by Lori Baltazar
After four days in Boracay, I’m convinced that there isn’t a single bad meal to be had here.
Doin’ the hula
Every restaurant that my family and I go to (10 adults, 3 kids) is a total hit. Hawaiian Bar-B-Que, which touts itself as “the best Bar-B-Que in (sic) the island” doesn’t disappoint. We like the Original variant the best with its sweet and sour glaze coating the fall-off-the-bone tender meat. The Fisherman’s Platter, a hodge podge of deep-fried seafood, is something we get for the apos, who love anything tempura-like.
Jonesing for Jonah’s
It’s unacceptable to me how I missed having a Jonah’s fruit shake the last time I was here in Boracay. So after working a sweat walking up and down the sandy stretch with my parents and sister, we cool our heels at Jonah’s. Though the shake selection is dizzying with fruit combinations that both amuse and bemuse (avocado-melon, anyone?), I zero in on what I like best ”“ a chocolate peanut banana shake, heavy on the peanut butter please. Cold and sweet and THICK, the arctic liquid courses down my throat and sends up an almost instantaneous brain freeze. Jonah’s shakes are available with or without milk and no, unless specified on the menu, there isn’t any ice cream in them. It only tastes that way. On a second trip to Jonah’s, I grab a shake for takeout and am taken by the water bottle-turned-tumbler that they use for their take-out orders. What an ingenious way of recycling!
- My Bin and Boo at Jonah’s with that ingenious container
Jonah’s Fruit Shakes
End of Station 1
- 2.5 kilo lobster
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- he-crab
Surrender to seafood
D’Talipapa way over at Station 3 is the place to have seafood. There are restaurants right along Station 2 where all the action is but you’ll pay twice the price. Very similar to the various Dampas around Manila, D’Talipapa absolutely boggles my brain not just for the seafood selection but more for the size of the seafood. I see a crab with claws so large I swear the darn thing lifted weights when it was alive. I’m transfixed by a 2.5 kilo lobster (P1,500/kilo) whose head is as large as a grown man’s arm. The oysters are so cheap ”“ four kilos for P100 and they’re perfectly cooked. Steamed just until they’re heated through, their brine explodes in our warm mouths. For a seafood feast like this, the simplest dipping sauce is the best ”“ just vinegar, soy sauce, calamansi, and sili. And of course, lots of hot rice and thick buko shakes to wash everything down.
Pig fat, plain and simple
For my Bin, no Boracay trip is complete without chowing down on a few choriburgers. Short for chorizo, these grilled snacks are sold in stalls hosting a whole panoply of other grilled delights. But what catches my attention among the usual suspects of isaw, hotdog, chorizo, et al., are large chunks of what appear to be fat. Fat chunks. When I ask the vendor what they are, she tells me (in Tagalog) that they’re “special” for the day. What are they? Fat of the pig, taba ng baboy. Oo-kay! Now I like fat, I do. I have an unhealthy, all-encompassing adoration for fat, but these match-box sized chunks of erm, fat, could pack in a heartburn unheard of in any other situation. Now, if they were deep-fried, however, that’d be another story.
Rock The Kasbah
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- tagines in a row
The Clash’s “Rock the Casbah” is drumming through the soundtrack of my mind as my family and I settle for dinner at Boracay’s own Kasbah, a Moroccan restaurant. The word kasbah, is Arabic for “fortress.” Having only opened last March, the interiors demonstrate much thought and authenticity from the lamps to the ashtrays to the tagines. The latter is a traditional Moroccan cooking utensil made of glazed earthenware, the conical lid of which creates an excellent seal to keep the food’s moisture and heat inside while baking.
The kemias (cold appetizers) include a plate of pitas and three dips: roasted and mashed aubergine (eggplant) and tomatoes, roasted and mashed red bell peppers and tomatoes, and of course, hummus.
A hot appetizer, meanwhile, are the briouats, filo pasties brimming with a feta cheese-minced beef filling served with harissa, a dip made primarily of deseeded red chilies, garlic, salt, and a host of spices such as cumin, coriander, and mint. The spices are blended to a paste and mixed with olive oil. So far, the starters are absolutely wonderful, exclamation points of flavor that punctuate our tongues. The Kasbah Chopped Salad refreshes the way only uncooked vegetables can. Cherry tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers tumbleinto a creamy yogurt dressing with the fresh cilantro leaves providing a pleasing counterpoint.
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- lamb tagine with couscous
The lamb tagine is perhaps the best tagine one can ever have in all of the Philippines, and I don’t mean that lightly. Cooked long and slow with prunes, almond, honey, and the lingering flavor of star anise, it’s a distinctive bouquet of sweet, wine-like undernotes, the mystery of spice, and the tenderness of lamb, all napped in an incredibly lush, rich sauce. My god. Though it overshadows it by far, we also enjoy the mixed platter brochettes, a skewer each of chicken, fish, prawn, and lamb.
