The Culinary Adventures of the Bacolod Food Hunters!

18th street Palapala: Tangigue Kinilaw

Martin Banana — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 03:10:36 +0000

This article was made possible by the kind sponsorship of Dr. P.R.M, the newest member of the Bacolod Food hunters.

The island of Negros is blessed with abundant natural resources and surrounded by clean blue sea. It is not surprising then that seafood restaurants are popular in Bacolod. Tourists and locals alike enjoy the delicious bounty that the waters around Negros offer.

18th street PalaPala is one of those popular “al fresco” seafood restaurants. Tucked away along quiet 18th street Bacolod city, the restaurant attracts a lot of people.

The Bacolod Food hunters were invited to dinner by Dr. P.R.M. It was a dark and stormy night, but that didn’t dampen anyone’s enthusiasm in the least.

18th street Palapala

The inside of Palapala was well lit. Whimsical boat lamps hung from the ceiling while lamps inside huge shells adorned the walls. The seafood selection area was well lit with fluorescent lamps, enabling the diner to see with clarity the food that he orders.

Palapala beckons.

Soft and warm lighting sets the mood.

We headed to the selection area to make our orders. During the day, there are a lot of flies hovering about the fish and the crabs which is quite a turn-off for the squeamish. At night, there are fewer flies and it is a bit “cleaner”.

This is where you order.

The waiters call these shellfish "Dila-dila" or tongue shells because they look like huge black tongues.

Scallops!

Fish!

More fish!

Yet more fish...

If you don't like fish, you can also have chicken or pork.

Dr. P.R.M generously ordered a lot of food, enough to feed an army! I only wanted one thing, 18th street Palapala’s Kinilaw.

It is so delicious! Tangigue chunks mixed with white onions, salted egg, coconut milk, black beans and vinegar and then left to marinate so the citric acid cooks the fish before being served at your table. This is the dish that 18th street Palapala is famous for. The finest sushi in Bacolod does not even come close to the sheer magnificence of this dish !

Godlike kinilaw.

Our gracious host, Dr. P..R.M and his lovely lady.

Dr. P.R.M’s ordered food began to arrive and everything looked and smelled wonderful! It seemed that we had ordered too much food at first.

Porkchops. It reminded us of the time the Bacolod food hunters went to Balaring and ate nothing but porkchops in a seafood restaurant. Hilarious!

Delicious seafood sinigang.

Grilled squid.

Scallops with plenty of butter and garlic.

If you ever want to try seafood try 18th street Palapala! We highly recommend their Kinilaw.

Thank you Dr. P.R.M for the wonderful evening!

Dr. P.R.M likes Pao Tsin’s fried sharksfin siomai but he only eats it at Harrison’s plaza with plenty of chili soy sauce and washed down with buko juice and for his after meal exercise, a round or two at the stuffed toy crane game.

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Sugarcane as a snack: Pangos tubo.

Martin Banana — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 00:44:19 +0000

Sugarcane is everywhere in Negros Occidental. The Bacolod Food Hunters spotted a boy enjoying an afternoon snack and just relaxing and doing some serious “Pangos tubo.”

Bacolod Piaya Vendor: Hot fresh and tasty Piaya!

Martin Banana — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 12:48:23 +0000

As The Bacolod Food hunters drove by the University of Saint Lasalle their attention was drawn towards a group of people surrounding a vendor’s food cart. The Bacolod Food Hunters parked their car a few feet away and as they walked towards the cart, they noticed people walking away with brown paper bags and munching on what appeared to be white papery discs.

“It’s Piaya!” A Bacolod Food Hunter gasped.

The Bacolod Food Hunters decided to return the next day when there were less people buying piaya. They couldn’t help but snap a picture of the happy people munching on their fresh and piping hot piaya.

Lots and Lots of people!

The next day, the Bacolod Food hunters returned to LaSalle and were able to “interview” the vendor selling piaya. We did more munching on piaya than talking! We did discover that the vendor has been succesfully selling piaya in the same spot for 8 years!

