After 3 flights, 6 TSA/customs lines, 6 airline meals, 2 foreign country airport snacks and 26 hours later, we finally reached our destination! Feeling dizzy and bedraggled, we checked into our resort. After a quick unpacking and request for ice, we unpacked our home purchased vodka, toasted and headed on our way. I had read about Smoke Resto on many travelers’ blogs and it was highly rated on TripAdvisor. The challenge was finding it. After asking several people at D’Mall, we found it down an alleyway by a grocery store where we later purchased large bottles of water for our room. As the bloggers reported, it’s very understated but every table was filled which is always a good sign. We waited about 10 minutes and scored a seat at a four top on the left hand side of the restaurant, against the wall, next to a small door heading up to the restaurant’s supply room. Equally important to note is this table sits directly in front of the fan. The chairs were either rustic wooden and backless or plastic chairs with backs. None of that mattered because the vibe was pulsating. As exhausted as we were, the excitement of those who were waiting to order or be served their food was palpable. Those who were eating were in the throes of slurping, devouring and inhaling what was in front of them with complete disregard for grace and your standard social decorum at any fine dining restaurants. At the start of the meal, you’re given a fork and spoon each separately wrapped with one thin napkin. There are small square cocktail sized napkins on the table. We ordered the chicken noodle soup to start which reminded me of the flavors of my childhood. The broth had a sweet tangy taste perhaps flavored with some ginger or tamarind. The chunks of chicken with thin noodles mixed with thinly sliced carrots, cut green beans and cabbage mixed with the tongue burning smoking hot broth was truly a magical potion for our weary bones. It gave us the energy to stay upright for the rest of our meal. We ordered a grilled fish and grilled chicken which both came with rice which were coincidentally or deliberately shaped like a perfect shapedly breast, nipple tip included. Of the two, the thigh and leg combo were a bit more moist, likely as a result of the BBQ sauce marinading the meat. My favorite was the garlic butter shrimp. It came with a dozen perfectly flavored bites of heaven. I found myself going primitive and using my hand to twist off the heads to suck down the meat and trying to quickly devour each and every bite I could separate from its skin. In hindsight, we probably should have ordered two of those dishes. It was that amazing! The chicken noodle soup and the two grilled entrees were each around 250 and the shrimp was 450. We also ordered 2 bottles of water and 3 beers. On the drinks front, they have bottled water, soda and beer only. The grand total for dinner with our usual 20% American tip was $30! Bottled beers were each 50 pesos ($1) and I don’t even drink beer but for a buck, why the hell not?! Unbelievable!! After that, we got one big jug of water and 2 medium sized bottles of water for our room for 150 pesos. We ended the evening by having one of the Smoke Resto guys who happened to be hanging out on the street help us find a reasonably priced tricycle which cost 100 pesos and we tipped our guy 40 pesos. The tricycle ride was an adventurer in and of itself. For those not in the know, it is a 100 cc motorcycle on the left powering a small open air carriage with covered cushioned seat for two alongside the rider and two long cushioned bench seats facing each other, parallel to the rider which could each seat two, totaling six riders on that tricycle. It felt like Mr. Toad’s wild ride, maneuvering the chaotic street traffic and wet roads of Boracay. All in all, it was a fantastic and adventurous start to our trip.

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