It has been a lonely road for me, ever since my beloved Kates went abroad for work. I miss the times we dine out for dinner. I miss the times we play the part of the amateur, self-proclaimed food critic. And I miss the times when he gets those comments or feedback from the marketing staff of the restaurant that we take on. Either he gets good results or he gets hammered and criticized back. Well, like they say, it takes two to tango, right? Hahaha, whatever that means…

And so I take on the challenge of doing this hobby of ours, alone. I decided to try out a new place in Iloilo called the Bluechili Teahouse conveniently located in the heart of Iloilo City at the 2nd floor of Urban Inn, Luna Street Lapaz. You can always drop by the place even if you have your own wheels, or you just take the public transport vehicle. When you look at it outside you can immediately decipher that it is a restaurant with an Asian flair. I have tried some gourmet restaurants catering to that menu, and well, if must compare, in terms of taste and price, it was worth it. In terms of ambiance, the choice of colors and furniture was well suited, but since it is a teahouse in a building, it was rather warm inside. The air-conditioning unit was not fully functional. Too bad, especially if you order tea and some chilies to go with your dumplings. Their business card says that they cater to small parties, corporate and intimate meetings. I would say that it could be recommended as long as they improve on their A/Cs. The staff was hospitable and courteous. So I asked what was their house specialty, and the waiter serving me happily obliged with a detailed description of Bluechili’s specialty, which is dimsum. I ordered pork siomai and lomaikai (I can’t even pronounce the name of the dimsum). When it comes to food, I like a little bit of mystery and adventure, so I thought, okay here it goes! Well, Lomaikai was satisfying to the palate, and I was not disappointed with my choice. Its steamed sticky rice combined with ground pork, dried shrimp, and blackbeans wrapped in banana leaves. After finishing my meal, I decided to wash it down with their Herb Tea Honey Vanilla refillable tea. And I say to myself, “I feel good!” Afterwards, it was time to go check out their lavatory. And well, well, well it was clean! I’m impressed.

So, what’s my over-all assessment of Bluechili Teahouse? I give this hangout a thumbs up!

Last week we found another gem restaurant in Iloilo City. Picea in Mabini-Texas Streets beside Ilolo Central Elementary School. Having passed by a Picea store in Mandurriao, they give an impression of being all desserts. But apart from their luscious cakes, they serve heavenly pasta and ribs, particularly the carbonara and the country style rib. Picea supplies big hotel restaurants in Iloilo City with cakes so definitely their cakes are on the top of your list when you go visit them. We had blueberry cheesecakes and sans-rivals.

Their baby back ribs is so tasteful that we have been back twice last week and could have been there yesterday if they weren't closed. I don't know why they're closed on a saturday night because saturday night is still "the gimik" night in Iloilo City.

Picea is one of those restaurants that definitely sets out on giving the best service and food quality to their customers. The food got to taste better when the kitchen is far bigger than the dining area. And oh, those indirect lighting makes the scene perfect. Lastly, quality doesn't come cheap but they're all worth it.

New year, new food, new places to try. The good thing about Iloilo City is that you'll never run out of places to visit and food to taste. This year's first restaurant I checked was David's Tea House at SM City Iloilo.

From their website:

David's Tea House Has Been Considered As Above Average Class Style, With An Ambiance Of a Modern Chinese Restaurants Here In The Philippines. It Serves Authentic Chinese (Hongkong) Food Consisting Of Noodles, Congee, Dimsum and Short Orders. Its Menu Is Frequently Changed With Seasonal Favorites. Despite Its Chinese Predominance, David's Menu Is Enriched By The Adoption Of Filipino & Hong Kong Dishes That Have Been Carefully Redesigned To Suit Local tastes In Order To Enhance Its Attractiveness.

I've heard a lot of good things about David's Tea House from friends and relatives who've been there. Today, we went out of our way to go to SM City and tried David's Tea House at Ground Floor, SM City Iloilo.

The Ambiance

David's Tea House has the best ambiance among chinese restaurants in Iloilo City. Even better than that chinese restaurant (I've been there but I really can't remember the name) in Iloilo Grand Hotel. David's Tea House is not your typical chinese restaurants that radiates a red aura seen a mile away. From the outside, probably due to the signage, it's definitely chinese. Inside, it's cozy. Nowhere in sight are the cheap stacking chairs and formeca tables covered with cloths. I have the impression they paid good money for the interiors. Just like any other chinese restaurant, David's Tea House is geared towards big filipino-chinese families so you'll see that most of their tables can seat at least 6 people.

The Food

Superb. We ordered their assorted dimsum - I want to try everything in small servings. Yok Pek's dry and over-cooked dimsums pales in comparison. David's Tea House dimsums are what dimsums are supposed to be. We also enjoyed their slim chicken wing with mushroom and tofu balls with cheese sauce. Just so you know chinese are not all about noodles. We could've ordered some more but there are only two of us. Next time, we'll try a different dish.

The Service

Another thing I liked about David's Tea House was their service. I made a comment about their tofu balls being a tad salty and they admitted the mistake and willingly took the them back to the kitchen. They then gave us a choice whether to serve us another dish or have the thing crossed from our bill. We took the latter. Now that's how customers should be treated.

The Price

For all the good food and great service, the price we paid was well worth it. It's in neighborhood of what you'll pay when you eat at Ocean City. Not really the type that you can go to everyday but definitely a bargain when taking the big family or group of friends out.

I spend considerable amount of money in dining out and over time I have noted restaurants in Iloilo City that give me value for my money. I am listing here my favorite places to eat in no particular order.

Messé Ristorante

Located in Tabucan, Mandurriao, Messé is a good place to impress a date. Here, you can never go wrong with whatever you pick in the menu. The food are superb and goes with the ambiance. Everytime I visit this Messé, I feel like I'm in a restaurant somewhere in Italy. Half of the time, I order their Pasta Marinara. The best Marinara in Iloilo City. It helps that the owners are food connoisseur.