I really don't know why people would come here and recommend it to friends. But the only explanation is that they have no standards by which to compare the horrible stuff at this venue with what is really really good.
First off, most filipino cooking is not their own going back centuries, but is a mixed bag of lousy Chinese, boring Spanish and awful American food preparation that is at the low end of the food spectrum.
Secondly, there are ways to prepare chicken, pork, fish and vegetables that is wonderful, and then there are ways that this place represents.
The meats are all dreadfully overcooked so that any flavour integral to the dish is gone! Dried out chicken (manok) pretends to be crispy, fatty pork dishes (baboy) mock the truly good, and the fish and seafoods are so horridly overcooked that it's natural flakiness and flavour is completely gone. How ridiculous.
I had 4 dishes, hoping to hit at least one that was good.
None were...
The garlic kangkong was stringy and became a battle getting it out of my teeth!
The complimentary fish soup was fatty, ugly and, except for the overpowering vinegar bite, tasteless.
The other mains were no better, and so bad I don't even remember what they were.
But the house was packed, both sides. Amazing, but maybe everyone is only eating here to be seen of other affluent pinoy. Surely they are not there because the 'food' is good? Ah, but as our learned response to flavours and textures carries forward from childhood, let's not be too surprised.
The staff are very accommodating, but surely they know that the soups, pan and deep fried stuff here is poor. Just go to the province and have any lovely homemade soup (green payaya, manok or baboy, malungay, etc.), or fried chicken and fish from your own property or the local public market, or fresh gulay out of the nearby trees or your garden, and you cannot hide the truth! This stuff sucks!
As well, this place is so highly over-rated that it must mean pinoy no longer know what good food is!
Where to go to get better 'filipino' food?
Not sure.
Tatoy's out near Villa Beach is also overcooked although the thick sauces have more flavour with larger portions and prices (2x).
Buto't Balay has small portions, isn't all that good either, and pricey.
Ang Kamalig at Atria is just as bad looking, their menu needs re-doing.
Ocean City is just more of the same, and doesn't even smell like food.
Mararison Seafoods is boring but touted as great when only the usual.
Where else can one find good farm-style food in the Iloilo area? Although pricey, Midway on Delgado may approximate a best in this category, But certainly not in malls jam-packed with fast food junk.
Maybe the best thing for other foodies is at one of the very best restaurants in town:
1. Troi Oi Vietnamese out on the Esplanade / Boardwalk near Smallville, and in my opinion the very best resto in the city! And country.
2. Nonki Japanese foods in the new wing of the Grand Xing Imperial Hotel near the old downtown area is fairly good.
As you can see, it's really hard to find any good ethnic or western-styled meal in the whole country!
Hay naku, but wake up all... read more