FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

Days Hotel Iloilo celebrates Autumn Moon Festival with a delicious buffet of Chinese specialties! Also known as the Mooncake or Mid Autumn Festival, this Chinese traditional celebration is observed on the 15th day of the 8th month on the Chinese calendar. And this year, it falls on September 13. As an annual tradition, Days Hotel Iloilo commemorates this festival with a 5-day buffet highlighting Chinese specialties on top of the regular buffet lineup.  And mooncakes are among the the stars of this gastronomic show! Enjoy mooncakes in these variants -  yellow monggo, black mongo, tasty lotus seed and more. So what better way to celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival by enjoying the most delightful Mooncakes and Chinese specialties at Days Hotel Iloilo! Peking Duck Autumn Moon Festival lunch buffet started today Sept.9 ans will run until the 13th from 11:00 AM until 2:00 PM For reservations and inq...

This basket holds around 2 kilos of grapes worth about PhP 260 but the experience of having to pick the bunch you like, enjoying lots of selfies, taking photos and roaming around a vineyard = PRICELESS! Under the heat of the Thursday morning sun, I found myself in the shade of the vines and dodging dangling grapes at the Denila  Grapes Farms in Brgy. Lanag in Santa Barbara, Iloilo. The farm is easily accessible from the town center - just around 10 minutes from the plaza via tricycle (around PhP 10). Located between the Tigum River and the NIA irrigation canal, you will pass through a few houses along the way before you reach the farm. There's an entrance fee (PhP 30/regular and PhP20/seniors/students) and everyone is free to roam around the farm which not only cultivate grapes but other fruits as well. It also grows apple guava or guapple (around 3000 trees), dragonfruit, papaya and  tambis , among others. But the grapes are the center of a...

There are one thousand and one ways of cooking sinigang , they say. And I would definitely agree - from pork, beef and chicken to seafoods like shrimps and whole variety of fishes. I even have a  canned tuna sinigang recipe  on the side. Just like the recipe varies from places to places even up to the household level as each family has their own closely guarded recipes. But one of the favorite  sinigangs , is one that have leveled up the gastronomic level -  Bauhinia Filipino Cuisine's Sinigang na Salmon . Fried - crisp in the outside but soft inside, with the sour broth poured by your side when it served. Probably an unlikely recipe for a highly prized fish often seen as sashimi, grilled or with a variety of sauces, but having it as sinigang is making it as Filipino as it can be. Extra rice, please!

  I’ve only been dreaming about Frozen Brazo ever since when it became a staple feature in most food magazines. There I got curious how it can be frozen when it’s just meringue and that creamy filling. Now, Tinapayan, Iloilo’s premiere bakeshop, made me rediscover what it really is and how indulgent delicious it can be.  Tinapayan Bakeshop has been making Frozen Brazo, as well as ice cream cakes for years now. But it was only recently that I finally got to see what it really was. Finally, I now know what makes it a Frozen Brazo – a layer of vanilla ice cream squeezed in.  It comes in a standard deep microwaveable container for convenience. The top layer is a heavy set meringue where you can actually bite into it and not just melt in your mouth. Next layer is the brazo cream filling we’re all familiar with but as this is frozen, it has this new texture and icy dimension which makes it even more appetizing.  Then comes the layer what makes it a “...

Who doesn't love bacon? Be it crispy fried or my personal favorite - lightly cooked, soft and oozing in all its cholesteroliffic goodness. And it is perfect with a cup (and all the extra servings) of rice - just a simple baconified gastronomic pleasure. But how about taking this bacon and rice combo to the next level - as a rice topping with egg, creamy cheese sauce and savory sauce on-the-go, anytime?! Now, that's Ate Rica's BacSiLog! HER BAC STORY What started out as a mobile sidewalk vending foodcart back in 2006 just opened its 50th branch fronting the 3rd Gate of Central Philippine University (CPU) in Iloilo City. Entrepreneur Magazine writes that .... While Rica Peñalosa was waiting for her work visa to Dubai, she decided put up a makeshift food cart at the back of De La Salle University (DLSU)’s Taft Avenue campus, which happens to be near where she lived. Armed with a capital of Php20,000 from her father, the former offic...

Vibrant and festive hues of red, orange, yellow and blue welcome diners to the newly opened Deco's Original La Paz Batchoy at Robinsons Place Jaro.  The chain’s third branch ushers in the batchoyan of the 21st century as it features modern and chic interiors.   An open kitchen surrounded with a counter where the guests can eat their meals, highlights the newest branch as it also becomes the prototype for future branches and renovations. With the concept, diners get to see how their bowls of La paz batchoy are prepared from scratch and served to them – just like the typical batchoyan but in a modern setting Ditas Taleon of Injap Investment, Marichel Magalona, Marilou Cacho, Ted Magalona, Atty. Helen Catalbas, and Fr. Joseph Haw, S. J. during the opening of Deco’s Original La Paz Batchoy in Robinsons Place Jaro “We are revolutionizing the look of a batchoyan in Iloilo to make it more exciting to our guests.” says Mrs. Marichel Magalona, licensed operator...