Iloilo Getaway with the gang! (Day 1)

December 26 to 29, 2014 became one of the highlights of my 2014. During these days, I, together with my boyfriend and friends, experienced a spectacular and wonderful stay in the province of Iloilo. We got to witness the many scenic spots there. We also got the chance to have a taste of their specialty which is the authentic La Paz Batchoy and the fresh seafoods and delicacies as well. Without further ado, here is our Day 1 tour around Iloilo (plus, many many pictures! :D). Enjoy!

December 26, 2014 - Day 1:

Upon arriving at the airport at around 12:30 in the afternoon, our friend, who is an Ilonggo, and their family friend, fetched us (For our whole stay in Iloilo, our friend offered their van specially for our trips). For our first stop, they brought us to Tatoy's Manokan and Seafoods to have our lunch. 

       Here is our first photo in Iloilo! :D

We ordered their specialty chicken, the binisayang manok, which costs at around 480 PhP. FYI, the prices of their food are already in dollar rate, meaning, much more expensive than their prices before.

   Tatoy's One Whole Chicken @ 480 PhP

We also ordered their Baked Scallops. Oh. Em. The scallops are soooo fresh and soooo delicious! It bursts in your mouth, really. Thumbs up! You should try this when you've got the chance to visit Iloilo.

           Baked Scallops @ 180 PhP

We also ordered their Garlic Rice. This is soooo yummy! Not only it has fried garlic bits sprinkled on top, their rice is also a bit sticky, somewhat similar to Japanese rice. I think this is also a buttered rice.

                       Garlic Rice

We also ordered Mangagat (Fried Fish, somewhat similar to Daing na Bangus). Unfortunately, I wasn't able to capture this because my friends already attacked on this one. :P

       Here we are while having our first       sumptuous lunch in Iloilo! Ay abaw! Pwerte! (Ilonggo's expressions :D)

From Tatoy's, we proceeded to Molo Church, one of the tourist spots in Iloilo. 

There is a stand nearby where bibingka is 

being sold. 6 small, thin, round pieces for 20 PhP. Their bibingka here is different from the one in Manila. The taste and content are so unique which make it even yummier! It is creamier and has buko strips which give the bibingka a unique and delicious taste.

    A shot of their bibingka and the Molo Church.

From Molo Church, we visited the house of Iloilo City's Mayor.

We then visited and strolled around Plazuela de Iloilo. 

    Here's a picture of me with my boyfriend. :)

      And a group jumpshot right here!

As soon as the darkness came, our Ilonggo friend brought us to Central Philippine University (CPU) and Angelicum Lizares Mansion to witness the beautiful display of christmas lights.

          The CPU's church from afar. 

      The shining Lizares Mansion in Angelicum.

After appreciating and taking pictures of these beautiful sceneries, we passed by the Iloilo Provincial Capitol, wherein there are also beautiful christmas lights displayed all around the place.

After a tiring but fun-filled day, we had our sumptuous dinner buffet at Freska, Hometown Buffet, one of the famous restaurants here in Iloilo which is located at the Ayala Technohub in Smallville Business and Leisure Park, Mandurriao. They serve fresh seafoods and vegetables and also Ilonggo delicacies. Rate for Friday to Sunday buffet is 349 PhP/person.

For my first plate, I had Kansi Ng Negros, Crispy Crablets, Grilled Stuffed Squid, Shrimps with Aligue Sauce and Crispy Kangkong. 

I also had Scallops, Oysters, Kilawin na Tanigue, Aligue Rice and the desserts which are kakanin, bukayo and ube and buko pandan flavored shaved ice cream! Ohh, THIS.IS.HEAVEN.

And for our last groupie for the day (kinda blurred though), 

What we can say at the end of our Day 1 in Iloilo is: Ay abaw pwerte! Namit gid! (Very delicious!) Very excited for tomorrow's tour and of course, food trips! :D

*Days 2 and 3 are in separate blogs 'cause those can't fit in one blog! :P

Silantro Fil-Mex Cantina

One wednesday noon, I and my boyfriend decided to have our lunch at Kapitolyo, Pasig. He then brought me to Silantro Fil-Mex Cantina. This was our first time to eat here. Since it was lunch time when we arrived, we were on the waiting list. We waited for around 15-20 minutes before we got accomodated. 

While waiting for our turn to be seated, we checked out their menu, and here it is! 

We asked the waiter regarding their best sellers, and these are the Beef Nachos and Beef Quesadillas. So we ordered those two. For our drink, we opted the Fresh Dalandan Juice.

I have also observed the place. The place is kind of relaxing and is suitable for hanging out and getting some snacks for the gang or even for your family. You also get to choose where to sit, either inside or outside.

So when our orders came, we got shocked by their servings!

    Beef Nachos

Really, this is already good for 3-4 persons! Same as their Beef Quesadillas (which I think can serve up to 5 persosn 'cos it makes one feel full easily).

    Beef Quesadillas

They have 3 choices of sauces for the nachos. The white one tastes a bit like mayo garlic. The green one tastes like green leafy and the orange one is spicy. 

Their Beef Nachos is a mixture of nachos, tender beef chunks, minced tomatoes and onions, dressed with melted cheese and mayo garlic and sprinkled with silantro. The combination of the different spices makes this food scrumptuous. We can't even stop eating! :p

The Beef Quesadillas is the best one that I've tasted so far. This was the first time we saw a quesadilla this big and with fries as its topping. So we became curious about its taste. When we took a bite of this yummy food, we became speechless. Like in our minds we were saying "Oh my gosh, this is so heavenly! I want to eat all of this!!". 

