During our business trip to Iligan (Lanao del Norte), we had a chance to taste some of their native dishes.
One of the places we tried is in Gloria’s Ihaw-Ihaw, just in the strip of Timoga Beach.
There are a lot of resorts on the same street so it’s a bit hard to notice. The nearest landmark which is almost in front of it is the Macaraeg Macapagal Ancestral House.
What’s noticeable in this restaurant is a lady chopping lechon (roasted pork) whenever you order. You can see it in my Instagram stories in ‘Iligan 2019 highlight’ (@jeromes_official). They also sell atchara (pickeled papaya) that you eat together with the lechon.
This Lechon is like the one in Cebu which is very tasty even without a sauce. However, the main difference is the spice that they use, seems to be a normal salt & pepper seasoning unlike in Cebu, they use a lot of spices and tanglad (lemon grass).
What’s good about this is of course, the skin, which is the best part! I don’t know how they maintain the crispiness of it despite of having it air-exposed and not even inside a food warmer.
Another food that we ordered is a Native Chicken Tinola. What set’s this tinola (chicken stew) from the normal one is it doesn’t have papaya, only ginger, and chili leaves.
Compared to chicken that you buy here in Manila either in the market or grocery, native chicken is tastier because of the food they eat. They don’t eat chicken feeds, in humans, they eat organic food.
This type of chicken is also good when fried.
Of course, a Filipino meal wouldn’t be complete without rice!
Here, they call it pusรดย (hanging rice), which they do the same in Cebu. It’s made by boiling rice in a woven pouch of palm leaves.
The feel of eating this rice is like eating suman (rice cake), but without the stickiness, as it’s not made of glutinous rice. It’s a normal rice grain. Eating rice, of course, is better when hot and eating with your hand.
With regards to the price, it’s really affordable but recommended to eat in a group as it’s cheaper. The lechon and tinola are for sharing, but for the rice, you have to buy it per piece.
Ambiance, it’s beside the Timoga Beach so you will hear the waves hitting the shore. There’s also a fish pond that you can enjoy then the water where you will wash your hands comes from Maria Christina Falls.
This is a highly recommended restaurant when you visit Iligan because of its affordable price but very good quality of food.
from J17 to J22! The person sitting at our chair told us to go to the entrance guard and tell them about it as it is their seat. We went back to the entrance and asked the male usher named Francis about the issue, called their admin and heard saying “Meron na namang umupo dun sa online reserved seat.” So this means that we’re not the only one complaining. We went back to our seats, the person who holds the e-ticket on his phone showed to the usher that he bought the said seat. Though we didn’t bother to look at it and we were asked to stand on the stairs while waiting for their admin’s decision.
After the movie, we arranged the refund with their supervisor and said to wait for a week for it to be credited back. They will call 
time-consuming arrangement. Thank you Trinoma Mall by Ayala but please have this issues addressed immediately so that no one would have the same experience.
What’s new in this season? Of course, the tribe’s Immunity Idol. Let’s just wait for the individual and immunity idol on how they look like. But I’m expecting a better one. This season’s immunity idol is not “tribal-ish”, if there’s a term as such because it’s a vintage diving helmet. Never in my mind expected it to look like that.
I.T. Life 