Panaderia de Molo

We got to the airport well ahead of our scheduled flight to Manila.  This allowed us some time to purchase some sweet delicacies for pasalubong--galletas and banadas.  We were informed by the lady in the counter that the most special (and most expensive) goodies come from Panaderia de Molo, the history of which dates back to more than a hundred years.  I soon learned that their products are priced almost double that of the competitors, which I purchased out of curiosity.  The good part is that when I got home, Vicky was very happy I had bought for her the creme de la creme of banadas, which happens to be her favorite snack item. In all fairness, the galletas was cast sturdy and survived the plane trip with hardly any cracked pieces.  I felt the banadas was on the hard side, but hey, Vicky's the expert and she says they're terrific.  I was told that around fifteen years back, the cookies would be packed in round metal tins, but probably in order to make the product affordable, today the cookies are packed in plastic and sold in cardboard boxes.

Wewin's

I asked out driver to take us to where we could buy some pasalubong goodies and we were brought to Wewin's which wasn't far off from the SM Mall.  I was a bit disappointed as the store didn't have much variety to offer, and we only picked up some ube flavored piyaya.  It turns but that this brand isn't as big as some of its competitors, which we learned when we reached the airport.

Hotel Del Rio

I'm getting old.  I thought that my spiel on Iloilo was already done but it appears that I haven't written about our buffet breakfast at Hotel Del Rio, which is aptly named, as the river is right along the backyard of the hotel.  For just under P300, we had a sampling of the easy life--fruits, cereals, chocolate, coffee, fried rice, adobo, sausages, ham and scrambled eggs.  The property has been open since the mid-sixties, and I could see that the management had taken great pains to renovate the property on a regular basis.

Pirates

After our grill dinner, we spent some time at the Pirates Bar at the Smallville area.  As you can see in the picture above, the pirate ship that graced the building facade seems straight out of a Hollywood movie!  I had a few shots of Kahlua, while me friends downed several bottles of San Miguel beer.  Now drinking here was quite cheap, we only spent some P800 for a group of 4.  The big problem was that my hotel room overlooked the open air bar, and the rock band continued to play until 3am.  Despite the fact that we called it quits at midnight, and that were giddy from the nightcap, I hardly got any sleep!

Tatoy's

We had a rugged dinner at Tatoy's Manokan, which is in the Molo district, around half an hour's drive from the city center.  I was quite surprised to see that the city has its own share of traffic buildup, which is a far cry from the quiet drives that I remember the first time I visited Iloilo in the early nineties.  Tatoy's Manokan is a popular chicken & seafood restaurant by the sea, and I was told that the restaurant started off as a small shack around 40 years ago.  Judging from the number of vehicles coming in the grill restaurant still has quite a clientele.  We had dinner at the private huts beside the shoreline, and it was good thing that the temperature was cool, and the wind was coming in pleasant gusts; we were pretty comfortable.

We had the whole range of grilled items--squid, chicken and pork, and some steamed shrimps. The ladies also asked for green mangoes and bagoong (shrimp paste), which complemented the grilled dishes.  The chicken used is native chicken, lean and slightly tough, but tasty.  It's not cheap though, prepare around P300 per head, which I thought was also like prices of ihaw-ihaw restaurants in Manila.

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.

Deco's

We had to take a fast lunch in order to arrive on time for our mid-afternoon flight back to Manila.  We chose to have it at Deco's La Paz Batchoy, which dates back to pre-war era. This hearty noodle soup tastes good, but has a lot of liver, pork chicharon and eggs, so don't look at me if your cardiologist gives you a scolding!  Comes to your table steaming hot, and costs just under P100 to get a full tummy.

Ponsyon

When I first read the restaurant signboard, I read it as "Pensyon," and I asked myself why would anyone want to name his restaurant that?  I merely guessed that restaurant was probably connected with a pension house somewhere.  To my embarrassment, my host corrected me and told me that the restaurant was called "Ponsyon," the Ilonggo word for "Feast!"  And what a feast we had--baked scallops, crispy pork, grilled managat (fish), clams, sizzling bulalo and chicken binakol (chicken soup cooked with coconut water and coconut meat, the specialty of the house).  The staff were very accommodating and service was pretty fast. Food came in hot, but I had expected the portion sizes to be a little bit more generous.  I quickly learned that Ponsyon is actually an extension of the famous Breakthrough restaurant, which is located right alongside the seashore.  That was why the managat fish tasted so familiar--it was something that I had tried some months back during my last trip to Iloilo.  While Breakthrough does has its rustic charm, Ponsyon is a bit more upscale--air-conditioned, more comfortable and with fancier food presentation.  We spent something like P600 per head, and walk out probably gaining 5 pounds each!