The Piaya vendor and his cart. Behind him is a vendor selling chinese cakes.

Dough is wrapped around a tiny ball of ube and rolled flat.

The paper thin flattened dough is then put on a lightly greased hot iron plate.

The hot piaya is now ready to eat!

We decided to make a video on the spot! Such piaya making skill must not go unnoticed!

Remember, you can find the Piaya vendor near the University of Saint LaSalle Bacolod near bangga LaSalle. Drop by and have a hot piaya for merienda!

Little Bread house: Delicious Jamaican Patties

Martin Banana — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 06:32:44 +0000

Little Bread House is a tiny bakery in front of the college of San Agustin Bacolod. It is small and unassuming. At first glance, you would be tempted to dismiss it as an ordinary local bakery.

Little Bread House's cute sign

Once you enter, you notice that among the trays of bread that they sell, are trays of jamaican patties. These patties are the speciality of Little Bread House. They are fantastic! They are cheap and delicious, priced at 25-28 pesos per patty!

Cheesy Tuna, Chili beef and Chicken mushroom patties

The Patties are generously-sized and well-stuffed too. One patty will fill you right up. The Bacolod Food hunters suggest dropping by early in the morning when the patties are fresh from the oven.

A personal favorite: Chicken Mushroom patties

Imay’s : Fun dining at a seafood restaurant.

Martin Banana — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 05:02:41 +0000

The hot summer sun shone relentlessly down on Bacolod, stimulating the appetites of the Bacolod food hunters.

“I want to go to Balaring! ” A Bacolod food hunter moaned.

But Balaring was too far and everyone was already very hungry so we went to another seafood restaurant: Imay’s!

Imay's is near McDonald's Lacson.

The Bacolod Food hunters noticed a huge flock of parked cars outside Imay’s.

“This is a good sign, It’s a popular restaurant.” quipped Ilovepork.

As we entered we gasped in amazement. Imay’s was FULL! There were hordes of people having lunch!

Full of people!

Fortunately one of The Bacolod Food Hunters was a nephew of the owner and they were ushered to a vacant table.

Martin Banana took the opportunity to enjoy Imay’s interesting decorations. They were simple yet gave the impression that the diner was at the beach or at a beach-side restaurant.

An undersea themed wall with wooden fishes. Very nice.

Smile liked the Fish shaped lantern-like thingies hanging from the ceiling.

Fishies!!

A butete hangs above the cashier.

Imay’s is known for their seafood and their Filipino food. So the Bacolod Food hunters decided to place their orders. Despite the packed restaurant, the food arrived quickly and the Bacolod food hunters began tucking in.

Crispy Pata

Pinakbet

SeaFood Kare Kare

We had a lot of fun at Imay’s. The food was good. It was your typical Filipino seafood restaurant. Good, simple unassuming.

This attention to quality and simplicity has resulted to success for Imay’s. Lots of people chose to dine here for lunch. and get their seafoood fix. Imay’s is a good family restaurant.

The Bacolod food hunters noted that Buto’t Balat next to Imay’s had NO customers! We thought of the possible reason.

The name Buto’t Balat sounds unusual. The Bacolod foodhunters know that Buto’t Balat refers to the skin and bones used to make fish soup. It’s a Tagalog thing.

However to the typical Negrense. It seems to convey that you will be eating skin and bones and not get your money’s worth!

Bailon’s Piaya: The original crispy piaya

Martin Banana — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 02:05:23 +0000

The Bacolod Food hunters present by popular demand: Bailon’s Piaya

Bailon’s Food is located behind Lopue’s San Sebastian, near Bamboo tonogbanwa’s christmas village. The store is very simple and at first we couldn’t believe that this was really THE Bailon that sells the piaya.

Bailon's Food

We went inside and the first thing we noticed that the inside of Bailon’s food resembled a simple carinderia. There was a food display case with assorted food stuffs BUT NO piaya.

The very polite waitress apologized for having no piaya since someone had just placed an order for 700 pieces and they were all sold out. She suggested going to their foodstall near the old Bacolod city hall.

