Boracay's Sababi of D'Talipapa for Buttered Prawns and Tapas de Dos Mestizos

Last year I posted a double feature on my solo trip to Boracay, which you can click here and here. I wanted to try D'Talipapa, but decided against it.

This year, with friends in tow, we went to D'Talipapa's Sababi. D'Talipapa is a cluster of restaurants surrounding a wet market where you can buy your proteins, mostly seafood, and accompanying vegetables and fruits. You then have these cooked in one of the stalls, just like Macapagal Boulevard's Seaside. At Sababi we had perfectly cooked buttered prawns: the skin did not stick to the meat even after resting. The prawns were fresh and meaty.

 Don't expect anything fancy--just fresh catch and breaking bread at its most basic. 

Sababi
Aklan D'Talipapa
Boracay

The other night we went to Dos Mestizos. We had a delightful salsa dip that came with the complimentary bread. We then had tapas. 

I was enamored with the bold Spanish flavors, like those of the callos: so buttery soft and rich.

The reliable chorizos got smaller but taste as good as before.

We had refreshing sangria to wash down our tapas.

The best tapa for me is the tasty calamares (no need for the dip). The combination of soft flesh and crunchy batter shows good technique.

The salpicao is also good--rich, flavorful.

Dos Mestizos
Remedios Street, Sitio Manggayad
Boracay
(+63) 036 288 5786

What I Ate in Bacolod and Iloilo

Next to Bicol, my favorite regional cuisine is Ilonggo. My introduction to this cuisine is via Ilonggo Grill, and right away I fell in love with the pork stew KBL aka kadyos (pigeon peas), baboy ( hocks), and langka (jackfuit), and the French-inspired pasty Napoleones. Later I would fall hard for the irresistible chicken inasal. There was no KBL during my last visit to Iloilo and Bacolod, but I had my fill of inasal, napoleones, and more. How do I differentiate Bacolod from Iloilo foodwise? Iloilo is batchoy and molo soup, while Bacolod is chicken inasal, napoleones, and Calea cakes. 

Bacolod City 

Bacolod City is the capital of Negros Occidental and is known as the City of Smiles. This is also ground zero for chicken inasal, stalls of which are clustered in the aptly named Manukan Country. For more on chicken inasal, click here.

1. Nena's Rose Inasal

I've been to Manukan Country before, and I swear by Aida's. For this trip, upon the recommendation of my officemate, we tried Nena's Rose. I was impressed with the generous sprinkling of garlic bits on the rice--the better to cut through the rich taste of the chicken barbecue. 

I also fell in love with the skewered chicken butts (isol)--juicy and soft, and presented in a novel way. Chicken inasal is not complete without the sinamak and the garlicky rice that cut through rich smoky taste.

Nena's Rose
Manukan Country
Fr. M. Ferrero Street, Bacolod

2. Calea

For my earlier entry on Calea's cakes, click here.

For this visit we went to the bigger branch located across the street. These are what we ordered:  

Choco Mousse Bombe--my favorite 

Pecan Pie a la Mode

Blueberry Cheesecake

I love all the cakes we ordered--except for one on the dry side--because they are not too sweet. There were still many we haven't tried--reason enough to fly to Bacolod in the future. 

Calea
Balay Quince Commercial Bldg.
15th Lacson St., Bacolod City
+63 (034) 435 8413

3. Roli's Napoleones

Napoleones is a custard-filled dessert topped with sugar glaze. Its origins can be traced to the French pastry mille-feuille. Two locals swear by Roli's, and I must agree: it was moist, the crust was flaky, and the custard was not too sweet.

Roli's Bakeshop
Roli's Arcade, La salle Avenue
Bacolo
(+63) 034 433-3257

4. Aboy's Restaurant

Aboy's is a must-visit whenever in Bacolod for good food and fast service. Never mind the distance from the city center. I love the free mint tarragon they served after the meal. Another plus for me was the lovely bangus inasal, pictured above. For more on a previous visit to Aboy's, click here. 

Aboy's Restaurant
Liroville Subdivision, Singcang
Bacolod City
(+63) 034 435 0760

Iloilo

Iloilo forms part of Panay province. Its capital, Iloilo City, can be reached from Bacolod via a two-hour ferry ride. Aside from the food, one should take time to visit Miag-ao Church, one of the few barioque churches in the country.  

1. Roberto's 

Roberto's is popular for its ginormous siopao, pictured below. With siopao this tasty and big, who can refuse?

I also fell in love with the lomi - tasty warm soup, firm noodles, crisp greens. Lomi is made of thick egg noodles, thin pieces of meat, garlic, and shallots.

Roberto's
JM Basa St, Iloilo City

2. Tatoy's 

Tatoy's is an Iloilo institution located along the beach. We always order the chicken inasal--tasty native chicken full of the aroma of tanglad.

Tatoy's Manokan Seafood Restaurant
Baluarte-Calumpang-Villa-Oton Blvd
Villa Arevalo Dist., Iloilo
(+63) 33 337 4276

3. Pacencia Cookies

I now have a new favorite snack: pacencia cookies. These are hard to resist mini-eggnog cookies. Pictured below is one I bought from one of the ubiquitous pasalubong shops for the blog, but the humble stalls offer better versions, with just the right amount of crunch and heft.

4. Molo Soup

When In Iloilo, having molo soup is a must. This cup was served to us during a work-related function--flavorful, rich in porcine goodness, warms your heart. Molo soup is made of pork dumplings, shredded chicken, and chicken stock. 

