Showing posts with label Food. Show all posts

SM Bloggers Event

Last Sunday, SM City Iloilo held probably the first food bloggers event here in Iloilo. They bombarded our taste buds with a variety of flavors, some unique to Iloilo, and others coming from the different parts of our archipelago and other countries.

If you would also like to have a taste of Iloilo, there is the famous Breakthrough, Ocean City, Casa Ilongga, Ted's Batchoy and Sabor Ilonngo to satisfy your cravings. And the taste of other places can also be had in a single sitting. You can taste lechon from Bacolod in the Bacolod Lechon Hauz, American fast food chicken from Chicken N Ribs, the ever famous Pinoy taste of Jollibee, and the Japanese taste of Yukashii Sushi.

And for those who are on a diet and seeks to eat healthy, there's Thirsty?, Buko ni Frutas and House of Panini. Lastly, for those who just want to check-out the free WiFi and hang-out at the foodcourt, there's Lavev Shawarma, Pizza Hut and Mon's Takuyaki to fill your mouth with morsels of goodness in an affordable price.

bloggers taking pics of the food

crablets

food!

Sushi!

more food!

Iloilo's scallops... hmmmmm tasty

Chicken N Ribs

an Ilonggo tradition to keep the flies off the food...

believe it or not, candles do repel them away, not that there are flies in SM for that matter

seafood bliss

pancit Molo

fried seaweeds

blurring amount of food

better take out your anti-histamines, insulin and anti-hypertensives to enjoy the seafood and sweets that the food court can offer

desserts!

awarding of certificates

even after the awarding, manang Claire still isn't stuffed... haha

and she even won the Nike sports watch

So go on and visit the food court of SM City Iloilo, where food and WiFi can be enjoyed...

Day Trip to Bacolod for a Slice of Cake

Since my friends and I are itching to go somewhere, we decided to go to Bacolod for a skateboarding competition and to taste their really amazing cakes from Calea.

We decided to ride a RORO ferry in Dumangas since its much cheaper than a fast craft. We were in doubt if the plan will work because we were going to be late, but there are times that I'm willing to bet on it since I was feeling lucky. And so, after consulting with my friends, we decided to stick with the plan.

Just as we arrived in the port of Dumangas, there was a RORO ferry waiting for passengers. And after approximately 1 hour and a half, we were in Bacolod. We arived in SM City Bacolod, and it was full of people because of the skateboarding competition.

leaving Panay Island

fast craft from Iloilo to Bacolod

we decided to take a peek at Bacolod's Cathedral

I only had a point and shoot back then and the facade didn't fit in the picture

old church bells

inside the Cathedral

beggar

Calea Cakes at last

But I was pissed off since the Lemon Meringue Pie that I ordered tasted very sour. But their cakes are good, especially their Blueberry Cheesecake. An they also offered free water, which was nice.

And they served their cakes in hefty slices, which made their price worth it.

a school of Tilapia lives if Bacolod's Lagoon

Provincial Capitol of Occidental Negros

Bacolod's iconic Paghimud-os statue

SM City Bacolod

sunset in Bacolod's Port

After watching the skateboarding competition, we went back to Iloilo via RORO ferry. And with the help of a guy offering us a ride in exchange for the fare that we will pay the jeep, we arrived in Iloilo at about 8 pm. A bit tired, but it was worth it. Calea cakes are special indeed.

The Best Caldereta in Panay

Some people will say that the quickest way to a man's heart is through his stomach. An sometimes, I really agree. I still have lots of back-log posts in mind but I really feel that I need write about Sally's Kandingan in Brgy. Tinaytayan Dumarao, Capiz.

I can still vividly remember eating at a certain place in Capiz that has one of the best tinolang manok and caldereta I have ever tasted... Well, actually, its the best I've ever tasted...

Back in the late 90's, we used to go to Iloilo every December to buy stuff, and our usual pit-stop would be at Uyapad, in Cuartero, Capiz. But after some time, the food started to taste a little bit different, and so the usual pit-stop was crossed-out from the list.

A year earlier, I've heard from a reliable source that the owner transferred to a new location, and so I thought that's why the food from the other restaurant tasted different. I had an itch to try to eat to Sally's in Dumarao to validate the data that I've heard.

And so, in the midst of Frank terrorizing our shores, we had a pit-stop in Dumarao, Capiz. The rain clouds were very thick and the rain drops were getting bigger by the minute. We arrived at a torn down place, leaks everywhere and we were dripping wet. But guess what, that was just the perfect setting for sipping their really delicious native tinolang manok. And was I concerned about the looks and the leaks of their place?? Hell NO!! I was hypnotized by the best caldereta ever!!! That was one of the best dining experiences I've ever had... But things have changes for the better. As you can see, they had a make-over...

Mang Ibrahim, which is the man behind the mouthwatering caldereta and tinolang manok starts cooking the first batch at around 4 am and continues to cook after a batch is almost consumed. And he advised to stop by at Sally's at around 7 am for a fresh fist batch.

Manong Ibrahim and his wife, Sally

They have two versions of their caldereta, one is made of pure goat's meat and the other is made of organ meat. They also have native fried chicken, adobo, and tinola. And there's a really weird but delicious dish named "rumble" which is a mixture different parts of a chicken that you usually wont eat. But trust me, it tastes good.

And as always, I tend to forget to photograph the food because I'm always too excited to eat. But this time, I didn't, well almost that is...

Iloilo's Biggest Batchoy

When you mention the word Iloilo, one of the things that would really pop-up into your mind is the world famous La Paz Batchoy. Although its yet being debated on who was really the first to start making the batchoy concoction, everyone who is in the market is advertising "Original La Paz Bachoy", it is for sure that it started in where else but La Paz.

According to a school publication that I've read, the batchoy was first conceived by Federico Guilergan Sr. in 1938. His Chinese customers wanted him to add some noodles on his famous soup, and so the batchoy was born.

Last January 22, I was able to shoot the attempt for the world record of biggest bowl of batchoy. And here are some of the pictures from the event...

The bowl was made of stainless steel. It was reported to have a diameter of 15 feet, a height of 3 feet and a capacity of 3500 liters.

The staff of Deco's La Paz Batchoy was very busy preparing for the event.

Oops. The container of the noodles fell from the chair to the ground. I just don't know why the guy still continued to use the noodles in that container. I wasn't able to take a picture of the incident because the guy preparing the noodles hampered my view and I still had to remove my lens cap. But you can still clearly see some of the noodles lying on the ground.