So we went and we got ourselves packs of Bailon piaya to munch on.

The famous Bailon piaya

The piaya was perfectly toasted, crispy and wafer-thin. The muscovado filling was only a thin layer on the insides of the piaya. It made for an interesting combination. The piaya was so light and addiciting that we found ourselves finishing the entire pack.

Oozing with muscovado goodness.

The best part of the whole experience was that the piaya wasn’t overly sweet and overstuffed like other piaya. Mmm.

Bailon’s is located at #17 San sebastian street Bacolod city. Telephone numbers are: 434-7997 and 434 7996

As we were going back to Bacolod foodhunters HQ we spotted what we thought was the best JEEPNEY body art ever!

OMG ! jeepney art! AWESOME!

Pendy’s: Posh and home like

Martin Banana — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 03:11:11 +0000

One of the most elegant and expensive restaurants in Bacolod is Pendy’s on Lacson street. When the Bacolod Food hunters heard that they were going to Pendy’s, complaints were heard from all around.

“It’s too expensive!”

“It’s too common!”

“It’s too POSH!”

Everyone doubled over in laughter after hearing the “posh” comment. That settled it. We were going to Pendy’s.

Pendy's: So posh

Pendy’s is located on Lacson street and it has a reputation for being the restaurant of choice of the rich people who live in Capitolville and Santa Clara.

We entered Pendy’s and we were immediately impressed by the elegant yet home-like atmosphere of the place. You feel as if you’re dining in a very elegant sala.

Posh.

Christmas Decor and a simplistic flower arrangement give the place an elegant feel

So Posh

The tablecloths are changed after EVERY customer.

We sat down and we ordered the house specialty: Callos. We also ordered an asparagus chicken sandwich (140 php) and another house specialty: Spareribs.

The food was fantastic!

The Callos was simply divine! It was stewed with lots of green peas, mushrooms, chorizo slices and potatoes which somewhat improved the taste of the soft tripe. The serving was very generous and everyone in the Bacolod Food hunters heaped praises upon the callos.

The divine callos

The Spareribs were also very soft and every bit as enjoyable. The serving was also very generous and came covered in a delicious sauce which goes very well with rice. Upon tasting the spare ribs, Berryblue proudly said that he would come back to Pendy’s more often from now on.

Spareribs!

The only low part of the Pendy’s dining experience was the laughable Chicken Asparagus sandwich. It was expensive and it looked and tasted like something a third grader might have cookedup.

What!? We're paying 140 pesos for this!?

We enjoyed every bit of our Pendy’s dining experience (sans sandwich) and we couldn’t resist passing by their pasalubong area where matrons with enormous diamond rings and sparkling gold necklaces were doing their pasalubong shopping.

Pasalubong!

Pendy's carries the best gourmet pasalubong in Bacolod

Pendy's well stocked pasalubong corner

We bought some gingerbread men to torture munch over coffee at Cafe Bob’s.

John Gingerbread man, you have been found guilty of...

Whenever you’re in Bacolod and you want to try out a “posh” restaurant, try out Pendy’s! It’s a good restaurant that may be pricey but it gives you good value for your money. You won’t be disappointed.

Just don’t order the chicken asparagus sandwich.

Namets! A Bacolod Food Movie

Martin Banana — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 00:38:21 +0000

The Bacolod Food Hunters are proud to promote Jay Abello’s film: Namets!

Everyone in The Bacolod Food Hunters recommend this film which is a celebration of Food and Love here in good ‘old Bacolod City to everyone!

Christian Vasquez and Angel Jacob play dueling chefs in this heartwarming romantic comedy about love, food and love of food. Namets! follows the ongoing flirtation between Jacko (Christian Vasquez) and Cassie (Angel Jacob), two Negrenses who grew up in Bacolod City, and whose lives revolve around food. Trouble starts when Jacko loses his italian restaurant Puccini’s and hires Cassie as a consultant for a total restaurant makeover. Cassie re-visions Puccini’s into a place that serves traditional Negrense food, and we are treated to the full panorama of Negrense cuisine and the idiosyncrasies of Negrense eating. Namets! was a finalist in the Full Length Feature category of the 2008 Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival

Don’t worry if you’ve missed the film. ORIGINAL DVDS can be bought for only 300 pesos from Enting’s and Cafe Uma. Proceeds from the sales of the DVDS will go to the Tapulanga foundation which is a non-profit charitable organization that helps provide educational, healthcare and micro-credit assistance to communities in the Hda. Tinihaban and neighboring areas.

