Bauhinia

My friends and I are creatures of habit when it comes to our food choices. We tend to consume the same 'fave' food over and over until it comes out bursting out of our nostrils and making us sick. Thus, we tend to go frequently and repeatedly to a particular restaurant to satiate our cravings. Bauhinia comes to mind because we've all been addicted to the turon they offer - three kinds of filling, candied banana, jackfruit and ube preserved, wrapped in rice paper sheets to form little logs and deep fried. Quite rustic and reminds you of barrio fiesta but elevated to haute cuisine with an addition of mango and strawberry swirls plus a topping of vanilla ice cream. S-I-N-F-U-L!

Another fave of mine was this Tinuom na Sugpo, huge tiger prawns with an herby coconut cream soup. I like how they served it by bringing the prawns without the soup and adding it when last for a little bit of flair. Maybe just to let you see there's actually prawns in there, lol!

We've also been addicted to Samu't Saring Fritos, an assortment of tempura and calamari with two dipping sauce. One is sweet&sour and the classic Ilonggo dip of soy sauce, vinegar with chopped shallots and garlic.

I can't seem to remember this salmon dish but it was supposed to be a deconstructed Kare-kare of sorts. I guess, it wasn't that memorable because we haven't ordered this again.

We also had tortang talong and we agreed it wasn't the best so in our successive returns we passed ordering it.

Bauhinia is a bit pricey for Iloilo standard but then it's not over-the-top expensive. Their waiters are very friendly, the service good and the ambiance quite relaxing. The ambiance alone is worth the price you pay because it can be a bit noisy in Smallville during weekends. I hate dining when I can't relax. I highly recommend the restaurant.