Bacolod is on the island of Negros in the Visayas region (south of Manila). It is known as the City of Smiles because of the accommodating and friendly nature of its people. It is also an apt description of how people look once they’ve tasted native Bacolod cuisine.

Bacolod was once known for its vast sugar industry which created many rich families with sprawling plantation and Haciendas, today the sugar industry has decreased substantially but has already left its mark in the development of the City as a domestic and international trading center in Visayas.

Why Visit Bacolod
The title of “City of Smiles” is not one given lightly in a country known for its hospitality. Bacolod has certainly earned this reputation not only because of its resident’s innate hospitality or the local dialect’s tone and inflections but also because of its reputation in satisfying one’s sweet tooth. Going to Bacolod isn’t merely about seeing the sights and sounds but also tasting the variety of cakes and sweet delicacies which the city is known for. The Maskara Festival is also an excellent reason to visit the city. The Maskara Festival gives residents and visitors a perfect excuse to eat and drink to their heart’s content for the duration of the festivities ensuring that you’ll leave the city of smiles with a smile of your own

How to Get to Bacolod
Getting to Bacolod is easy as there are a number of daily flights from Manila to the City of Smiles. Just remember that during The Maskara Festival in October, most flights going to the City are full. You can choose from the two carriers, Philippine Airlines or Cebu Pacific Airlines.

Philippine Airlines has 5 flights to Bacolod, starting from 4am until 6pm, and fares range from roughly 3,000 Pesos for Economy and 6,000 for Business one way, so found trip cost anywhere between 6,000 – 12,000 Pesos. If you’re taking PAL, you’d have to go the NAIA Terminal Three. The fares can vary according to the seasons.

Cebu Pacific also has a number of flights to Bacolod daily also uses Terminal 3 and their airfares are about 2,500 Pesos for one way and about 5,000 Pesos for a roundtrip. But just to be sure you can check the latest rates, promos and up-to-date schedules on their website.

Accommodations in the City of Smiles
There are a number of really good hotels in Bacolod, but I’ll just name three which are most recommended.

The O-Hotel in Bacolod is one reputed to be one of the best in the City, the service and staff are excellent and quickly cater to the needs of the guests. O-Hotel has 53 rooms and you can choose from the Superior Room (P1,400), the Executive Rooms (P1,600), and the Suites (P3,500/P4,000//P5,000). The Best Suite in the hotel, the Natalia Suite has a Jacuzzi, just in case you’d want to unwind after a long day of walking around and eating. The rooms are all air conditioned and have hot and cold showers, cable TV, a safety deposit box, a refrigerator and come with one free breakfast buffet.

The Business Inn is another recommended place for travelers to stay. It has all the modern amenities of a hotel including Wireless Internet. The rooms are also reasonably priced, with room ranging from regular rooms (P1,200), Jr. and Sr. Executive rooms (P1,350/P1,550), corporate rooms to share for 3 people (P1,950.00) and the suite rooms (P3,800).

Probably one of the most famous hotels in the City is the L’Fisher Hotel, its stylish exterior and its restaurants and cafes are the haunts of the Bacolod’s elite. L’Fisher Hotel has 2 buildings, the rooms at the hotel proper or Tower I are a bit pricey compared to the other hotels in Bacolod with De Luxe Rooms at P3,500, Matrimonial Rooms at P5,000 and Suites at P12,200. The rooms are all well apportioned with all the amenities of a modern hotel and include a buffet breakfast. The L’Fisher Chalet has more affordable rooms, the budget room is P995, and the grand superior rooms are P5,000. The rooms at the Chalet include a plated breakfast.

Gastronomic Delights
One of the first things you should do when you get to the City is try local cuisine, not only is it exceptionally good but also unbelievably affordable. Bacolod’s sugar industry has made it a haven for people with a sweet tooth so you’ll find amazing cakes, pastries, and snacks almost around every corner.

