Roberto's siopao, Iloilo City

The wife had a quick trip to Iloilo before the Holy Week. I suggested that if they had free time she should ask about siopao from Roberto's. Roberto's is probably the most popular place for siopao in Iloilo City. The pleasant surprise was we got a couple as pasalubong that we enjoyed the following day for breakfast.

Roberto's King Siopao has ham, chinese sausage, chicken-pork adobo and egg

Here's a close-up of the fillings for the King Siopao

Another close-up that captured the steam coming off the siopao after we heated it.

You can see the ham, sausage, adobo and egg in this photo.

I missed buying some the last time I was in Iloilo. Hopefully, there's another opportunity to travel there in the near future. Maybe then I can also get some to take home and enjoy eating with family. 

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Vegan cookies from Iloilo - Bread Basket

I bought these cookies at Bread Basket in Iloilo. We discovered Bread Basket last year when we got some reall good muffins from their branch across from Seda Hotel where we stayed.

A pack of assorted vegan cookies - 100% plant-based.

A peek inside the pack

The mango-infused cookie is really good. 

I got this pack and a box of pastries from their branch at SM City Iloilo. It's good for pasalubong and our daughter loves their muffins. So I got her some muffins that she got to enjoy for merienda.

 

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Puto manapla from Iloilo

I arrived at the office one morning to find our staff excited by the rice cakes given to them by one of our faculty members. One of our lecturers regularly commute between Iloilo and Quezon City and brought with him puto as pasalubong to the staff. These were not the regular puto manapla that you can now also buy at markets here but flavored variants - cheese and ube.

Ube and cheese flavored puto manapla

I was fortunate to have a share of the puto as the staff offered some to me. I consider this as comfort food among the many that bring back happy memories.  

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Back at Breakthrough for lunch

We just had to go to Arevalo to eat at either Breakthrough or Tatoy's. Breakthrough's menu has more items though and we didn't feel like eating chicken so we went to Breakthrough for a heartly lunch.

Diwal or angel wing clam is popular in the region. The best are supposed to be from Capiz, in Roxas City. This is supposed to be abundant in clean waters so if there is no or few diwal, then that means the waters are polluted. Its actually a good example of how we can gauge cleanliness in nature.

More diwal in another basket. 

Other live fish in the aquariums include lapu-lapu varieties and tilapia

Other food available and on display include grilled pork, vegetables, shrimps, etc. Of course, you can also order other items including pancit (noodles), drinks and dessert.

Variety of fish for 'paluto' including tangigue and managat.

A view of the beach, waters and Guimaras Island. Surprisingly, the weather was fair despite the approaching storm.

Another view of the beach. Noticeable is the cleanliness of both sands and water - a testament to Iloilo's commitment to clean-up. You can observe the same at Tatoy's, which is not far from Breakthrough.

Grilled tangigue, which is a variety of mackerel.

We saw that they had mangoes available at the counter. These are supposedly from Guimaras, which is famous for its mangoes. They are recognized to be of the highest quality among Philippine mangoes.

Halaan or clam soup just the way we like it. Perfect for rainy days.

My friends ordered crabs. You can select live ones from the tank at the restaurant and ask them to cook it the way you like them.

 

There's an FIC stand inside the restaurant for those who was some ice cream for dessert. Payment is separate from the restaurant bill. Its actually a good dessert for those who feel "umay" after eating a lot of tasteful food.

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Dinner at Ponsyon by Breakthrough at Plazuela

What to do at a city renowned for gastronomy but enjoy the food. Due to the inclement weather (there was a storm the past days), we decided to eat at a familiar place at Plazuela. Ponsyon by Breakthrough is conveniently located near where we are staying and serves items on the menu of its mother restaurant in Villa. They just don't have live seafood that you can choose from.

Baked scallops

Halaan soup as we like it

Grilled managat is something we regularly order. Managat is a variety of snapper that can be cooked in a variety of ways including sinigang (with soup) or steamed.

This was a really good dinner for our first night in Iloilo during this quick trip. 

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Sto. Tomas de Villanueva Church, Miag-ao, Iloilo

I am back in Iloilo. While this trip is mainly work-related, we were planning to have a side trip during our free time. Unfortunately though, a storm is arriving soon in this area. Tropical storm Basyang is currently inundating provinces in Mindanao and Visayas, and is expected to bring heavy rains to Iloilo today. We might just be content on doing indoor activities then.

Meanwhile, I am content in posting (late post) some photos of Miag-ao Church that I took during my travel here last November. 

Church facade 

UNESCO market recognizing the church as a World Heritage Site

The church as seen from the grounds

 

The main altar features a retablo with key figures such as the crucified Christ and the Sto. Nino.

