil (and some chilis for some kick). For my twist I add some water and using some some sinigang mix (if natural souring agents are unaavailable), I'd transform it into some hot and sour soup before adding the fried mackerel. If there are some veggies around like okra or greens like kangkong or kamote tops, they go in before the mackerel does. And the result is another "extra-rice inducing" and tummy-satisfying recipe. Boom apetit!

If dimsum and Chinese dishes tickle your gastronomic fantasies, then give in to your taste temptation twice a month with Kusina Tsina's Payday Buffet. Happening every Friday, nearest payday (that 's the Friday nearest 15th and 30th), the newly renovated Chinese restaurant along Quezon street whips up the most satisfying all-you-can-eat menu in the city - for only PhP288/pax . Together with some blogger friends, we invaded the "Chinese Kitchen" during their most recent Payday Buffet - August 29. And the queue when we arrived was a "blockbuster", even though it was a rainy Friday evening. That didn't give us much time to take photos of what they were offering that time knowing that there were lots of hungry customers lining behind us. So here's a collage of the dishes served as posted in their Facebook Page So here's my plate having all those delicious dishes and I went all out for the pork asado  - whch I still dream about. Ofco...

As if dining under cherry blossoms in France, La Vie Parisienne recreates the "Parisian Life" literally, figuratively and with lots of gastronomy.  I was in Cebu the first week of August to attend the inauguration of the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. or RAFI's Kool Adventure Camp in Balamban, a town an hour and a half away from the metropolis. And staying a few more days after the event, it was another cool gastronomic adventure in the Philippines oldest city. Marked by La Maison Rose or "The Pink House" Restaurant along Gorordo Avenue, La Vie Parisienne is a French bakery, deli and wine library in one. It gives French flavour, ambiance and sophistication to bustling Cebu nightlife and gastronomic scene. As a bakery, there you'll find croissants, baguettes, rolls, twists, turn-overs and other pains (breads) plain or filled with chocolates, nuts, and fruit preserves. Baked in house daily, you'll have a hard time choosing which one would ...

Highlighting various Chinese dishes and specialties like mooncakes, The Promenade at Days Hotel Iloilo celebrates Mid Autumn Festival 2014 with a special buffet series that started yesterday and to conclude on the day of the festival itself on Monday, Sept. 8 A display of various mooncakes greeted us during the informal launch of the buffet yesterday. It came in different variants to choose from like lotus seed, yellow monggo and black monggo, among others. They were enough reason for us to start our gastronomic quest so we can have them as "prize at the end of our food journey" - so to speak. It began with a tasty soup made with pork strips and mushrooms among others that whet our appetites even before we headed to the appetizer station. There's even more when we got there with Golden Shrimps Balls (crunchy with a taste of real shimps in every bit) and Stuffed Bean Curd (perfect for tofu lovers or even first timers). Over at the Dimsum station, we gor...