There is also the famous Chicken Inasal, one of Bacolod’s most famous and tasty exports. The formula is basically marinating chicken in a mixture of soy sauce, calamansi (a local version of lemon) and ginger for hours. Then once the marinade has sunk in, the chicken is cooked over hot coals while more of the marinade is applied to make sure that the outside and the inside are moist and soft. A trip to Bacolod would not be complete if you didn’t taste the Chicken Inasal, and once you try it I’m sure you’ll come back for more.

Recommended Restaurants
If you’re looking for good places to dine in the people I’ve met highly recommend Imelda’s Cuisine, Aboy’s Restaurant, LFisher, and Mei Wei Seafood Restaurant. Imelda’s is known for its American and European cuisine such as fillet mignon, buffalo wings, and southern fried shrimp while still offering a number tasty local delicacies. Meanwhile Aboy’s restaurant focuses exclusively on Filipino cuisine from appetizers to main course to dessert such as lechon, Bicol express (a truly spicy dish, be prepared), inasal, puto bumbong and yema. Aboy’s Restaurant also has a website if you’d want to see what else they have to offer.

If you’re craving for Chinese food then you’ll find a number of Chinese restaurants in the city, one of the most famous is Mei Wei seafood restaurant, with its traditional Chinese delicacies such as dimsum, noodles, asado pork,  century eggs, and extensive seafood options cooked in a dozen ways.

L’Fisher is another notable restaurant which features local and foreign cuisine including a swiss cheese fondue as an appetizer and local Filipino favorites such as kare-kare, lechon kawali, boneless bangus just to name a few.

Walking around
Well eating is one of the best things to do in the City but it isn’t the only thing, there are Spanish colonial houses, churches and cathedrals which you can visit. There are also smaller stalls and markets around the city which sell local handicrafts and souvenirs. If you tire of the city, then go to the countryside and visit Mt Kanlaon, an active volcano, and take a stroll around the national park. The park features hot springs and waterfall of sulfur so be careful where you choose to dive.

The Maskara Festival
Every October, the City celebrates the Maskara festival, one of the biggest festivities in the Visayas. The festival lasts for 9 days and features a myriad of events such as costumed parades, sports competitions, concerts, cultural performances, and most especially cheap food and drink. Yes you read correctly, food and drinks. A glass of beer during the festival can cost only P5.00, and you can pretty much get it around every corner. The merry making and drinking usually start when the sun goes down and often last till just before sunrise. The popularity of the Maskara Festival has been growing in recent years as more and more local and foreign visitors are visitng Bacolod to both see the colorful masks and participate in the street parties.

Bacolod’s sights and sounds are guaranteed to give you a lasting memory but I think the food and the welcoming attitude of the people will be the primary reasons for you to come back. I guarantee that after a few hours of eating and walking around the city, you’ll also be wearing a smile of your own.

Seventeen (17) regions, nine dialects, one national language and of course a diverse collection of Filipino cuisine.This is because every region has its own resources. Another reason is that Philippines have been influenced by several cultures, from neighboring Asia, Europe and America.

It’s hard to tell which region has the best Filipino cuisine to offer. There’s just one thing you can do — sample each and tell the difference of the most popular delicacies of my country.

Chili and Cocomilky Bicolano Cuisine
Gata (coconut milk) and sili (chili peppers) are the two staple ingredients. Coconut which is abundant in the region can be picked from the backyard and grated manually before squeezing the cocomilk. Every home grows a sili bush which people simply pluck and added to the daily meal. Some would even eat them raw! Meat and vegetable dishes are commonly cooked in coconut milk and spiced with chili.

Laing, or Pinangat the famous Bicolano dish, is made from shredded taro leaves, meat or seafood crumbs, and a variety of spices, wrapped in whole taro leaves. It is slowly cooked in gata (cocomilk). But perhaps the best known outside the region is the Bicol express. This is made from bits of pork and bagoong (shrimp paste), stir-fried in coconut cream with tomato, spices, and a generous dose of green chili.

Another Bicolano pride is the kinunot. Made from stingray meat , and malunggay (horseradish), an edible bitter leaf, it is cooked in coconut cream and with chili and spices added.

