We opted for dining at Kasbah because it was next door to our hotel, had been recommended by several websites and they had two soups which I thought would help our colds go though our systems faster. As I anticipated, both soups, were perfect and delicious. The harira was a vegetable soup with lentils, chickpeas, tomatoes, onions and garam masala. It had a complex and robust tomato flavor with little bites of lentil and onions. The chorba was a roasted vegetable soup of puréed tomato, zucchini, squash and chayote. It was the perfect combination for a soup. It was hot piping goodness for the soul. Invigorated, we were ready for our main dish. We got the mixed platter which had a chicken brochette marinaded in chermoula, beef tenderloin brochette, Merquez sausage which is a Moroccan spiced lamb sausage, harissa and lemon marinated tiger prawns brochette and a fish brochette which is a seasoned mahi mahi with chermoula. The prawns were the star of the platter as they were perfectly cooked and seasoned. The fish was slightly over cooked and the chicken and beef were quite dry. The couscous which came with it was perfectly seasoned and moist though it was quite a small serving. Luckily I ordered a small plate of crispy fries which were seasoned and fried to perfection. My recommendation would be to order the soups and seafood only plus the couscous and fries and that would be a magical Kasbah experience.

Boracay Island, Station 1, Malay, Aklan

Exquisite. Intoxicating. Mesmerizing. Three comprehensive words to describe our dinner experience at Dos Mestizos. Chef Andre Malarky is a true talent with skills that would challenge any Iron Chef. Several travel bloggers and ex-pats had written positive reviews of the restaurant. Since it’s not exactly a stone’s throw away from our hotel in Station 1, I hadn’t originally planned to visit but on every “best Boracay Restaurant” search, Dos Mestizos kept reappearing. We bit the bullet and decided to head south. It took a bit of time to hail a tricycle as the clouds and rain had disappeared and it was one day closer to Christmas so the island was busting at the seams. After maneuvering through some crazy chaotic street traffic, we arrived in Station 3 and headed down a narrow alleyway. A few minutes in, our driver stopped and said we arrived. Looking around, I saw the restaurant “Hangover” with Dos Mestizos nowhere in sight but figured we would eventually find our way. A few steps later, we were in front of our destination. My husband saw that the restaurant was nearly empty and said “no one’s eating here.” I responded “all the reviewers can’t be wrong.” We entered and asked to be seated in the bar area with the musical entertainment. Our server was fantastic. Super attentive and communicative. She advised us that our entrees would likely take 30 minutes but that the soups would arrive shortly. We started off our evening with a Stoli up, no vermouth, lemon twist for me and a Mojito, light syrup for my husband. We thoroughly enjoyed having an acoustic guitarist play while we unwound from our day/year. Then our soups arrived. To say they were fantastic would be an understatement. My Sopa de Ajo aka garlic soup was ordered because all the back and forth between the humidity and heat outside combined with sudden shocks of steely cool air conditioned interiors has been a shock to my system which has been attempting to grab onto a cold since our arrival. My soup was peppery, had little pieces of toasted garlic floating about and had an egg drop soup appearance. The hearty stock appeared to have simmered with a bountiful number of ingredients over a long period of time as it had quite a rich, complex flavor combination . My husband’s cold gazpacho was crisp, clean, tangy, thick, rich and hearty. It was a beautifully condensed flavorful soup perfectly chilled for the humid conditions. While we waited for our entrees, we were entertained with another musical group. We requested “Girl from Ipanema” as that song seemed to be in line with their light airy repertoire. A song or two later our entrees arrived. My husband’s chicken paella was served and shortly thereafter my half garlic chicken followed. I ordered my dish because of the garlic which I’m hoping will ward off any evil cold spirits but my husband ordered the paella because it was a specialty, he loves chicken and rice so it was a trifecta of a good omen. His reaction to the flavor, texture and experience of the dish is similar to that if somebody who just won the lotto. It was a complete disbelief, shock, amazement and extreme happiness at the ridiculously and fantastically flavor explosion that was his chicken paella. There were numerous chunks of chicken throughout the dish but the tender rice that was saturated with all the complex flavors completed the needs of all of his palate requirements. With each bite, he commented on how amazing it was, how great it tasted, how he’d never had anything like it before. Though the chicken paella was a plate for two, his addiction to the saturated flavors would not allow him to exercise any self-restraint and he accepted with humility that he was powerless against the forces of flavor against him. He happily acquiesced to filling up with the paella in lieu of any desserts. I had the half garlic chicken which was delicious, moist and satisfying. It was served with some thin green beans and a few sliced roasted potatoes. I ate every piece but the leg. The drumstick has always freaked me out because of that weird tendon. Our takeaway from this evening is that we hope our dining experience in Spain in the future be at least on par with our evening at Dos Mestizos.