The church features a long main aisle, which is preferred by many for church weddings (i.e., the bridal march is longer and somewhat more dramatic).

Another view of the church interior

More on Iloilo later! 

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Dinner at Breakthrough Restaurant, Arevalo, Iloilo

Our first dinner in Iloilo had to be special since it was our daughter's first time in Iloilo. My wife also was not able to join their group dinner when she arrived ahead of us. It had to be Breakthrough but not at the nearby branch at Plazuela but at the one in Arevalo, by the sea. There was no traffic on that Friday evening so we got there ahead of the usual Friday dinner crowd. Here's what we had at the restaurant:

Grilled managat (red snapper)

Their version of the popular Chop suey

Prawns cooked in garlic and butter

Blue crabs also cooked in garlic and butter

Clam (halaan) soup

There are many places to eat at in Iloilo but we really just had to had our meals at the "must go" places like Tatoy's and Breakthrough. We are already looking forward to the next trip to the city of gastronomic delights. 

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Chocolate review: Lorenzo Farm Milk Chocolate

I suddenly remembered that we still had some chocolates from Iloilo. I also had a draft saved about one of the chocolates I got from the Molo Mansion souvenir store. The chocolate is produced by Lorenzo Farm located in Dingle in the central part of Iloilo Province. This is another town with a heritage church and rich history not just dating to the Spanish period but also pre-colonial history.

The wrapper features the Dinagyang Festival, one of the major festivals held in the Visayas every January. The others include the Ati-atihan in Kalibo, Aklan and the Sinulog in Cebu.

Details on the chocolate at the back of the wrapper.

Information about the maker and its production of cacao.

Nutrition information and ingredients

The chocolate is revealed after unwrapping

This is a good enough chocolate. It is not so sweet and you can still detect the cacao. I thought it was more refined than some chocolates I bought in Davao before that tasted rather raw. There's definitely room for improvement here and hopefully the maker can continue to refine their product. I forget how much a bar cost but it was not expensive. I think I just hesitated to buy a lot as I was afraid I would be disappointed (like what happened to some of the Davao chocolates I bought before). Is it a must buy as an souvenir? Maybe, if you want to enjoy locally made chocolate. You really don't go to Iloilo for their chocolate as the province offers a lot more than this. 

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Lunch at Tatoy's, Atria, Iloilo City

I continue on my feature on our recent travel to Iloilo. This time, I just wanted to share about the food in Iloilo, which has been recognized as a gastronomic destination (UNESCO Creative. City of Gastronomy) And that was before that Michelin list came out! Being half Ilonggo and regularly traveling to my Tatay's hometown and elsewhere in the province, I've enjoyed the food there and would gladly recommend the usual, popular dishes. But I do recommend people trying the food they usually serve in homes including many versions of adobo, KBL, laswa and kansi.

Baked clams (talaba)

Tatoy's version of the popular pansit bihon

Grilled native chicken

We actually had two lunches at different Tatoy's branches. On our first day, it was at Atria. On the second day, we went to the main branch in Villa, Arevalo. There is another branch near the airport but perhaps that's a place to eat at as a last resort or last chance before departure? Maybe others will eat there upon arrival after missing Ilonggo food for a long time?

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Mortuary Chapel of San Joaquin, Iloilo

San Joaquin, Iloilo also has a mortuary chapel that was designated as a National Cultural Treasure. It features a baroque design that has been preserved over so many years. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take a good photo of the chapel itself. We didn't stop by for photos, and I was only able to take this quick photo of the main gate to the cemetery that leads to the chapel.

 

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San Joaquin Church, Iloilo

The last time I was in San Joaquin, Iloilo was on a side trip in September 2024. It was raining then and I couldn't get a good photo of the church. It was also closed and so I wasn't able to get photos of the interior. Two weekends ago, we were back in San Joaquin and I made sure we could go out and take some nice photos of one of the heritage churches in the province.

Photo of the church with the image of Christ the King at the center of the plaza

The details on the facade depicts the Spanish victory over the Moors in the Battle of Tetuan.

Photo of the church front showing the historical markers and the statues of saints including San Joaquin.

Historical marker ca. 1977

Inside the church is a long aisle leading to the main altar. The ceiling appears to have been reconstructed and includes two giant fans to help make parishioners more comfortable.

The main altar features this retablo.

A more recent marker relating the history of the church and the carving on its front pediment.

Plaque stating the church to have been designated as a National Cultural Treasure in July 2001.

There's a view of the Garin Farm cross from the church grounds. We actually came from there before we went to San Joaquin Church.

More on the heritage churches in the next posts! 

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