As everyone suggests, if you visit a certain destination, eat like a local. Aside from knowing how the locals eat, the first thing to do is to discover where the locals eat. During my visit to Antique, I didn’t quite spot food chains which mean that there is a greater chance of existing eateries where the Antiqueños are loyal to.
Adobong pusit and river shrimps locally called as patuyaw.
Grilled blue marlin and the bean stew with banana pith.
I wish I just had a spoonful of everything, not a plate per serving. Another unexpected day in Antique was started with a simple yes when asked if we were interested to have a fresh buko juice at Everland Inn in Tibiao. We didn’t expect that it will be our ticket for a food-coma day trying out these food places.
Teren-teren of Tibiao Bakery
Tibiao Bakery has maintained to be consistent when it comes to bread and pastries that they have been considered a tradition in Antique. In fact, it already expanded into other parts not just of Visayas, but as well as in Luzon. They have a wide array of selections from loaf bread, pandesal, ensaimada, to their own creations such as the Ugoy-ugoy and Teren-teren. We really commend the Teren-teren that somewhat looks (and tastes) like the common Spanish bread but bigger, softer and “cheesier”. The bakery also serves pasta, palabok and burger with items all priced below Php 70.
Chicken Adobo of Floring’s Native Chicken
“Chicken Adobo is best at Floring’s Native Chicken,” shared by Ma’am Leah, a provincial tourism officer. Located at the south end of Cangaranan Bridge, the eatery preserves the traditional way of preparing the chicken dish. The owners make use of native chicken instead of the ones being sold at groceries because the first is more flavorful than the latter. The chicken will be cooked in its own oil with annatto seeds (atsuete) that makes the color of the dish orange. My verdict was, it has the same taste of the usual chicken adobo but has the hints of a chili pepper (siling labuyo) used to spice up the dish.
Bukotchoy of Dandansoy Restaurant
When you want to feel good and try some soup and noodles that will lighten you up, Dandansoy Restaurant is the place to be. At Php 35, you can enjoy the famous batchoy with a twist, served in a coconut shell. The media group coined a name perfect to market it, “bukotchoy”, buko with a batchoy. I thought the simple batchoy was only served inside a buko but I was thrilled when I found out that the soup has also coconut meat in it that added a sweet taste to the whole experience.
Binabak of Marquessa’s Bistro
For a little bit of fine dining, Marquessa’s Bistro of Pandan Beach Resort is the best fit to that. With its location fronting the Sulu Sea, dining at the restaurant will give you a relaxed and fancy ambiance with a cool music on the background. They will satisfy you with the appetizers, sizzlers, grilled, soups, pasta, sandwiches/burgers and salad you can order from their menu. We tried the buttered shrimp, grilled blue marlin, adobong pusit, cassava suman, bean stew and the Kinaray-a delicacy binabak. I enjoyed the binabak, which is made of pounded river shrimps locally called as patuyaw, young coconut meat and ginger, which is a fusion of all flavors.
With my enthusiasm to discover the food available in the province, I was able to try these restaurants that really kept the real taste and rich flavor of Antiqueño food. These places just mean that Antique doesn’t only offers heritage and adventure sites but also can be considered as a foodie destination.
