Steps of Rome

This trip to Iloilo with some banker friends had a bit of an awkward itinerary; we arrived in the city around 2pm, and we were famished for lunch.  Our first stop was Plazuela de Iloilo along the Diversion Road, and when I saw that most restaurants were already closed for the afternoon break, I was pretty worried.  We managed to make our way to the Steps of Rome, which luckily was open.  As we entered, I half expected a giant poster of either the Spanish Steps or the Fountain of the Fisherman's Boat to adorn the wall, but the restaurant had nothing of the sort, the decoration was pretty modern.

With the exception of the oil-based shrimp pasta, the other pasta sauces were distinctly on the sweet side.  The pizzas also had that sweet leaning, as if the sweetness came naturally for the cook.  In addition, the pizzas were slightly different from the traditional baked pizzas; these were at room temperature as they were delivered to our table.  The crust was crunchy, and if you take a closer look, you could see that the crusts were baked dark brown to achieve the crunchy effect.  I would think that the toppings were added on after the crust had cooled.  We were very hungry, so the food was consumed in around 15 minutes.

Prepare around P300 per head for a quick lunch, or maybe some P400 per head for a dinner with some variety.  Prices are a bit like Manila, so that would be on the high end for Iloilo.

The Spanish Steps of Rome is one of the most well-known staircases in Europe, and is an oft-visited tourist spot, a sort of like meeting place if you will.  From what I have heard, the steps were named as such because the Spanish Embassy was located in the area.  I also heard that historically, French artists would ask beautiful women to pose for paintings beside the Fisherman's Fountain, and as such, men from all around Europe would hang out in the area in the hope of meeting beautiful women.