I can’t say enough nice things about Kasbah. My family and I enjoy it there very much. Service is efficient and accommodating but there are a few things that do need attention. Senior citizens’ discount is only 5%, when law decrees that it should be 20%, and this restaurant doesn’t issue OR’s (official receipts).
Kasbah
Station 1, very near Discovery Shores
Mañana, not today
It irks me to no end that Boracay has a better Mexican restaurant than Manila does. Mañana is a hole in the wall place along Station 2 whose décor isn’t as kitschy as Zapata’s but whose food is just as good. The burritos platter is my favorite ”“ two soft tortillas filled just-”˜til-so with chicken and beef. Every plate comes with a dollop of mashed potatoes (?), sweet corn, and a fried tortilla wedge “wedged” into a small hill of mashed, refried beans. It’s food that satisfies the soul and makes even my Bin, who’s not a fan of Mexican food, sign in contentment.
Whatever I order, it’s the quartet of sauces that seals the deal. Little containers of chilled salsas ”“ red pepper, green pepper, shallots with oregano, and chipotle sauce — are made on the premises and exude imagination, not to mention indescribable deliciousness.
And their margaritas come in these blue-rimmed glasses that are large enough to swim in.
Mañana
Station 2
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Lori!
Boracay Beckons even more through your lenses!
So, when are you posting anything on Bobby Chin?
I love foodtrippin’ at Bora! 😀 i miss Jonah’s shakes!
boracay! the hawaiian bbq was the best meal i had there! thank god there is in MoA! i went to manana as well, pricey ( but then again all resto in bora are priced like that) but worth it. argh, the kasbah place looks good.. i should have tried it since my friends and i stayed in beach bites most of the time.
The Lobster! It’s tempting me! I so much love seafoods!
I’m really salivating this time!
-Obnoxiousqueer.com
Gosh, this post reminds me how I SO need a vacation! Siiiiiigh! I love Boracay eats too, especially Manana and buying seasfood in D’Talipapa 🙂 My hubby (Mexican food freak) has to eat in Manana every time we go and he always tried to talk them into opening in Manila! But the best meals I’ve had are really the ones where we buy the seasfood from D’Talipapa and have our resort (wherever we stay, most do) cook it the way we want them to…bomb-diggety!
I’ve heard such great things about Kasbah! Now I really have to go back there to try it!
Your article makes me want to jump on a plane to Boracay this very minute!
Looking forward to trying all these restaurants… Banza is not around anymore? That was my favorite.
Hi Lorie,
I agree with you the Food in Boracay is indeed one of the best but i must say not all are “hits”. The only time i ate in “Jonah’s” was really a disaster…. It was probably the worst meal in my entire life.
It was probably because they had a reservation for a large group that evening that is why they did not have enough food prepared. My 5 year old daughter is picky and all she likes i sinigang. So all of us ordered “western food” while my daughter ordered her favorite. The sinigang only came after repeated inquiries from us and when it did come (after we had finished our respective meals) the meat was still tough so we complained and asked them to do something…. big mistake… as it seemed like they boiled the meat not in the sinigang broth but in tap water thereaby makeing the meat tasteless….
end of the day they still charged us for the “worst” sinigang …… or worst meal in my life.
They do have good shakes….
i love jonah’s fruitshake! im glad to know that we both think the peanut butter shakes are great. i think for a bout two weeks after i got back from boracay, i was craving for those shakes. my fiance kept trying to make them but they’re just not the same.
i cant wait to come back after reading your post. boracay food rocks.=)
What a coincidence that you posted about Boracay now — just yesterday, my sister asked if I wanted to go in January. I said no, but now your post is making me reconsider. I remember when you last blogged about Boracay, you said you weren’t really interested in going since you’re not a beach person. Neither am I (dread wearing a swimsuit), but now you understand why I love going there! While there are, like anywhere, bad meals on Boracay, there are SO MANY good restaurants that one would probably have to stay there a month to try them all.
I wish you could’ve seen what Manana looked like when it first opened several years ago. It wasn’t a hole in the wall, but neither was it conveniently located on the beach. It was behind Friday’s, in a house that was charmingly decorated in colorful Mexican decor. Not too cheesy, either. They had mosaics and Botero prints in the bathrooms. Also, they had a much wider variety of dishes in their menu; not just the usual TexMex burritos, etc, but even mole! Imagine that, when we don’t even have a good TexMex resto in Manila! But I guess that place was too far and too big to sustain, so they downsized their menu and moved to the beachfront.