Plazuela de Iloilo

For dinner, we ventured out and found ourselves at the Plazuela de Iloilo mini-mall, which has such a quaint Spanish-Filipino architecture that was entirely a match with the older buildings that were spread all around the city.  The mall has plenty of eating places and a wide plaza where I understand turns into an open-air tiangge during special holidays and weekends.  Concerts are also held in the open area, an activity which makes the mall the popular gathering spot for the younger generations.  The corner driveway greets you with a lovely water fountain, which somehow reminded me of the water fountain at the foot of the Nagtahan bridge at the intersection of Forbes and Aurora Boulevard (I heard this gorgeous fountain was relocated by the MWSS to their head office at the UP Balara compound).  As we roamed about, I also came across a store that displayed an electric train set (pictured below). I stayed on for a good 10 minutes, marveling at the beauty of the toy set and the realistic detail of the hillside--brings out the kid in me!

Smallville 21

After lunch, we took some time to drive around some newly opened residential subdivisions in Iloilo in order to get a good picture of real estate appreciation in the city.  By 4pm, we checked in at the Smallville 21 Hotel.  I must say that for P2,500 per night (breakfast included), this was already good value--rooms were spacious and pretty clean.  The hotel is right next to some restaurants and bars, and there are pros and cons to its location--very convenient for dinner and drinks, but also a pain when you'd like to get some sleep half past midnight.  Unfortunately, the rooms are not sound-proof and while the sound that reaches your room is already muted, the bass guitar and drums can still be irritating to sleepyheads like me.

Joy-Joy's

The plane ride from Cebu to Iloilo was short but bumpy (I usually get air-sick if I don't take pills like Dramamine or Bonamine).  Once we got to Iloilo, we drove around a few project sites and then stopped for lunch at Joy-joy's which had an amazing recipe for catfish in coconut milk (their specialty dish).   We also had a couple of buckets of oysters, but I was a tad disappointed as these were small, fresh but no longer plump.  I figured that our host spent something like P250 per head; we also had grilled pork chops, squid and soft drinks.

Biscocho Haus

Even on workdays, time flies when you are having fun.  We finished our trip to Iloilo with a last minute stop at Biscocho Haus for pasalubong shopping.  I spent some P800 on galletas, barquillos, butterscotch squares, piaya, merengue!  It's practically the must-visit shop for tourists, and it's conveniently located on the road to the new airport in Santa Barbara town (the old airport is now being developed into a new business district by the Megaworld Corporation).   You can't miss it, the sign (and the structure) calls attention, as you can see on the right.

Breakthrough

Our lunch meeting was held at the Breakthrough restaurant, and our hosts made sure that our tummies were well taken care of.  This restaurant is located by the seashore, and when you enter, you can see the available food all stacked up are ready to be served.  In this case, the lechon plates were all displayed in one shelf!

You can see the water tanks where live seafood were kept.  You merely point to what you want, and they will cook it for you.  They also had a wide array of other viands.

We started off with delicious clear fish head soup.  Shrimps and scallops were next in line as we moved on to appetizers.  The rice came with lots of crab fat--ouchey for the cholesterol count but yummy to the palate!  The native chicken was fried, and had very little fats--the meat could be considered a bit tough, but the taste was very good.  Squid came in two different recipes, stuffed and with garlic on a sizzling plate.  The piece de resistance?  It was a delectable fish the name of which escapes me now.  Soft, very tasty white meat, absolutely a gem!

Seaside restaurants have a restful air, and despite the heat of the noontime sun, the breeze kept our spirits up.  When we arrived, I had the urge to put on my swimming trunks, but the food started coming in and I my concentrated thoughts went to the meal before us.  I would estimate that the meal would have come to some P400 per head; we had a wonderful eating experience.