FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

. Kiong Hee Huat Tsai! Gong Xi Fa Cai! Kung Hei Fat Chai! No matter how they are said, these greetings for the Lunar New Year or more popularly referred to as the Chinese New Year are among the most said and heard during the biggest celebrations during the first two months of every year. Together with Valentine's Day and for the Ilonggos, Dinagyang Festival, these events shaped our malling, shopping and eating weeks or days leading to these events. So it's like an extension of the December holidays with a more thematic gastronomy served in and out of our homes. A few days before the Chinese New Year, I received a basket from Iloilo Supermart filled with lots and lots of Chinese delicacies and snacks one can find at their grocery stores. Ranging from the CNY staple Tikoy that came in various sizes and variants, there was also some hopia, rice & peanut rolls and kiamoy among others in the snacks basket. That became a sign that welcoming the Year of the Metal was t...

Famous for a row seafood restaurants dotting the coastline, a certain portion of the town of Dumangas is like a magnet to travelers as well as foodies who opt to enjoy seafood and homestyle Ilonggo cuisine at affordable prices. Our first out town lunch break (yup we all went back to our respective works after) at Piad's Seafood Restaurant in Dumangas. Traversing the Iloilo Coastal Road, it was around 30 minutes of smooth driving, scenic land and seascapes and almost zero traffic. At times, ours was the only vehicle on the road! This meal set good for 6 plus drinks costs only PhP 1300 Adobado nga alimusan  Talaba Shrimps in chili sauce   Sinabawan na ulo sang managat Sinugba nga managat   Typical seafood restaurant ambiance What's your order? NOTE This blog post was made in 2013 and prices and menu items might already have changed. Please be updated via their Facebook account.

A new year has begun and hoping it will be a better one. We have survived 2020 - considered a very bad year in modern times  and hoping that 2021 will be a lot better. As always, I begin every new year with a post about Media Noche as it has been a tradition eversince to welcome the new year with a midnight feast along with firecrackers and fireworks. Mirroring out set-up in welcoming 2020 last year, it was another Filipinized "grazing table" inspired Media Noche that welcomed 2021. Though a far cry from an actual grazing table, it was just a set up of density and layers on top of the colors and flavors.  So what's for Media Noche? There was lechon belly on top of the traditional ham and the sausages for the protein. An assortment of French bread, garlic herbed toasts and penny roll Tinapayan Bakeshop served as carbo partners. A big bowl of Pancit Molo also complemented the breads with a variety of cookies and biscuits from the sausage and...

Always in the center of a typical Filipino Noche Buena is the " hamon ".  No matter which brand or what kind ham it maybe, the Christmas Eve midnight gastronomic gathering would seem incomplete without it.  One ham that seems to be just within the taste and price range of the Ilonggos is the house brand of Iloilo Supermart - Right Choice. For around 600 per kilo, the Right Choice Piña Ham is a delicious and freshly made ham that's a perfect centerpiece for the Noche Buena this coming Christmas!

Get ready  Brown Sugar Boba fans, Tiger Sugar is finally here in Iloilo!  When Tiger Sugar opened on Manila in 2018, it had almost a two-hour long waiting line.  And even after months after, the queue was still long and even grew longer as word spread out like wildfire. I had my first sip of the trendsetting Brown Sugar Boba Milk drink when I was in Hong Kong! Luck was on my side there - the line was tolerable and it was just across the place where I am staying. Tiger Sugar along Lock Road in Tsim Sha Tsui district in Hong Kong And forward a year and a half later, I don't have to travel to Manila or abroad to have another taste of the world famous Brown Sugar Boba Milk! Tiger Sugar Philippines just opened their 1st Visayas branch at The Grid (across Seda Atria) in Iloilo city bringing the much talked about and revered specialty closer to the Ilonggos. Tiger Sugar Iloilo interiors and main counter Why TIGER Sugar? Tiger Sugar originated from Taichung in T...

A stones throw away from the plaza of La Villa de Arevalo is an ancestral house where one can find not only good pasalubong items but also a look into the past of the district. Known as the Sinamay House , this well preserved ancestral house is an attraction not only in the outside but also what it houses inside. A collection of what the past like is housed in the two storey edifice which also acts like a museum of sorts. Sinamay is simply known as abaca by most and, here, a variety of products made from this fiber can be found.  I remember watching a feature on tv wherein the owner proudly showed a framed letter signed by the late Princess of Wales, Diana, showing her appreciation of the handkerchief she was given as a gift coming from this very shop. But the attraction I am most familiar with are the chewies and crunchies made by Mama's Kitchen. Attractively packed in boxes showing their current flavours and variety, this is among the better...