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. 

Top Picks from Bacolod City's Aboy's Restaurant

This is my last post on the highlights of my eating expedition in Bacolod City. For related posts go here, here, and here. 

It was our last day in the city, and we had time to kill before going to the airport. Aboy's came out on top of a quick survey of where to go for lunch. We ordered a storm, and here are the winners: 

Sinigang na pargo/maya maya (mangrove snapper). This I learned from my colleague--
maya maya 's rich strong taste is well suited to a full-bodied souring agent. The secret to good
fish sinigang, then, relies to a great extent on pairing the right species with the complementary souring agent.

I picked this not because it is stellar chicken inasal, but because it shows what for me
is good chicken barbecue--straightforward, moist, flavorful, roasted just right.
Notice the blisters in the skin? It gave the skin just the right crackle. 

It must be age, but I find myself lately gravitating towards fish sinigang. I prefer pork most days, but fish siningang done right is irresistible. I can get lost in the cartilagey, fatty and minerally flavors of this dish, especially the head and the collar, dipped in calamansi and fish sauce.

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

Bacolod City's Calea for Cakes!

Whenever I'm assigned to Bacolod City, I always pray I'd be billeted at L'Fisher Hotel. Right next door is the original Calea Cafe, a sweet tooth's wet dream. It helps that the price points are friendly, too.

I love the cheery vibe of the cafe--colorful, funky tables standing out from the minty interiors, a big mirror that's actually the door. It's a perfect place for groups to hang out. For an introvert like me, I pick a corner table, order tea and whatever cake suits my fancy, and get lost in my thoughts. 

Pictured below are two of the cakes I tried.

I've always been partial to blueberry cheesecakes. I like Calea's version because it's not too sweet, it's cheesy, and the almond base is very crusty.

The choco crumble cake came highly recommended. The caramel crunch covered in chocolate is a honeycomb of bliss. It was fortunately not too sweet, the opposite of which is the case for those produced by more commercial establishments. I love how the caramel contrasts with the choco sponge cake, which was a little on the dry side. 

You may contact the cafe at (+63) 034 433 8664.

Bacolod City's Chicken Deli for Inasal

There was a time I went chicken inasal crazy. I would frequent the many dedicated inasal restaurants in Manila and get lost in  the chicken's smoky sourly-sweetish goodness. The zenith came when I went to ground zero of chicken inasal, Bacolod City. Read about it here. 

One distinct characteristic about the grilled dish is it is yellowish from achuete or annatto oil. Components of the marinade are garlic, pepper, brown sugar, ginger, calamansi, lemongrass, and sinamak. Sinamak is cane vinegar mixed with bird's eye chili, onions, and garlic. Annatto oil is used in the basting sauce.

As I posted earlier, I was in Bacolod a few week ago. Chicken Deli Inasal was walking distance from the hotel, and my colleagues highly recommended it. I was hesitant at first, since what was served looked dry, but this version turned out the best from the three restaurants we went to. The pieces were flavorful and smoky. Because of the smaller size, we suspect they used native chicken. While waiting for our orders to arrive, we busied ourselves making our own dipping sauces from the complimentary soy, vinegar, calamansi, and bird's eye chilis. I prefer my dipping sauce vinegary, adding only a dab of soy to the sinamak. 

The restaurant can be reached through (+63) 034 433 3506.

Bacolod City's 18th Street Palapala for Barracuda Kinilaw and Lapu-Lapu Siningang

When my friend heard I was in Bacolod City for work, she recommended I try Palapala restaurant. Upon asking a local, it turns out there are two restaurants bearing the same name. One is near a mall, and the newer one was just a stone's throw (a long throw) away from our hotel. We went to the latter. I wanted to try what my friend recommended, but we were pressed for time. Perhaps next visit. 

18th Palapala, like many seafood restaurant in the south, offers their produce for the customers' perusal, to underscore they serve these fresh. I let my friends do the inspecting--I rarely go to the wet market, thus I left these to the experts. After making their choices to and leaving the cooking instructions to the staff, we were led to our table and waited for our orders to be ready. 

These are the stand-outs. 

Barracuda Kinilaw (Ceviche). This is the first time I tasted barracuda, and the combination of
the fish and the salted eggs was stellar: tangy, salty, pungent, and creamy. Who knew?

Lapu-Lapu Sinigang (Grouper in Sour Broth). Fresh is always best when it comes to  fish,
and this dish hots the rights spot. The acidity didn't overwhelm the delicate flavor of the fish,
 thus the creaminess of the grouper shone through.  The vegetables were firm, not the usual
soggy mess  in many siningang.

You may call the restaurant at (+63) 034 433 9153.

Bacolod's Manukan Country for Chicken Inasal

When I heard we were heading for Bacolod, revisiting Manukan Country near SM was on top of my to-do list. We chose Aida's stall. Unlike the usual commercilaized fare in Manila, the chicken here was juicy and cheap. The place was unpretentious, very basic. After washing our hands, we dug in, and all thoughts of dieting flew out the window. We also ordered a plate of talaba freshly caught from the sea.

Update: I got a nasty case of stomach flu the following day, which I suspect was because of the oysters. Note to self, avoid eating oysters at night.

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