bilao – Jellybeans in the City

If you’re a foodie and an art lover, you need to add Balaw Balaw Restaurant and in Angono, Rizal to your must-visit list.

This quaint eatery has long been an Angono landmark, thanks to its menu of exotic Filipino dishes and its extensive collection of Filipino art and artifacts.

After learning that our balikbayan tita has a hankering for the dish called kuhol sa gata (snail in coconut milk), Hubby and I set about looking for a restaurant that serves it which we can go to as we take our tita on a tour of Rizal.

After scanning through several articles from online publications and blogs, all touting the food and the unique ambiance of Balaw-Balaw Restaurant and Art Gallery, we gamely included it in our itinerary.

A visit to this establishment is also special to me, as I’m a foodie who likes doscovering new places to eat and recommend to my friends and I also like checking out local artworks.

So if you’re like me, you should definitely venture into Angono for a visit to this restaurant. Here are some reasons why:

The Food

Balaw Balaw Restaurant is known for its exotic and authentic Filipino dishes, which are not commonly found in other restaurants. Their signature dish, Balaw Balaw, is a fermented shrimp paste that is a must-try for adventurous eaters. The restaurant also offers other dishes like “adobong kamaru” (adobo-style crickets), and “frogs legs” (fried frog legs).

During our visit, we indulged our tita’s craving for ginataang kuhol (₱195), or snails cooked in coconut milk. We also went for more mainstream dishes such as inihaw na baboy (₱295) – grilled pork belly, and laing at gabi (₱270) – taro leaves cooked in coconut milk.

To cater to our monster-sized appetites and to introduce a variety of dishes in one fell swoop, we also ordered a medium minaluto (₱1,250), a bilao group meal good for three to four persons consisting of steamed rice, chicken adobo, grilled squid, battered fried fish, halabos na hipon, adobong kangkong, crab legs, clams, fresh tomatoes and salted egg.

The Art

The restaurant is also known for its extensive collection of Filipino art and artifacts. The walls are adorned with paintings, sculptures, and other artworks created by local artists. You’ll also find traditional wooden sculptures called “anitos” and a wall of painted plates by local artist Perdigon Vocalan.

The Cultural Experience

Dining at Balaw Balaw Restaurant is not just a culinary experience, but also a cultural experience. The restaurant is a celebration of Philippine culture and heritage. You’ll feel like you’ve stepped back in time to a bygone era of Philippine history.

The Local Community

The restaurant is owned and operated by the family of the late painter and sculptor Perdigon Vocalan, who is considered one of the town’s most celebrated artists. The family has continued to honor their father’s legacy by showcasing his works and supporting the local art scene through their business. By dining at Balaw Balaw Restaurant, you are also supporting the local community.

The Location

Angono, Rizal is known for its vibrant art scene. The town has produced numerous acclaimed Filipino artists, such as Carlos “Botong” Francisco and National Artist for Sculpture, Napoleon Abueva. The Balaw Balaw Restaurant is a part of this vibrant art scene in Angono. After your meal, you can explore the town’s art galleries and museums.

The Instagram-Worthy Spots

The restaurant is filled with Instagram-worthy spots. From the colorful plates to the intricate wood carvings, every corner of the restaurant is a feast for the eyes. Make sure to snap a few shots before you dig in!

With its exotic Filipino dishes, extensive collection of Filipino art, and cultural experience, it males for must-visit destination for foodies and art lovers alike. Plus, it’s owned and operated by a local family, so you’ll be supporting the community while enjoying your meal. Don’t forget to bring your camera to capture all the Instagram-worthy spots in the restaurant!

Balaw-Balaw Restaurant and Art Gallery is located at #11 Don Justo Dona Justa Subdivision, Phase I, Manila East Highway, Angono, Rizal, open daily from 10am to 8.30pm. For inquiries and reservations, call +63 2 86510110 or email balawbalaw1983@gmail.com.

Know more about this cultural and culinary landmark by following it on Facebook and Instagram.

The last and final stop of our Zomato Tagaytay Food Crawl was held at Siglo Modern Filipino. Located along the Tagaytay – Calamba Road beside the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP) and right across Picnic Grove, Siglo is the restaurant attached to the View Park Hotel Tagaytay.

Siglo (which translates to “century”) is so-named in honor of 100 years of evolution of Philippine food, from the Spanish and Latin influences brought by the colonizers, as well as flavors from China, America and Southeast Asia which found their way here via trade.

Siglo synthesizes a century’s worth of Filipino culture and cuisine from all over the country, and supports the local economy by using ingredients sourced from local farmers.

It also seeks to preserve heirloom recipes – dishes that your great-grandmother might have cooked and using ingredients like adlai and siling labuyo that she might have used – while still innovating on the classic Filipino dishes through modern techniques and added creativity.

The restaurant is quite small (can seat at most 50 diners) but it has a lot of charm. Ethnic-inspired furniture and decor abound, and its advocacy for the appreciation of Filipino cuisine is apparent in the use of traditional materials and design. When you sit down and wait for your order, you can amuse yourself in puzzles and trivia that feature Filipino food courtesy of the placemats used.

My fellow foodies and I were served the Blockbuster Bilaos, hefty servings of themed Pinoy delicacies with dishes representing different locales in the country. These are best shared among a group of 4 to 6 people. Bilaos are flat and round-shaped implement used in separating rice grains from other particles like chaff, dirt and small pebbles. When I was young, the rice that was delivered to us had a lot of impurities so my yaya and I oftentimes had to pick the impurities from the rice (hence the term “nagpipili ng bigas“) that was laid in a bilao.

Siglo Bilao (Php1,800)

This bilao features native Tinola, classic Kare-Kare, Crispy Tawilis, Pancit Pusit and Siglo Salad. These are all heirloom recipes of Filipino dishes collated by Siglo’s team during their travels. For me, the standout among these dishes is the Pancit Pusit; it had the distinctive salty-sour garlicky taste of Adobong Pusit which I absolutely love. I would have eaten more of this were I not afraid of going home with black teeth (it would have been worth it, though!)

https://flic.kr/p/N8f5wW

Barkada Bilao (Php2,200)

This bilao boasts of timeless classics that barkadas (groups of friends) crave for when they’re hanging out such as Regular Bulalo (a staple in Tagaytay), Crispy Sisig, Calamares Frito, Himagsikan Wings (Siglo’s version of spicy buffalo wings in which the chicken pieces are glazed in shrimp paste and honey sriracha sauce) and gising-gising.

Luzviminda Bilao (Php2,400)

Named after the portmanteu of the Philippines’ three major island groups – Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao – this bilao features dishes representing bestsellers from north to south, serving as a quick culinary tour of the country. It includes Bagnet Ilocos, Chicken Binakol, Seafood Kare-Kare, Lumpiang Shanghai and Ubod Salad. The standout in this bilao is the bagnet with its savory tender meat and crispy crackling skin.

All the bilaos come with steamed rice and fresh fruits.

We washed down our food with a refreshing Pomelo Amaranth Juice which is not part of Siglo’s menu but is actually the welcome drink of View Park Hotel.

Siglo Modern Filipino is located at the Ground Floor of View Park Hotel, 3500 Tagaytay-Calamba Road, Sungay East, Tagaytay City. It is open Sundays to Fridays at 7am to 10pm and Saturdays from 7am to 12mn.

Disclosure: Together with other Zomato foodies, I was invited to attend a foodie meet-up held in this restaurant. All the food items mentioned here were served to allow us to sample the fare and were not paid for by the attendees, including myself.

Tag: bilao

Exotic Filipino Dishes and Local Art: Why Balaw-Balaw Restaurant Should Be on Your List