Negros Occidental's Mila's Royal Bibingka

I have to admit I did not go all the way to Negros Occidental to try this. It came in a box as pasalubong. This bibingka post is timely, since Christmas is mere weeks away, and the holidays is not complete without this treat. Mila's bibingka is spongy, so soft even after a few days of sitting in the ref, cheesy, and with  welcome bits of salted eggs. If you prefer your bibingka sweetish, this is for you.

For my other bibingka entries you can click here, here, and here. 

Mila's Restaurant
Rizal Street, Hinigaran
Negros Occidental
(+63) 34 391 7849

Buffet Love from Marco Polo Plaza Cebu

I look forward to the amazing food at Cafe Marco whenever I stay at the Marco Polo Plaza Hotel in Cebu. There appears to be new items everytime we visit, and many of the offerings were top-notch. 

On the savory side, the standouts for me were the Hainanese chicken (the chili sauce is off-the-charts hot), the Cebu lechon (always tasty, no need for sauce), and oysters (fresh, sweetish). It was my first time to try radish kimchi, and I love it. I was always on the lookout for the pork ribs siomai wrapped in cabbage--moist, delicate, and filled with so much umami flavor. 

For dessert I was partial to the decadent chocolate truffle cake, while my companions were raving about the excellent cheesecakes. 

There were jars of cookies just by the entrance of Cafe Marco, and we look forward to one kind: the aptly named malicious cookies. Since they did not scrimp with the nuts and choco chips, these cookies will surely wreck havoc on your waistline. .

Marco Polo Cebu also does ensaymada right. The thought of eating again their ube variant makes me drool. Their ensaymada was not cloyingly sweet. and the dough soft and springy. Again, they did not stint on the ingredients, including ube.

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

Marco Polo Plaza Hotel
Nivel Hills, Cebu Veterans Drive
Cebu City
(+63) 032 253 1111

Dining in Cebu: What I Ate and Where*

I went to Cebu for a quick trip. Let's just say I gorged myself silly. If there is one takeaway from this travel, it's that Banilad is teeming with restaurants, just like Quezon City's Maginhawa Street. I have to credit Eat Out Now for the resto recommendations.

1. Giuseppe Pizzeria and Sicilian Roast

My first stop after landing at the airport and depositing my carry-on at the hotel is at this Italian Restaurant. I fell in love with the excellent seafood spaghetti / spaghetti marinara. It was simple and straight-forward, the flavors of the sea  taking center-stage. The noodles were firm and they were generous with the fresh seafood. I love bite of the green chilis. Since we're surrounded by water, I've always believed we should have more of the best that our seas offer. 

For dessert, I had tortino with ice cream, and it was worth breaking my diet for. I love the classic choco and vanilla ice cream on top of choco cake. These two alone made my trip to Cebu worthwhile.

View from my table:

Giuseppe Pizzeria and Sicilian Roast

Paseo Saturnino, Maria Luisa Road
Banilad, Cebu
(+63) 32 343-9901

2. Zubochon 

When in Cebu, Zubochon is a must-visit, and when I read from the man behind the restaurant himself that they will be offering Duhat /Lomboy Shake  for a limited run, I knew I had to book a flight down south. The shake was a sight to behold--deep purple and very inviting. It was refreshing, just right for the heat, and without the heavy mouth feel from eating too much fresh Java plum. One sip and I'm instantly transported to my childhood where one of the best ways to enjoy the fruit was sprinkled with rock salt and shaken in a covered bowl.

My view from where I sat:

Zubochon
IT Park, Lahug, Cebu City
(+63) 32 236 8256

3. Little Saigon Big Bangkok 

This is tucked away inside a compound of restaurant and retail establishments, so keep looking, otherwise you'd miss this charming joint specializing in Asian street food. You can either dine al freso or inside (airconditioned!), and since it was a sweltering late morning, I opted for the latter. I love the Bohemian feel of the resto. It felt like Malate in its heyday, where it could nestle perfectly alongside Batavia Restaurant. Adding to the quirk factor was they were playing an old song: Dancing Cheek to Cheek. And the items won't hurt your pocket. I only spent less than P500 for my meal, all featured here. I love it!

The Goi Con, Vietnamese spring rolls with lemongrass grilled pork. Spring rolls are either vegetarian or meat, and usually have shrimp, fresh herbs like basil and cilantro , lettuce, cucumbers, rice vermicelli, encased in translucent rice paper. I love the authentic flavors from the greens and the sweet, sour, salty combo of the fish sauce.

The Mieng Kam, described as a refreshing leaf snack that distills Thai cuisine in one bite. Also spelled Mieng Kham, it is a Thai and Lao street food snack popular during festivals and consists of chaplu leaves, roasted coconut shavings, shallots, red bird's eye chilis, ginger, garlic, lime, roasted peanuts, and dried shrimps. 

This snack is really pretty. It was minty, sweet, nutty, and and spicy. Each biteful was a delightful explosion of flavors in the mouth. This is only my second dish, but I'm already starting to soak in sweat. 

The last item I had was the Penang Spicy Noodles, fried wide rice noodles, nam prik (a Thai chili-based hot sauce), fish and pork. This is actually better than the one I had in Singapore. It was tasty, chewy with the firm noodles and the crunch of the bean sprouts.

My view from where I sat:

Little Saigon Big Bangkok Restaurant
1 Paseo Saturnino Drive Banilad
Maria Luisa Road, Cebu
(+63) 932 455 9063
(+63) 32 415-0228

After eating from these excellent restos, I'm raring to go back to Cebu.

* The title was inspired from a post from one of my favorite blogs.