Ultimate Bacolod Food Trip- 21 Restaurant

God sends meat. The Devil sends Cooks.
- John Taylo




Journeying to Bacolod with naught but a handful of tips in tow, we know that we shouldn't miss on 21 Restaurant's Super Batchoy. For the clueless, batchoy is a local Visayan noodle dish made with pork organs, shrimp, pork cracklings, meat stock and veggies. The closest batchoy that one can savor these days is actually the "just add hot water" variety that you can buy from stores.

I've always been a batchoy fan. My dad used to buy me batchoy from the local carinderia next to our place in Quezon City when I was down with the flu. Batchoy was my Chicken Soup. And whenever a restaurant offers batchoy in their menu, I have to taste it. But nothing really comes close to satisfying my batchoy frenzy, until I took my first whiff of 21 Restaurant's Super Batchoy. And this, my friends, is the start of my addiction.


Thanks to our friend Eisyl, who graciously took us around Bacolod to taste the exquisite goodness of 21's Batchoy. We were never quite the same after that eventful day.

Love at first sip.
The best batchoy I ever laid my senses on.
The aroma of the soup speaks of lovingly-boiled pork/beef/chicken bones over  slow fire.
The noodles speak of good quality egg and flour.
The rich, creamy, bubbly broth touched my soul.
Ahhhh... I could file for a divorce and marry this batchoy.

What makes the best batchoy?
Up close and personal.
Slivers of pork liver, doused with pork cracklings and meat in a bubbly, creamy broth.

Don't let this bowl fool you.
We thought that the Super Batchoy is good for one serving... it was more than that!
2-3 people can actually share a bowl of this superb noodle soup, depending on your appetite.
I downed a whole bowl all by myself.
The soup was ecstatically tasty, my tummy was bursting at the seams but I can't seem to stop from eating.

Superb Batchoy.
We learned that this is an heirloom recipe handed down from one generation to the next.
I would love to get my hands on that recipe!
But then again, I believe it's more of the technique they use in cooking this  dish.
The Super Batchoy is the pinnacle of all batchoys --- imagine bone marrow in the soup (which explains its creamy taste),  freshly cracked egg and lots of chicharon! 

Fortunate to meet and greet one of the owners of 21 Restaurant, Paolo Araneta, who happens to be the friend of our gracious host, Eisyl. (seated from left to right: Nikka, Feje, Paolo, Eisyl, Yours Truly and Swity)

Margarita Surprise!
21 Restaurant also offers cocktails.
This large (and I mean GINORMOUS) margarita is heavenly.
We were buzzed right in the middle of the day.
Enough to cap off our sumptuous batchoy overload.

Crispy baby shrimps with sinamak vinegar.

If I weren't THAT full, I would have enjoyed more of these baby crustaceans.
They were flavorful and crispy, best paired with their sinamak vinegar as dipping sauce.

Fruity Achara to complement the baby shrimps 

21 Restaurant's Super Batchoy capped off our 3D-2N stay in the City of Smiles. It was the perfect dish to send us off. Not to mention that the prices of their dishes were very reasonable, and the servings were huge enough to share. Next time we find ourselves in Bacolod again, this will definitely be on our list. Highly recommended to family and friends who will be visiting Negros.

I wouldn't mind going back again and again to this place. I found my love in Bacolod. Forget about those hacienderos and the fabled good-looking guys (we hardly found none, hahaha! see in my next post about our epic fail of clubbing) of the City. THIS is more than enough to  make me smile.

After all, this food trip started my addiction. Who cares about diets? I could always start again tomorrow.





Special thanks to the following: Eisyl and Paolo for the gracious treat. Nothing beats Bacolod hospitality.

Bacolod Food Trip -- Gluttony at Its Peak

Life is sweeter in Negros.
- from a coffee mug in Bacolod


The City of Smiles has more to offer than its rich culture and heritage of azucareras and haciendas.
We found ourselves ten pounds heavier, with satisfied faces as we trooped to Negros and headed to savor what the island offers best: Food! Food! Glorious Food! (yes, like the Broadway hit Oliver rendition).

