Monday, September 5, 2011

Flavors of Iloilo: Ted’s La Paz Batchoy

The April sun shone brightly as I climbed down the stairs connected from an Airbus A320-200 plane and walked to the tarmac of Iloilo Airport. While waiting for my cousin, I took a deep breath and welcomed the Ilonggo air to my system.

Finally, Iloilo na guid!

Like any other modern airports in the country, we had a long walk from the tarmac to the the arrival hall. My tita was already there, waiting for us.

lapaz
(Ted’s Special La Paz Batchoy. Photo courtesy of efrenefren)

It was a long drive from Iloilo Airport to the city proper. We had the usual kamustahan stuff for a minute or two, then dead silence.

And my aunt knew the reason why.

“Nakapamahaw na mo?” (Have you eaten your breakfast yet?)

I replied in broken Hiligaynon, “Indi b’la mi nakakaon ug breakfast. Super early b’la flight namon.” (We haven’t eaten our breakfast. Our flight was too early and we had no time.)

“Tara, kaon tag Batchoy sa Ted’s!” (Alright, let’s eat breakfast at Ted’s!)

It was a Sunday morning and there were only a few cars on the road. While roaming the streets of Jaro, we spotted Ted’s and hurriedly parked our car. We entered the restaurant and yes, the aroma of Batchoy hit me.



(Clockwise starting from Top-left: Extra La Paz Batchoy, Super Batchoy, Sotanghon Batchoy and Beef Batchoy. Photo courtesy of Ted’s official website.)

Since I want to try their specialty, I ordered their Special La Paz Batchoy.

Batchoy is a noodle soup made with pork organs, crushed pork cracklings, shrimp, vegetables, chicken stock, chicken breast, beef loin and round noodles. Its origins can be traced to the district of La Paz, Iloilo City in the Philippines, hence it is oftentimes referred to as La Paz Batchoy.

And boy, I was surprised upon seeing their ‘special’ La Paz Batchoy. It surely does contain a generous amount of pork chicharon/cracklings, pork innards, egg and liver. All I can say is: Namit gid ang Batchoy sa Ted’s!

This is one of the things I miss about Iloilo. I’m pretty sure that the Ilonggos are very proud of their very own La Paz Batchoy. I can’t wait to be back at Iloilo in a few months!

Dining at Ted’s was one of my best gastronomic experiences!

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PS: I have visited their website and learned that they have a branch at KCC Mall in General Santos City! I wish they’d open a branch here in Davao!

Visit their official website and like their Facebook Like Page!

13 comments:

  1. I miss batchoy!

    Tagalogs have their own version of batchoy too, and they call it Batchoy Tagalog. Lasang tinola. Haha. Mas namit man gihapon ang La Paz Batchoy!

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  2. namimiss ko na ang bachoy at puto! Ted's is the place to be to try batchoy! ahaha

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  3. OMG I had that batchoy too. Sobrang rich, it was like kamikaze by cholesterol! After that I felt nauseated at parang nasusuka. :)

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  4. Shet shet shet I'm craving. I have to go to GenSan pa!!! Hahaha.

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  5. bet ko ang comment ni Jerome! The place to be! hahahaha. oo, sarap ng Ted's. kakamiss. as if the rich broth's not enough, I still put a generous amount of soysauce and ground black pepper to my batchoy when I eat at Ted's. namit kag saboroso!

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  6. Grrr... it was a mistake clicking on this link :( I'm missing batchoy (haven't tried Ted's though) and I'm so missing home! Pagbalik ko ng Pinas kelangan masama sa IT ko soon ang Iloilo!

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  7. Ella! May Ted's pala dati dito sa SM Davao pero nagsara kasi lugi. HUHUHUHUHUHUHU

    Ate Gay! Kelan ba uwi mo rito sa Pilipinas? I so want to meet youuuuu! You're one of my inspirations sa pagtatravel! Swear! :D

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  8. Oh, man. Looking at those pics makes my mouth water. Gusto ko tuloy niyan.

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  9. I dont like batchoy especially from lapaz because it unhealthy that is why i always like chiken inasal becasue it was healthy and were delecious to taste it.

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  10. talk about how to rev up one's appetite! this looks soooo good!

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  11. namit kaon batchoy ba... gutom na ko

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  12. there's a troll here..hehehehehehe..

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  13. nakakagutom naman po yung nasa picture.. :p

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