BY PEARL SOCIAS
ILOILO City – This Dinagyang Festival, get ready to savor the essence of Iloilo through an enticing array of dishes at Festive Walk Iloilo. A center of celebrations in the community, the lifestyle mall is home to an exquisite array of eats and experiences, allowing local and foreign tourists to dance in harmony along with the rhythms of Dinagyang.
Bread Basket
Bread Basket is easily located on the ground floor of One Madison Place.
For starters, they offer a citrus mango salad with romaine lettuce and blanched shrimp or a pasta counterpart, the nourishing Greek tuna orzo salad.
Entrées range from Spanish seafood Andalucia topped with roasted bell peppers, traditional beef lasagne with homemade meat sauce, lemon rosemary chicken with smoothly thickened shallot mushroom gravy, filling Spanish-style baby back ribs with rice pilaf, and all-meat paella with saffron served in a brimming seven-inch paellera.
From-the-oven Margherita, among other hand-rolled pizza flavors, is served too. Embrace sweet goodness with custard eclairs and a fruit punch of in-season produce!
U Frappe House Prime
Located on the ground floor of the Festive Walk Parade, it is a cafe, bakery, and restaurant in one.
U Frappe House Prime serves American, Korean, and Italian cuisines from 9 a.m. to 2 a.m. on Monday to Thursday, and 24 hours on Friday to Sunday.
They got a selection of zesty appetizers, savory soup creations, garden-fresh salads with solo and sharing options, and belly-filling meat entrées ranging from seafood and chicken to pork and beef.
One could not go wrong, too, to pick their gourmet pizza and well-seasoned all-day breakfast meals.
To chug it all down, there are fine selections of coffee concoctions, shakes and smoothies, wines, beers, fizzy sodas, and their signature frappuccinos.
Ceylon Coffee Club
For caffeine o’clock, this café boasts a distinct flavor profile from the highland terroir of Sri Lanka.
Ceylon Coffee Club’s coffee is made from both Arabica and Robusta beans processed and blended with notes of chocolate.
Their salted caramel is for aficionados looking for a steaming mug of sweet and mellow fix. If the humid weather calls for a colder option, a decadent sip of iced coffee infused with activated charcoal, believed to have health benefits, is a go-to for many of their patrons.
Freshly made waffles and fluffy donuts, among other baked desserts, make the best coffee pairings.
Located on the ground floor of One Madison Place, the overflowing atmosphere of brewed goodness contrasts with its dainty spot.
Premier The Samgyupsal
Premier The Samgyupsal Iloilo is befitting of its superior title with an unlimited dine-in menu mix of pork, chicken, and beef meat, powered with authentic Korean spices.
With the 12 full-sized complementary side dishes, your appetite will not be left unsatisfied. They come with soups, steamed eggs, delectable cheese, quality rice, and refreshing iced tea, too.
To top this Korean dining experience, have their shabu-shabu with premier broth, meat, veggies, and the trademark redness and spiciness of kimchi.
You would not realize how much time passes with you and your friends catching up over charcoal grilling! So make some mouthwatering memories with this samgyupsal restaurant on the ground floor of the Festive Walk Parade.
MassKara Chicken Inasal
It is definitely a fiesta with all the Pinoy goodness in dishes prepared at the MassKara Chicken Inasal restaurant.
Expect to order more than your usual servings of rice with a variety of their sizzling plates as well as calamares, chop suey, and pancit canton.
A play on sweet, salty, and sour flavors with rich smokiness is a palatable experience with their grilled seafood, such as manumbok, bangus, and squid. Pork dishes, including a crunchy crackling of chicharon bulaklak, are offered, too.
And the star of the show comes in various chicken parts grilled to perfection. Chicken breast, wings, legs, and even giblets—you name it!
The innovative twist of fusing adobo with balut has elevated the delicacy further. Big eaters must visit them on the second floor of Festive Walk Mall, open daily from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m./PN
