FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

Amular Photography Studio+Café is the latest addition to the burgeoning Plazuela de Iloilo strip. Owned by photography enthusiasts Daniel Amular Jr. and Ces Sarria-Amular, the husband and wife team brings a new concept for café-goers and photography clients in Iloilo City - a coffee shop and photographic studio in one! The studio+cafe merges the fine art of photography with well-discerned coffee concoctions and desserts. The café has a modern and high-end feel yet gives customers that refreshing and relaxed environment with smooth jazz music played throughout the day. Consistent with its theme, the interior is decorated with framed photographs of its clients. The café serves specially concocted brewed coffee and coffee drinks – both hot and cold. House-blend coffees are made from all-natural, all-organic beans - free of pesticides, and genetic modification. Arabica and Robusta beans are grown by indigenous farmers from all over the country. For each cup customers buy, they are ...

When I heard there was something “fishy” going on in Villa these past few weeks, I immediately took off and investigated the matter. But the “suspects” turned out to be lapu-lapu, tilapia, managat and bangus! Welcome to Pixie’s Sinugba Live! Located along Yulo Drive, the first of its kind Pixie’s Sinugba restaurant is home at last. WORLD’S FIRST “We have around a hundred take-out outlets nationwide and 5 dine-in restaurants, yet this is our first branch in Iloilo” opens up Meriam Valencia. “We carefully planned everything since we know how discriminating the Ilonggo palate can be. ” Meriam Valencia is often referred to as the “Inihaw na Bangus Queen”. Her original recipe for grilled bangus proved to be a smash hit that eventually led them to venture into the food business. “To start with, we offer live fish tanks with filled managat, tilapia, lapu lapu and bangus which our other restaurants don’t have.” she continues. “Our Iloilo branch is the world’s first live bangus restaurant wher...

Lapaz batchoy is a quintessential ingredient of Ilonggo cuisine. No feature about the culinary plethora of the Ilonggos would be complete without mentioning this mea t-noodle-soup concoction. In fact, batchoy is an attraction itself for tourists visiting Iloilo and almost a way of life for the locals. Here’s a basic guide of what’s in and around a bowl of Ted’s Oldtimer La Paz batcho y. NOODLES While the original recipe calls for miki (noodles mainly made with eggs), La Paz batchoy through the years has innovated to include bihon, sotanghon and miswa noodles. Bihon usually draws out more flavour due to its milder taste while sotanghon gives batchoy a smo other texture, literally. Miswa, on the other hand, brings out the softer side to batchoy-eating but it is still miki that makes an authentic batchoy experience. VARIANTS The original batchoy blend has pork strips, pork liver and intestines with garlic, onions, chicharon, onion chives and pork caldo. As time went by “healthier” versio...

For the past three years of being a food blogger, my foodie wish list has lengthened to see “this and that” branch out to Iloilo City. Not that Iloilo lacks quality restaurants; it’s just that having popular brands enter our city would give a go signal for bigger developments in all aspects not only in the dining scene. FAST FOOD To start with, Wendy’s is an all time favorite fast food though it will be considered s ort of high end. But every bite (those juicy burgers) and every sip (biggie iced tea please!) would be all worth it. Burger King is another fast food I would love to see in Iloilo. Flame-grilled burgers that give distinct taste and aroma plus the novelty of the getting-your-own-bo ttomless-drink, make s it more than gastronomic experience. Yoshinoya would be a good addition to the fast food selection in the city especially if Ilonggos can discover its beef bowl. Thin and flavourful beef slices seasoned with spices and placed on top of steaming rice – it’s really heaven ...

Come Friday and Saturday, all culinary roads lead to Bacolod City for the “ SABOR BISAYA - A Culinary Competition and Food Expo ”. Organized by Gruppo Uma Food Corporation, in cooperation with “The National Food Showdown” by TV Food Chefs Inc. of ABS–CBN Corporation chaired by Chef Myrna Segismundo, the showdown takes place on July 15-16, 2011, from 9am to 6pm, at the Convention Hall of the Bacolod Pavilion Hotel. This event is dedicated to upgrade the level of standards of the Food Service Industry Professionals and Students in the Visayas Region. Among the highlights is a Culinary Competition open to students and professionals in the following categories: Visayas Eliminations of Chef Wars “Modern Western” – Professional Division Visayas Eliminations of Chef Wars “Modern Filipino Kulinarya” – Student Division Modern Visayan Cuisine Challenge Modern Asia Seafood Challenge Organic Cuisine Challenge Creative Fried Rice Challenge On-the-Spot Cake Decorating Challenge Bar...

Pixie's Sinugba is now in Iloilo City and just opened a few days ago. Serving healthy seafood products and other Filipino best delicacies, it started as an outdoor takeout outlet producing Inihaw na Boneless Bangus na walang kaliskis, and other Seafood products with a healthy concept. Pixie is the nickname of Sylvia Marie M. Valencia, the oldest daughter of the Valencia Family, playing in the national team (basketball). The birth of the career playing in the national team was also the birth of Pixie's. Sinugba is an Ilonggo word for inihaw. Pixie's Sinugba simply means inihaw ni Pixie. Sinugba na bangus It was in the year 2000 when Pixie had a chance to play basketball on the national's intercollegiate games at New Era University. During those games, her extraordinary skills in playing basketball were discovered. She was invited for the training pool for RP Women's Basketball Team. Two years later (2002) Pixie was having a hard time on maintaining her diet as an...