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Villa Regatta |
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Food addicts must simply troop to Villa Regatta for authentic Ilonggo home-cooked goodness and a new kind of seafood cooking. Villa Regatta boasts of its serene and clear beach front that is why customers can dine in one of their cabanas and listen to the waves of the water, or take off their shoes and feel Boracay under their feet. They can even rent the kayaks and row boats here if they are in the mood to be adventurous.
Pauline Banusing, who also runs Al dente Ristorante Italiano, Citrus Global Bistro and Wine Bar and Ground Coffee, tells us more.
Why the name Villa Regatta?
My husband Gus was thinking of something associated with Villa Beach besides seafood and he thought of the Paraw Regatta. That is why you can see in our decorations a nautical theme.
What made you decide to put up this business venture?
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For me, Villa Beach has always been a part of the life of every Ilonggo. If only well-developed and taken cared of, it can be a tourist attraction since it has a great view of Guimaras. Imagine, a beach just a few minutes away from the city proper.
Personally, Villa Beach has been a part of my childhood memories. My father would usually bring the whole family to Villa every Sunday to have lunch and I remembered the beach being still very clean and my brothers and I would swim. My mom would pack us lunch and we would buy along the road lechon and native chicken. It had to be native chicken.
My husband and I wanted to offer an alternative to the Ilonggos and to the visitors of Iloilo City. We wanted them to have a choice. Our trips to Singapore and Vietnam made us realize that there is potential in our native cuisine only if offered in a unique way. There are still many ways to explore our native cuisine.
What are you specialties at Villa Regatta?
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We have a seafood bar where the customer can choose fish of their choice from our fresh catch of the day. The can have it cooked in four kinds of ways---grilled, sinigang, sizzling and our signature cooking which is Regatta Papilotte. Papilotte or simply fish nga gin luto sa papel is a way of cooking where we wrap the fish in paper and we drizzle it with flavored scallion olive oil. This is cooked over charcoal and this is the healthiest and most natural way of eating seafood. The juices of the fish are kept and can be savored.
We also have Regatta Crabs. They are crabs that are marinated in milk, seasoned and deep fried and topped with sweet chili sauce.
We also offer baked oysters with different flavors---thermidore, oriental, chili oil and garlic and lemon butter sauce. We have our native lechon manok, but what we are proud of is our Native Fried Chicken, which is cooked so tender.
What makes you different from the others?
For one, I ensure consistent quality by sharing with my kitchen crew the proper and sanitary way of cooking seafood. We only serve the freshest seafood and oysters.
Also, I can say that our prices are very affordable. Let me say...we are the cheapest.
As Ilonggos, our taste in food are maturing and we don’t want the same dishes to be cooked the same way over and over again. I offer traditional Villa Beach food but it is a new kind of seafood cooking and with a twist.
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Aside from our regular menu, we will be having featured dishes and specials. With the beautiful beach front, good service and very affordable recipes, you will appreciate Regatta’s food even more and champion its aim to be Ilonggo’s choice for real Ilonggo cuisine. Villa Regatta is located at Sto. Niño Sur, Arevalo, Iloilo City. For reservations, call 5001331.
E-mail the author at jinki_young@yahoo.com
