Friday Photo: 6 | 28

I've been craving for this for the longest time so when I had the chance, I immediately grabbed it. Nowhere else but Netong's!

Friday Photo: 4 | 28

Restaurant... with chairs still up! It's because it rained so hard before we arrived and water got inside the establishment. But that didn't turn me off because their pizza, particularly their All Meat topping, is a favorite.

Pizzaro
SM City Iloilo Southpoint

Exploring Harbour City Dimsum House

Aside from Korean restaurants, another Asian gastronomic spot common in Iloilo City is that of the Chinese. Well, it isn't unusual since there are a lot of Chinoys who are permanently residing in the city since many many years ago.

A couple of weeks ago, my husband and I "explored" Harbour City Dimsum House in SM City Iloilo. We've been meaning to try the said resto since its opening however, it is always crowded and this pregnant woman didn't have the patience to wait for a few minutes. However, two weeks ago, we went to the resto around 30 minutes before lunch time hence we were accommodated immediately since there are a few unoccupied tables.

Initially, we ordered dimsum experience, beef sate regular and beef steak rice.

The beef steak rice (Php 69) was served immediately as it was readily available from their food cart. I love that the beef is tender amd the taste is just right - not bland and not too salty. Even the husband who is not a big fan of beef and pork loved it so it is definitely good.

Going Japanese at Mr. Misono Atria Park District Iloilo

One fine work day, a stressed husband asked if we can go out and go somewhere we can chill and relax. Since it’s was holday (EDSA Anniversary) and the company is not stringent with attendance during special holidays, I decided to take a half day off and be with him wherever he wants to go.

We went to Atria in San Rafael, Mandurriao as it isn’t usually crowded as compared to malls during a holiday. We scout the vicinity for restaurants we haven’t tried before and we ended up at Mr. Misono. What we initially planned to have “light snacks” and just chill turned into a food trip that resulted into a bill that costed us as much as what we usually pay for lunch or dinner. No, the foods aren’t that expensive but they are so good we ended up ordering more.

Initially, we ordered Judoka burger, California Maki and miso soup. We devoured them so fast that my husband decided that we order one more burger. We added M.E. burger and later on malted milk for dessert.

The Judoka burger (Php 144) and M.E. burger (Php 125) are almost the same except that the former has breaded onions. Patties of both burgers are crispy.

Saturday Dinner at Hukad sa Golden Cowrie, SM City Iloilo

Change is inevitable.

If you’ve never been to Iloilo for a couple of years or so, you might not have seen how progressive it has become. New business establishments are sprouting everywhere and the existing ones have been renovated to cater to the growing needs of the people. One of those establishments that has just gotten a facelift, or at least an expansion, is the SM City Iloilo in Mandurriao.

The expansion gave way to various shops, service centers and restaurants including Hukad sa Golden Cowrie. Hukad, which originated in Cebu, offers all time Filipino favorites such as lechon kawali, kare kare and adobong pusit along with many Visayan menus.

The other week, we tried their chicken pandan, ngo hiong and bulalo soup.

Chicken pandan (Php 146), deep fried marinated chicken wrapped in pandan leaves.

Korean Restaurants in Iloilo

Earlier this week, I, my husband and some friends enjoyed a Korean buffet dinner in one of the many Korean restaurants in the city. The day after that, pictures of a friend eating in another Korean restaurant appeared in my Facebook timeline. I then thought of other Korean restaurants I have been to before as well as the ones I haven’t been to. I realized that, indeed, the city has a lot to offer for this nationality when it comes to food destinations. Hence, the idea to list down these Korean restaurants is born.

Here, I am sharing this information not just for the Koreans by blood, but also Koreans by heart as well as those who just want to have their kimchi and galbi cravings satisfied.

Kang Byeon Riverside Restaurant

This is the first Korean restaurant I’ve been to. It is located in Times Square Building across University of San Agustin. I love the ambiance of this restaurant as it is located along the Iloilo River, as the name implies. From the glass window, you can see the growing mangroves on the other side of the river bank, the Jalandoni bridge and of course, the river itself.

While I like this restaurant in terms of location and ambiance, I cannot say much about the food because we didn’t actually ordered Korean food. We ordered Japanese food in a Korean restaurant. LOL! Yeah we’re weird like that. I was craving for sushi that time thus explains it. But I think their food is okay based on the people coming to eat.

Don Galbi Restaurant

This is the second Korean restaurant in the city I’ve been to. It is located in Ledesco Village in La Paz, which for me is quite inconvenient to visit. But then, it is just beside the Korean salon a friend is raving about so one can just simply hop next door to have his or her Korean fix after having the mane fixed.

I love the setting of this resto for it is very Korean starting from leaving the footwear at the door to using Korean tables (table with short legs) with the customers sitting on the floor.  I love their galbi and they do not scrimp when it comes to side dishes. Service is fast too!

Hancook

This is the third and recent Korean restaurant I’ve been to. It is located in Doña Aurora Subdivision near University of San Agustin. The area is small and can accommodate I think only around 25 to 30 people at a time. Also, since the area is small, they have few manpower too. I think there is only one or two servers thus the delay in delivering foods especially when they are running a promo like the Php 249 buffet we recently availed.