Calea at Balay Quince, Bacolod City

Updated from my previous blogsite:

One of the most hallowed institutions of gastronomic delights in this fair city is Calea. The place well-known to all and Red Ribbon (which is the darling among other provincial towns) will even attest to the prowess and sheer tenacity of this dessert place. Only during force majeure will Calea fall. (A matchstick and a can of petrol will do the trick!) In a nutshell, because of its strict quality and generous adequate quantity, Calea will forever increase the diabetic curve of local Negrenses. Pass me the insulin will you.

Calea, hopefully, will not be beholden to the Sodom & Gomorrah called Manila when it tries to tempt our cakeshop with the promise of hyperbolic profits. I'm glad that instead of taking the bait and let Manileños have their cake too, Calea is contented to sit and relax and see its three shops here churn centavos in profits. At least this will ultimately force Manileños to order stuff provincially rather than to have everything available at their beck and call.

Their main shop sits at the ground floor of Balay Quince (as in the number, not the fruit), a Mondrian-inspired arcade similar in structure and taste to Greenbelt albeit much much smaller. You can find it at the corner of 15th Street and Lacson, and any tourist will appreciate that it is in front of L'Fisher Hotel rather than on the ally of 14th street, its previous location. Other branches are inside Robinson's Mall and at Eastblock. They close until 10pm weekdays while 11pm weekends.

But the question remains, what makes Calea very special?

1. Even though they are located in the heart of this provincial nest of vipers, Calea is able to make cakes worthy of Nigella Lawson with its ingredients imported all the way from the cowtits of Bavaria. Take for instance their White Chocolate Cheesecake. It's rich and sinfully so. Its decadence is improved by a spoonful of tart raspberry puree. Where in Manila can you find such treat for only P60 P85? Even Sugarhouse cannot afford such luxury.

2. The cakes abound in such variety and uniqueness that each is worthy of a blog entry. (Only in Bacolod will you find the racist dessert called Black Sambo which is simply chocolate-vanilla layered pannacotta.) Calea is not stuck with the usual regimen of Chocolate cake and Chocolate Crinkles and Blueberry Cheesecake that beset Manila bakeshops. Each cake is filled with soul and people who have tasted Calea will always point out how "uncommercial" the taste is. For instance their Blueberry Cheesecake are like the ones being made in NYC (less gelatin) and the crust! the crust! How to describe it? A buttery concoction of oatmeal crunch granola instead of the usual graham crust being peddled in Starbucks and Cheesecake Factory. They even have a good selection of ice cream cakes like their orgasmic Marshmallow pie and their Vanilla ice cream pie that has a delicious peanut-butter granola base.

3. The ambience is full of muted sophistication. Minimal without being sterile, simple but full of joie de vivre. The beauty is in the details. Calea has the same fantastic interiors concept as any high-end pastry shop in New York. It tends to become the place to see and be seen. Unlike some metropolitan pastry shops that take their inspiration from a Grimm's Fairy Tale or others who espouse an American-style Starbucksy kind of interiors (totally uninspired), Calea is in a class of its own.

4. They serve fantastic coffee. I don't know what blend or what style (perhaps human kopi luwak?) but their White Chocolate Capuccino is far better than Starbucks'. And their milkshakes are pure ambrosia.

5. The price! Their most expensive cake would be around P60-65 P90. Most cheesecakes are in the P50s P80s range and the Butter pecan slice about P64 P90. After 10 years, I have seen their prices increased 100% but it is still relatively inexpensive when you compare it to similar cakes in Manila. Prices are updated to reflect 2011-13 cost of living.

Bon apetit!

Old Pala-Pala, Bacolod City

In Bacolod there are two Pala-palas. One is the original "bagsakan" or market for all things fishy while the other is the upscale version of the original (for upscale people). This one is the Old pala-pala, the original down-to-earth rubbing-elbows-with-the-masses stretch of mom-&-pop restaurants that is located 200 meters far down from the Capitol Lagoon.

These places are the humble equivalents of Manila's Dampa where patrons buy fish from the market and bring them to the restos for cooking. There's another option tho: the waitresses will buy them for you from the resto itself, thus, no need to go down and dirty and haggle until you're wet with sweat.

As you enter one of these restos, Hyksos Tulahan in our case, you will be greeted with monobloc plastic chairs and formica tables, the walls built of bamboo and the far on the corner, the ubiquitous his-&-hers sinks so that after a heady round of finger-licking shrimps you can wash down the oil that clings to your fingers.

People DO not go to Old Pala-pala for the ambience. They come here for the delicious food and the relatively cheap prices. You shall never earn any brownie point bringing your lover here, unless that person is a foodie too.

So what to order? Everything so far is delicious, filling and full of umami flavors. Each morsel of scallops cooked with butter and garlic is like eating heaven. The shrimps cooked in a sweet garlic sauce send your eyelids into a flutter. Hyksos' calamares is superb and it goes well some Thousand Island dressing (but my home-cooked calamares is still the best). But the best fare you'll try here is the fish: blue marlin slices cooked in soy and calamansi juice and then grilled becomes ambrosia here on earth. The succulent meat simply melts in your mouth like butter. Not to be outdone is their grilled Tanguigue which is butter soft with a more stronger flavor. Because these slices are fresh, you can appreciate the sweet flavor of the fish. Couple these dishes with garlic rice and a nice cold Coke is the perfect way to round off the night's meal.

It's good if you're a party of three or more because it will make the whole experience cheap. For us, the bill totaled ~P250 per person which is respectably affordable. So, is it worth it? A definite YES!

Hyksos Tulahan @ Old Pala-pala
Take the Banago-Libertad jeep. Or you can go down the 6th st. or at the Capitol Lagoon and take a Trisikad/Tricycle (P15-20) and tell them you wan't to go to the Old Pala-pala.

Budget: P150-350 per head