Of course, what tops our list is as follows:

1. Authentic Chicken Inasal 
- This, we found our niche at Bacolod Chicken House in Lacson Avenue (sorry, no photos taken we were so hungry we forgot our manners over lunch) and the best one of them all is at the Manokan Country (Nena III ni Beth) at the Reclamation Area just behind SM Bacolod (again, no photos were taken because we were ravishing, my apologies)

The verdict? Both Chicken Inasal versions were GOOD but the BEST one of them all is the chicken inasal of Nena's at Manokan Country. It was succulent, juicy and namit (local for delicious) and instantly won our palate. The chicken was cooked right --- no blood residues (ugh, how I hate the sight of blood on my meat!) and the flavor seeped right through the bones. No wonder this is called "Manokan Country" (Chicken Land). You get your chicken done just the way inasal should be.

2. Calea's Cakes and Pastries.
- This quaint cake and coffee shop is right across Bacolod City's premiere hotel, the L'Fisher. It was adjacent to boutiques selling clothes, wines and accessories. The building was aptly named Balay Quince. We have been told that Calea offers the best cakes and pastries in Bacolod so we made sure it was on our "must see and eat" place.

Calea's Caffe Mocha
A coffee-based ice blended drink.

White Chocolate Cheesecake with Raspberry Sauce
This had me at first bite. I nearly had a heart attack from the sugary goodness of this wonderful cheesecake.

Blueberry Cheesecake
OMG. The blueberry sweetness mixed with the creamy cheese and cream on top of a nutty crust blew off my mind.

Black Sambo.
A gracious layer of cream, gelatin and chocolate bursting with rich cocoa flavors.

Trio of Desserts.
Blueberry Cheesecake, White Chocolate Cheesecake, Black Sambo.

Calea's Mocha Frost
Blended with Chocolate Ice Cream.

We left Calea with a sugar rush and went back to the hotel, waiting for our friend who came in from an afternoon flight. When she arrived, we all decided to try out the Pala-pala in Bacolod, famous for its Dampa-style cooking. We boarded a cab and was brought to 18th Street Pala-pala. It turned out that it wasn't the Pala-pala we were supposed to be in. But anyways we had our dinner and ordered buttered shrimps, chili crabs, grilled liempo and adobong lagang (lamp shells, as we were told). The food were not that delectable (they were just OKAY) and we got to have our first taste of the local lagang shell (which actually tasted like squid, with a tougher consistency).

Feasting on a smorgasbord of freshly cooked food.

Ho-hum butter shrimps

I make better chili crabs than this one.
Smothered with store-bought Jufran Chili Sauce, and presto! They call it "chili crabs"!

Fortunately, this liempo tasted good but was so thinly sliced.

3. Cafe Bob's
- The original Pala-pala, we found out later, is actually near the port area of Bacolod and serves cheaper and more delicious food. Not quite satisfied with what we had for dinner, we decided to walk the mile down the street and look for Cafe Bob's. We found ourselves walking the stretch of Lacson Ave. and wounded right in front of the comely doorsteps of the Cafe. Unfortunately, there were no gellatos left in their fridge so we helped ourselves to another sugar sinfulness of cakes, pastries and tea.

Cakes, cakes and more cakes greeted us through their display counter.

Choose your poison!
Mine was a slice of pistachio dacquiose (not shown here)

The abundance of sugar plantations in Bacolod made sinful sweets like these easier to access.

French Macarons, Red Velvet cupcakes and other temptations at your reach.

We ended the night with enough insulin surge to make us wide awake at night. The sweet stuff we literally stuffed ourselves with were enough to put happy faces to sleep. Our next pit stop was to savor 21 Restaurant's Super Batchoy before we head home to Manila. 

Now I understand why Bacolod is called the "City of Smiles" --- with all the sugary, sweet and everything nice we can find there, I would have to agree that life is indeed sweeter in Negros.