There are still other food in their menu that we want to give a try. So we therefore conclude that we will be coming back again! :D 

Personal rating:

Food - 5/5

Price - 5/5

Ambiance - 5/5

Crew - 5/5

Will be coming back? Definitely! :D

*Silantro Fil-Mex Cantina, 75 East Capitol Drive, Kapitolyo, Pasig

It's Maginhawa Time!

Maginhawa is now known as being one of rising popular places for food trips and good eats. One of the restaurants I've tried here is Indonyaki. As its name says, it serves Indonesian cuisine. For first timers, I will give you ideas on what to expect before going here:

1. Set-up - Indonyaki is in an open area, so it is best to eat here during dinner so that it will be a bit more relaxing and less humid. 

2. Operating hours - It is open from Monday to Sunday from 12nn to 11pm (except Sunday, it opens at 3pm but still closes at 11pm).

3. Customer Service - Their staff are very accomodating and friendly. Despite the busy day and long hours of working, they still manage to work effectively and serve the customers with smiles on their faces. :)

4. Food - Here comes the main character of this whole blog post, their food!! :D Let me start. 

So we ordered a bunch of various food types to fulfill our stomach wants. We ordered their signature rice called Indonyaki rice, their special chicken called Ayam Goreng, Pancit and Eggplant poured with their sambal sauce. 

We also ordered Sate Ayam, chicken chunks with peanut butter sauce. Oohh, how mouthwatering is that!

5. Price - I can say that the prices of their food are very affordable, not only for working people but also for students. (I'll capture their prices the next time I visit, then I'll post it here so you will have an idea before visiting Indonyaki.)

6. Cleanliness - Even though the place is small and sometimes gets crowded, they are still able to maintain the restaurant's cleanliness.

So the next time you crave for something Indonesian, go try here at Indonyaki. I promise, it will definitely be worth it. :D

Personal Rating:

Food - 5/5

Price - 5/5

Ambiance - 3.5/5

Crew - 5/5

Will be coming back? Definitely!

*Indonyaki, 54 Maginhawa, Diliman, Quezon City

Afternoon snack at Toast Box

Eating at Toast Box always gives me Singapore feels. This is my third time to eat at Toast Box. The line of customers ordering is not that long, be it lunch or dinner. Their customers are a mix of nationalities (Filipinos, of course, and then I noticed some Chinese, American and Spanish people 😉). While I and my boyfriend were ordering our food at the counter, we heard the members of the crew talking to each other about the customers' orders in Singaporean Chinese! This gave me a feeling similar to the one that I felt back when I was in Singapore. 😁 (this made me feel nostalgic). We thought that the crew was really trained well not only because of their ability to speak a bit of Chinese but also because of the way they prepare their customers' orders (especially the preparation of the tea! Sad I wasn't able to take a picture of it 😞). 

We ordered Kaya Toast Set (P145), 

This toast has softened butter and coco jam inside. The combination is great! Coco jam's not too sweet. :)

Floss Thick Toast Set (P160), which has 1 Kaya Toast bread with soft boiled eggs and Teh (Nanyang Milk Tea),

This Floss Thick Toast, as its name says, has really a thick topping of floss on top. And it also has a hint of sweetness because of the sweet syrup, I think.

Nonya Laksa (P225), which is their authentic Singaporean Laksa,

This really is the bomb (the bomb 1 :p),

And Char Kway Teow (P225) (my personal favorite! :D).

This is ALSO the Bomb (the bomb 2!) :D

All of our orders are good for sharing (2 persons only). 

If you like Singaporean cuisine, Toast Box has it. Try here now! I promise that every penny you'll be spending will be worth it. 😊

Personal rating:

Food- 5 stars

Price- 3.5 stars

Ambiance- 4 stars

Crew- 4 stars

Will be coming back?- Definitely!

*Toast Box, 3rd Level, Greenbelt 5, Makati City

Mad Mark's Creamery and Good Eats

For our two friends' joint birthday celebration, they have 
decided to treat us at Mad Mark's Creamery and Good Eats
Glorietta 5 branch.

Upon entering Mad Mark's, their cheerful crew greeted us and 
accomodated us immediately. Although the place is quite small,
the interior and the tables and chairs are designed and arranged
neatly. Because of their small area, they usually have a waiting list during their peak hours (lunch and dinner), so you should arrive a bit earlier if you are planning to have your lunch/dinner here.

We ordered Patatas Bravas (P75/bowl). This can be eaten alone without any dip because 
of the spices. 

Ragin Cajun Wings (4 pcs. chicken wings coated in tangy, sweet 
and spicy sauce). These 4 pcs. chicken wings cost P170 which is 
already affordable.

 

and of course, their Signature Steak, which we requested to be
cooked medium rare (medium rare means the center of the 
meat will be slightly reddish-pink in color instead of red) 
for P265 (we ordered the regular one). You can choose your sauce
for the steak and I chose the Bootstrap Sauce, which complemented
the taste of the steak.

You can also choose a side dish for your steak. I chose broccoli with 
carrots, and man, its so good! Maybe because of the melted cheese 
poured over the veggies which made it taste kind of creamy.  

You can also choose between rice and Smashed Potato to go with 
your steak. I chose the Smashed Potato. Their version of the mashed
potato is so good and yummy because it is really made from real
potato chunks. 

To end our scrumptious meal, we ordered their best seller Half Baked
Madagascar ice cream for P85/scoop. 

It is a vanilla flavored ice cream with
bits of cookie dough.

Overall, I really had a very good experience. Will definitely come
back to try the other food in their menu! :D

Personal rating:

Food- 4.5 stars

Price- 4.5 stars

Ambiance- 4 stars

Crew- 4.5 stars

Will be coming back?- Definitely!

*Mad Mark's Creamery and Good Eats, 2nd Level, Glorietta 5, Makati City