FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

There are a lot of mouth-watering choices at Chicken Deli and choosing what to order could spell a dilemma. But why not try the specialties of the house - all in one bilao! There's yummy Kare-kare with all the vegetables, creamy peanut sauce and appetizing bago-ong (how lovely!), perfectly-fried Bangus Daing called Bangusito (well-seasoned too!), Kangkong Adobo  (perfect sidedish), Fried Pork Liempo (love the crunch) and the specialty of the house - Chicken Inasal ! And it come with unli-rice and good up to 4 persons... burp! 

There's a new doughnut craze in town and it's called SIDRO Doughnuts ! Offering freshly hand-made gourmet doughnuts by order (as of now), each doughnut is cut, cooked and glazed all by hand using only the highest quality and all-natural ingredients. Their gourmet flavours come in  Bugnay Berry, Calamansi, Chocolate Caramel, Cinnamon Sugar, Dulce De Leche with Toasted Coconut, Mango Pistachio, Salted Caramel, Sesame Soy and Vanilla , among others. Comes in big at PhP25/each and small Php15/each (for caterings only minimum 5 dozens) The owner, Isidro Panizales worked as a manager in one of the branches of DOUGH Doughnuts  in New York City- one of the most popular doughnut shops in The Big Apple and the best too! And with that he wants Ilonggos to have a taste of the doughnuts he learned to love... As of now, they don't have an actual shop and they make small batches per day and mostly by orders so it's better to give them a call. Good thing they deliver for a mi...

Kansi is the Ilonggo-style bulalo and Royzonbie Grill in Villa makes a tasty and delicious beef soup. Aside from this steaming bowl of shank bone marrow soup, specialties also include sinfully delicious Crispy Pata and ever-tasty Native Litson Manok. But there seafood specials are also must-try like the sizzlign seafood platter and garlic shrimps. Also make room for their version of sizzling sisig. Extra rice please!

The Feast Day of the Santo Niño which falls every 3rd Sunday of the year is also the Fiesta of the district of Arevalo, Iloilo City. Home to the 3rd oldest image of the Child Jesus after Cebu and Tondo, the district also boast of many other titles - Lechon, Seafood, Flowers and Firecrackers Capital of Iloilo City! As I missed last year's fiesta, I made it a point to attend this year's gastronomic offering served at Camina Balay nga Bato . And here are some of the fiesta food offerings I and other guests enjoyed last Sunday... APPETIZERS Fried Lumpia with dip and veggies Fruits and Nuts Shooters Chicken Salad with Celery Fried Lumpia Cups Ham ( still covered in cling wrap plastic ) Hamon ( still covered in cling wrap plastic ) MAIN COURSE Litson na Turkey  Meatballs Black Rice Mangga Pasta Garlic-Pesto Pasta Estofado na Pato Fried Chicken Caldereta Adobo ( still covered in cling wrap plastic )...

I don't know what what fascinates me about these noodles but every time I find myself at Mandarin Tea Garden at SM City Iloilo, I always go a bowl of theirs noodles. No matter what the other "add-ons" are to the noodles, its the pancit that makes me crave and rave for a bowl.  As always, I order and extra bowl of noodles just to satisfy my appetite for their thin and flavourful noodles. So what you see here in the bowl actually has serving of noodles I fished out from another order of mine on top of a bola-bola sio pao I ordered on the side. And here are some specialties of Mandarin Tea Garden that I forgot to blog in my previous visits... Beef with Ampalaya - I wonder if I could also order additional ampalaya to go with this dish since I think I got all the ampalaya on this plate Pancit Canton or whatever they called it, just  right mix of meat, veggies and noodles. Scallops with no need to scratch them of their shells! An order of Chop Suey just t...

It's the New Year 2016! After the last night's media noche , it's another handa-an, for today is our baranggay's fiesta. Just a simple mix and match of local and fusion home-made dishes to welcome  a new year and celebrate a fiesta. So there's Bangus Relyeno , Fried Chicken, Sotanghon Guisado , Pork Ribs, Pancit Canton , Cheesy Sausage Pasta, Binakol na Manok   and  Daing na Bangus . It's actually a combined simple (and uncoordinated - lol)  handa-an with our next-door neighbour thus having a number foods of the same "genre". And for desserts there Ube Brazos and frozen Fruit Salad  - perfect to usher in the sweetness and the bounty of the next 365 days. Happy New Year!

In less than an hour, greetings of Happy and Prosperous New Year will echo around us - actual voice greetings or text or through social media. Its time to say goodbye to the past year - whether good or bad it had been. And to usher the leap year 2016, a Media Noche is the norm aside from the  display of firecrackers and fireworks all around. Just like our Noche Buena 2015 a week ago, our Media Noche is a combination of the usual and some new discoveries. The usuals include our specialty Pancit Molo , Pork Barbecue, Queso de Bola, Chicken Noodle Soup, Sliced ham (the sauce was still on stove), Hotdogs on stick, Cheese Sausage Platter with 3 Sauces, Loaf bread, Filipino-style Spaghetti , Mango Mallows from Tinapayan (my favorite among  their Holiday goodies) and a selection of white and red wine and juices. Just looking at this lot, it seems I can't wait for the 2015 to end and 2016 to start for this gastronomic setting is about to burst in my tummy very soon. ...