Sunday, October 15, 2006

BREAKTHROUGH, ILOILO


Breakthrough Resto in Villa, Iloilo City.

Managat or Red Snapper.

Kaldereta (stewed goat meat) and tuna flakes (for tuna sisig).
Catfish or hito. Oily coat is released by the fish during broiling. Didn't order this as this is pretty common in Pampanga where i grew up.

Airy and wide. Ventilation is provided by large open areas and the beach beside the resto.

The world is an oyster. Only Php 35 / order. A plate is one order and it has 20-25 oysters in it. Not bad, huh. In Manila, 10 pieces would sell for Php 150 up depending on the variety.

The pearl of the orient. In this case, the real jewel is not the pearl but the meat! None of the sea taste we all hate (but love to smother in lemon or calamansi). This meat is sweet, which signifies only one thing - freshness.
Broiled managat. Like in many other parts of the Visayas, an order of a whole fish is cooked in 2 different ways: broiled and made into soup (See below).

Sinigang sa Batuan. Batuan is that green fruit they use to make the soup sour. In other parts of the country, we either use tamarind (sampalok), kamias or guava. See that sliver of fish fat? Yummy!

Baked clams. Garlic-y and succulent!

Aligue rice. Hot, moist rice mixed with crab fat!

Total bill
: Php 518.00 (all inclusive except tip)
Fare: Php 10.00 (one-way)


Holding tanks.
Losbters. Too pretty to eat.

Coconut Crab
(Birgus latro). Too large and scary! They are held in cages because they drown in water. They have what we call a brachiostegal lung - a cross between gills (hardly used) and lungs. They live in burrows underground and feed on anything organic - fruits, leaves, dead animals. Widely available in the Pacific and is regarded as a terrestrial hermit crab.

Crabby crabs.
Congregating where there is water movement.

Clammy clams.
Asleep, with no idea of their future.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Coconut crabs are seasonal here. If you want one in season, you have to really dig down in your pockets. Ugly creature but delicious!

undiscussablerealms said...

sarap! i love seafood.

Anonymous said...

thanks for the pictures and captions.posted them in ILOILO forums for ILOILO promotions.
also posted your BLOG as the source :)