La Paz Public Market, Iloilo City
22 November 2010
Our first morning in Iloilo welcomed us with a bright sunshine. Our booking at the Urban Inn included breakfast, but because the inn didn't have a dining area and the rooms didn't have telephone, we didn't know how to inform them about our breakfast.
Since we were staying in La Paz and we read about this quaint coffee shop inside the La Paz Market, I told K we would just go there to eat breakfast. Actually that coffee breakfast happened first, but because I wanna link up to ABC Wednesday, let me just share this first because this is the only "L" food related post I can think of for now.
They say, you've never been to Iloilo if you haven't tasted La Paz Batchoy. I admit, I already got to taste La Paz Batchoy months before as there are now branches all over the country, but since I was in Iloilo and I was in La Paz... I surely didn't want to pass up the chance to eat authentic La Paz Batchoy - where else, but in Deco's located in La Paz Public Market.
Copying from their website, "In 1938 a young culinary entrepreneur, Federico Guillergan , Sr. (nicknamed Deco) pioneered in serving a soup from meat stock garnished with a concoction of local herbs and spices. The soup was an instant hit as evidenced by the regular crowd that flocked around his make shift carinderia inside La Paz Public Market in Iloilo City." Right now, there are quite a few Deco's branches - all look modern - but I still want to experience something close to the original, so I really asked K if he could accompany me here because I wanted my Iloilo breakfast to be very special.
I was sort of hoping we would eat at the rustic roadside eatery like place, but it looked a bit modern and it already had air conditioning system. K already had his breakfast so it was just I eating for this food trip, so I just asked the staff what would she recommend.
La Paz Batchoy (Extra). Miki Noodles, Broth, slices of pork, liver, intestines... topped with crushed chicharon (pork rind cracklings), spring onions, and toasted garlic. They say the success of a good La Paz Batchoy lies in the broth... and this one satisfied me a lot! The broth was so tasty, it had the right seasoning, and it was so comforting. I didn't eat the liver slices, but the intestine slices I ate and it was good in the sense that it didn't have the usual foul odor and taste.
Zooming in on my bowl of La Paz Batchoy. It was so good, I wanted more. :) By the way, I ate it with some Puto Manapla, which was a great pair to this bowl of comfort.
Yep, you haven't been to Iloilo if you haven't tasted La Paz Batchoy... but if you're not into innards, they do serve other types to suit your taste.
PS - I will be offline from tomorrow 'til Easter Sunday.
I come from a family who loves cooking and eating. I never had any formal training in cooking and that I taught myself how to cook based on the handed down recipes, but I could say that I can cook good food. In 2008, I started documenting my food trips for my