Angusman asked about Banza. That was my favorite, too, but I heard it has closed. 🙁 I do hope that isn’t true, but it wouldn’t surprise me. They were so badly located and badly marketed, given their target market, that I’m surprised it lasted as long as it did.
Does anyone else see the irony and supreme test of willpower of having all that fantastic food in a place where one is discouraged from gaining weight?! 😉
Sigh. Absolutely jonesing for fresh, fresh seafood right now. I wanna go to Boracay….
Yummy! I think Hawaiian BBQ also has a branch in Tagaytay, at the Boutique Hotel.
Hawaiian BBQ also has a branch behind MOA, San Miguel by the Bay. The baby back ribs are so good!
I was planning on skipping Boracay this year, but this entry has convinced me otherwise. Damn, I have no self-control!
great great post, Lori. and terrific pictures! pero kulang pa! gads – next time you go to Boracay, you should also try these: dixie mabanta’s fishbar at d’mall, his mexican place near the tourist Center on STation 3; of course Binggoy Remedios’ Dos Mestizos (his Saturday Tapas Nights are terrific!), the lamb adobo and halva ice cream in Zuzuni, Bamboo (chinese restaurant), Lemon Cafe and you might already have tried Aria at D’Mall and of course Juan Elizalde and Paolo Occhionero (same owners as Aria)’ s Cafe del Sol’s pastries (and the coffee isn’t bad either! and their Japanese restaurant Hama also in D’Mall.. there are so many others, but these, for me, are what comes immediately to mind..
yay for this! my family is going to boracay this coming december and i have been “researching” where we can eat aside from the usual places (aria, cyma, waling-waling buffet, etc.). i’ve been writing down some restaurants from the latest copy of dine asia (i know, how old school, hehehe) but they only featured four restos (one of those is aria, argh). thanks for sharing your dining experiences in boracay! 🙂
What a coincidence! We had our Boracay vacation last Nov 14-17. We went to all the resto’s you mentioned except for Kasbah. We really did pig-out there.
I love your food blog! Reading it gives me a vicarious pleasure of the food trip, but more than this, I also relish how you write. And the pictures! Wonderful composition & colors. Sigh. Gush gush. hehehe.
Hi Lori!
I know you wrote this post back in November but I’ve only just chanced upon it and I am soo over the moon to learn that you have come to dine at our place and loved it! My husband and I opened Kasbah in March of last year, and as part of our teething pains, there are still a few things here and there that we need to iron out. Unfortunately we are not yet based in Boracay (currently living in NZ) but are hoping to do so in the not-so-distant future. So, please next time you plan to visit the island again, do drop us a line and hopefully it will coincide with our next trip across. Would love to meet you – I’ve been a fan of your blog for some years (was a food blogger myself for awhile) until the avalanche of work relating to operating a restaurant kept me tied up. I hope you don’t mind if I link to this post on our Facebook page of which we would love if you could join our network.
More food blogging power to you! And as they say in Morocco – ‘Shukran Bazef!’…
This is an awesome blog! Even better because you mentioned Hawaiian Bar-B-Que! I visited the one in Tagaytay just last week . . . it was the last restaurant I visited during my balikbayan trip to the ‘pinas. Anyway, I have to say those babyback ribs are unbelievable. It’s not everyday that a certain dish will make you remember a place, but those ribs have that effect. Same with the fisherman’s catch – I’m still trying to figure out what that green sauce was. The next time you visit, you MUST try the pork belly – my family was a little reluctant (I know. . .for pork belly? yet we eat dinugoan? hahaha) but one empty plate later everybody was a fan. Ah . . .memories. I’m putting this blog on my favorites.
Hi,
The place looks awesome, we will visit you when we’re in town, place look like in Sahara Desert. COOL…
WE R NOT FAR AWAY FROM YOU, ROXAS CAPIZ OUR PLACE.
Hi! i have just been to Boracay and we ate at LEMON CAFE, tapat ng OLE and ICE MONSTER sa D mall. You should try it! it is the best restaurant in the island! Imagine your every bite into whatever you order there is an intense experience in itself. The Tiger prawns in coconut risotto is really good. but the best is their MANGO MADNESS! it is so simple yet it is so divine…… it has hints of polvoron/pinipig tastes in its crust and wala, you just have to try it! its the best! Yun lang. just sharing the love!
Just came back from Boracay. Have to agree that the Hawaiian BBQ ribs do leave a sought-after effect. In fact, had to search the web to check out their branches and am glad to have come across your blog.
I like your posting.
Thanks for your posting.
http://www.webroyalty.com
Wow!!!
Lobster was so big. I loved it. i want to eat that especially the crab. Delicious
I loved boracay and his nature.
Tanya Gemarin
Sigh. Absolutely jonesing for fresh, fresh seafood right now.