Exquisite. Intoxicating. Mesmerizing. Chef Andre Malarky’s ability to infuse complex and rich flavors in each bite would challenge any Iron Chef. Such a find! Our best meal in Boracay!! #dosmestizosboracay #boracay #station3boracay #boracayeats #stolimartini #mojito #sopadeajo #garlicsoup #gazpacho #chilledtomatosoup #chickenpaella #paella #polloajllo #garlicchicken #boracayisland #foodie #foodfest #foodporn #foodpics

Remedios Street, Sitio Manggayad, Boracay Island, Malay, 5608 Aklan

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I had seen the restaurant driving in when we first arrived and remembered chuckling as my friend Ron loves torturing our friend Yelena with all sorts of pig roast and pork photos since she’s a vegetarian and Ron believes life isn’t worth living without the crispy skin and moist tender meat of piggies.  In my search of locating the best restaurants that suited our taste and budget, Pig Out Bistro kept coming up on the short list. We finally decided to try it. We walked down the beach and cut through the Astoria Boracay Hotel and the restaurant was across the street and a bit to the right. It had a lush serene patio area with greenery that shielded its patrons from the street. The interior of the restaurant was contemporary minimalist in style to mirror the look of the hotel adjacent to it. We ordered the pea soup with Parmesan crisp, beef togsilog with garlic rice, green veggies and a sunny side up egg and spicy chicken inasal with a red hued garlic fried rice and sunny side up egg. The soup was piping hot, thick and hearty. It tasted as the only ingredient used we’re peas which had been puréed. Perhaps a bit of salt and pepper and a dash of some dairy product were added but only for flavor and texture. The only suggestion is to perhaps place the parmesan crisp away from the steam of the soup as it was no longer crisp. My initial bite of the beef dish was disappointing as it tasted as if the meat had not been marinaded enough or perhaps was sliced with the grain as it was a bit tough. The rest of the slices were much better in texture, subtly seasoned tying perfectly with the garlic in the rice and the sautéed greens. The inasal had a bit of a kick that had saturated the entire piece of chicken so the flavor was far more consistent throughout that dish. The rice was thick, fluffy and moist. All in all, it was a solid meal. The price point of $20 with one bottle of beer for lunch made it a good option for lunch. And as mentioned in an article about the chef and restaurant, there were several Koreans dining who were taking photos of the food as they were in fact “Instagrammable.

Budget foodie heaven for $20 @thepigoutbistroboracay #peasoup #parmesancrisp #beeftapsilog #chickeninasal #filipinofood #cheapeats #boracay #boracayeats #foodie #foodgram #foodporn #foodpics #sunnysideupegg #garlicrice #rice #egg #beef #peas #soup #yummy #delicious #vacationfood #travelingfoodie

Boracay Tambisaan Jetty Port Road, Malay, 5608 Aklan

http://thepigout.restaurantsnapshot.com

Having been born in the Philippines, I recalled outdoor food markets being the norm during my time there, but having lived in the U.S. for many years, I’ve grown accustomed to the niceties of purchasing my seafood in tightly wrapped styrofoam containers. D’Talipapa is the one place I read about on every blog and in TripAdvisor so it was a must do. We had a tricycle drop us off at D’Mall as we thought that’s where it was located. It’s actually further south, about a 10 minute walk, but luckily there was a sign right outside its entrance according to photos from other blogs. On seeing the sign, we turned right into the alley and it was on the left-hand side just a few feet from trim the alley entrance. Truthfully, it was smaller than I had anticipated. There were lots of prawns, crabs, fish, sea urchins and lobsters for sale by aggressive vendors who shoved live lobsters in your face in an effort to get your business. We delved further into the stalls and found a not so aggressive vendor who had red snapper and sea bass displayed. The latter seemed the perfect size so we bargained down for the 1/2 kg fish from 700 to 600 pesos. We turned around and another vendor offered to sell us 1 kg of huge prawns for 800 pesos. We countered at 700 and a deal was struck. We took our lunch to Plato D’Boracay which was listed online as the place to have your seafood cooked. The menu photo I had seen on a blog from 2014 seemed to be the same menu we were presented so it appears that prices remained fixed. We asked for the lemon butter garlic sauce for the prawns and the fish was pan fried. We also ordered egg fried rice, 2 bottles of water and Dark Horse beer. We sat dumbfounded that a whole fish cost $12 and $4 to cook and 13 huge prawns cost $16 and $5 to cook. Even more impressive was the cook. He was ensconced in a confined small rectangular space in front of our table. How he was able to bang out such flavor and cook each dish with utter perfection with so limited means was astonishing. With each bite, we developed this fervent desire to consume more and more at a rapid pace. Silverware was forgotten as the hands are the best and most efficient methods to eat purely and efficiently. Tons of napkins later and all the food was decimated. The setting of our best meal in Boracay was humble to say the least but that is the lesson we learned. Astonished at the value and quality of the food, we realized that simple truly is best.