Vege-Ilocano Food
Typical of the Ilocano dishes are the vegetables.Grown from the Ilocano’s backyard, every dish is laden with vegetables.Because of its nutritious yet bland taste, commonly added as condiment is the patis or fish sauce .

Ilocano’s most famous dish is pinakbet. It is a combination of vegetables like okra, squash, bitter gourd (ampalaya), eggplant, and string beans cooked in ­bagoong (shrimp paste). Some varieties of pinakbet is cooking this dish with grilled fish; others also use stir-fried pork and several spices. Dinengdeng is another famous Ilocano dish. It is made from malunggay leaves and fruit boiled with bagoong and commonly eaten with grilled fish.

A carnivore person may like bagnet, a deep-fried pork belly crisped and seasoned with bagoong. A fatty sausage called longanisa is flavored with garlic and vinegar, and a popular breakfast in every Filipino table..

Bulacan and Pampangan Cuisine: So Sweet , So Sour, So Chicken
If you’re looking for Filipino desserts recipes, Central Luzon offers you its staple products of Rice and sugar. In Bulacan, the popular meat dishes include pinaupong manok, galantina (chicken rolls), and pot roast.
Pampangan dishes are seasoned with sweet sauces or fermented in sugar. The best example is tocino which is a popular breakfast often eaten together with fried rice and salted fish. Pampangan delicacies consist of meat and seafood preserves specialty. Crabs, milkfish, and shellfish are fermented in buro or rice sauce giving it a strong, smoky flavor.

Exotic foods like fermented frogs and mole crickets, mostly served onpublic occasions, are some of the region’s unusual treat.

Flavory Visayan Cuisine
Visayas ,a group of islands has no one specialty for the whole region. Being a coastline region, common among recipes is seafood.

Kinilaw, which is fish or shellfish marinated in vinegar or sour sauce, can be considered the most famous Visayan dish. Some islands prefer it cooked in different ways— with coconut cream, or chili, or lime and palm wine vinegar.

Pancit molo is an Ilongo dish . It is a popular choice for snacks influenced by Chinese cuisine. Dumplings, pork, chicken, and sometimes flavored with prawns make this dish more inviting. For vegetarians, lumpiang ubod (springrolls) is made with strips of palm heart as filling, with a soft egg wrap. It can be fresh and served with peanut sauce, or fried and dipped in spiced vinegar. Then there’s “La Paz Batchoy” made from pork organs (liver, spleen, kidneys and heart), crushed pork cracklings, vegetables, shrimp, chicken breast or beef loin, shrimp broth, chicken stock and round noodles or miki. The noodles are similar to spaghetti, but are generally a bit finer. The basic ingredients are stir-fried, added with shrimp and chicken stocks. It is added to a bowl of noodles and topped with leeks, pork cracklings (chicharon) and with raw eggs cracked on top.

Chicken inasal is Bacolod’s best known .It is a type of chicken barbecue marinated in calamansi and annatto seed . Another chicken dish, binakol, is cooked in coconut juice and makes a hearty afternoon snack.

Mindanao Cuisine: Nice Spice
Mindanao cuisine is largely influenced by Malay and East Asian food. It is located just a few hours away from Malaysian and Indonesian shores, with the bountiful seas in between. Spices from these countries such as turmeric, curry, and lemongrass. Can be had,too in Mindanao.

Seafood is basic to Mindanao cuisine. A seafood platter, which includes a mix of raw, fried, and grilled seafood and a variety of local sauces is always found in any restaurant in town.Snacks can be ginger and lemongrass soups. They also have coconut and papaya dishes.

Adobo, maybe a staple food for the Filipinos have an unusual variations from Mindanao. Zamboanga’s abobo, for example, is made with cream coconut for flavor. Other regions in Mindanao serve it with bananas, papaya, or other tropical fruits.

Check out these other delicacies:

• Negros, Iloilo and Cebu – Lechon and Otap
• Batangas – famous for its “bulalo” and Barako (coffee beans)
• Davao – famous for its “inihaw na panga ng tuna” and exotic fruits like “durian” , mangosteen, rambutan and pomelo
• Zamboanga – famous for its delicious prawns, crabs, lobster and “curacha”