Cafe Uma is located at CSI building., 15th & Lacson Sts. Bacolod City, Negros Occ. 6100.

Contact numbers are +63.34.7099966 and +63.34.4323853

We have never been so proud of Bacolod !! Go Bacolod, Go!

Ok, now here come the pictures! These pictures aren’t meant to be a summary of the movie, they’re meant to show the various food, locations and identify some of the actors/famous Bacolod Personalities whom we personally know in the movie. We know we’ve omitted a lot of other actors/people so please forgive us and enjoy the photos!

Namets!

The waterfall scene is hilarious! It's doubly funny if you're a negrense!

Jacko's restaurant Puccini's is actually Bar 21

Christian Vasquez (left) and Peque Gallaga as Dolpo (eating).

Christian Vasquez

Charlie Co, artist extraordinaire

Inside Cafe Bobs

Jade Snow Dionson (Nurse) and Dennis Ascalon (patient)

Napoleones. Roli's Napoleones by the look of them

Christian Vasquez

Native Chicken. Scrawny but bursting with flavor.

Angel Jacob threatens to brain Christian Vasquez with a huge can of tomato sauce

Shrimps, Squid and Shellfish at Burgos Market

Burgos Market

Charles Hilado (Left), Ronnie Lazaro (right)

Cansi, Cansi, Cansi!!

Batchoy

The Famous Enting making kinilaw out on a boat

Yum Yum Yum, Kinilaw!!!!

More Enting

Picnic on the Capitol Lagoon steps

Fresh Lumpia at El Ideal

Silay Cathedral

Some native delicacies at silay cathedral

Eating at The Ruins

At Aida's!

Chicken Inasal

Angel Jacob

Dominic Lindaya (seated), Carlo Lizardo (seated), Jepoy (seated)

This is a movie really worth watching. PLEASE buy the ORIGINAL DVD and support the Tapulanga foundation!

As a special bonus to all female fans of Christian Vasquez and Angel Jacob, we are including some of the ABSOLUTELY cute pictures found on the DVD’s photo gallery!

Angel Jacob

Christian Vasquez and Angel Jacob in USLS (C.V.) and Saint scholastica uniforms! (A.J)

Andrea Molina (Far left) poses with Christian Vasquez and Angel Jacob

Please Buy the ORIGINAL DVD and support Bacolod’s Local Artists and the Tapulanga foundation! Go Bacolod, Go!

Aidas at Manokan country

Martin Banana — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 11:47:20 +0000

Written by BerryBlue

Manokan Country

Manokan Country is the Mecca of the famed Bacolod chicken inasal. All who visit Bacolod must pay homage to the holy chicken or else they cannot truly say that they ‘have been’ to Bacolod. It would be like going to Japan and never eating sushi, or Italy and never having pasta. I know you get it.

The line of restaurants

A long line of restaurants would greet you as soon as you arrive. And us true Bacolenos would instinctively choose the province of Aida’s in Manokan Country.

Aida’s Counter

Sometimes instincts fail us. In this respect Aida’s was a dreadful mistake. Like moths to a flame our appetites were ruined by the sheer atrociousness of the service by the waitresses. A prime example of how good food can be utterly destroyed by f*cked up service. Yes its so bad it got me cursing.

How do I hate Aida’s, let me count the ways:

1.) Patience is a Virtue Not for the Hungry. Food took forever to arrive, please I love it when you starve me.

2.) Last In First Served. The patrons who arrived substantially later than us were served first. I should have gotten there a day after if I wanted to be served now.

The Interior of Aida's. Very Kitsch

3.) Coke to Coffee. We were served with slightly chilled Coke, when we asked for glasses with ice — we had to ask 4 times for it. By the time the ice arrived, our coke had turned luke warm. It could have been coffee for all we care.

Drizzle your rice with all the achuete oil you want before eating!

4.) The Pecho that Never Came. The table next to us were as aggravated as we were. All throughout lunch, our neighbors kept asking for their pecho. It arrived only when they have finished everything else. Bravo!

Aida's Delicious chicken inasal. Too bad it came very late!

5.) You Do The Waiting. When we called for the waitresses, they were the one’s who told us to ‘Wait’. And I thought only the French servers were rude.

6.) AAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH.

WHEREFORE, premises considered, I shall never set foot to Aida’s again.

How was the food? It was supposed to be great but I was already in such a bad mood I couldn’t savor it anymore. I was on the brink of walking out as I was flabbergasted to see the other table who arrived later but were served first. I walked to the kitchen and gave the servers a piece of my mind. If it weren’t for Christmas and Martin Banana preventing me from leaving, I would have stormed out of that shithole as fast as politicians jump bandwagons.

The only thing fast about Aida’s was how they processed the bill. By God, they could have a career with the BIR. Why don’t you shift professions ladies, and instead of serving food – go collect taxes. You’d do a better job and I won’t complain about your service.

Aida's: the portal to hell

So Bacolod and all those who wish to visit our lovely city, when you go to Manokan Country – its best you avoid this dreadful resto and go to the one beside it. Goodbye Aida, Hello Nena!

Note from Martin Banana:

While I am not as hot headed as my worthy companion berryblue, I must agree with his review on the service. There we were, all happy and expectant for a nice christmas eve chicken inasal lunch only to have it ruined by poor service. It was totally unfair to be served LAST, the other people had came in later than WE DID. Aida’s waitresses are so SLOW and inconsiderate, I think that they really put the “wait” in “waitress”

Food-wise , Aida’s serves DELICIOUS chicken inasal. Totally awesome chicken inasal. It’s a shame the service was ATROCIOUS even though the place was only FOUR TABLES full and operating at 1/8th capacity. But however for delicious food, we will do and endure anything!

Felicia’s Pastry Cafe

Martin Banana — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 00:30:31 +0000

Today was a grand day for the Bacolod food hunters. They were meeting P.G for lunch.

After finishing our siopao and snacking on a Lan Ten kikiam that Martin had bought for the occasion, The newly appointed Bacolod Food Hunter and P.G. headed for Felicia’s Pastry on 6th street.

Felicia's at 6th street

Felicia’s just opened recently. This little shop is so simple and unassuming that Martin thought it was a boutique. However upon entering, Martin immediately liked the warm and cozy interior. But it’s not the seating that will catch your eye. It’s Felicia’s beautiful cake display that will make one gasp in amazement.

Felicia's warm and cozy interior

P.G. chose a table and he told me that the callos that they serve is excellent. We were still full from the siopao so we opted for Felicia’s desserts.

We had three desserts out of the many beautiful treats Felicia’s had to offer.

A dessert they called cookies and cream! Delicious!

A brightly colored dessert just begging to be eaten

Mocha Caramel! This dish is a must try.

The Coffee orange caramels are so cute!

Luscious Banana Cream Pies

We had the cookies and cream, the chocolate caramel and the Dulce De Leche.

P.G. loved their exquisite Dulce de Leche and was all smiles while eating it. It was silky smooth and exquisite. It tasted like the finest cheesecake. Martin had never eaten anything like it.

Dulce De Leche

After that most delicious dessert, The Bacolod Food hunters knew that they would certainly be coming back to this cafe to try everything including the much talked about callos and sans rival.

Felicia’s is truly one of the best sweet and pastry shops in Bacolod. Give it a try. The portions are reasonably priced and the cafe atmosphere is comfortable and relaxing. The desserts are fresh and not stale unlike a certain other well known pastry shop in Bacolod. (which Martin thinks is overrated.)

Thanks P.G!