The Second Kaon Ta Silay Food Festival was a food lover’s dream! Restaurants from all over Silay put up food booths on the Balay Negrense grounds displaying their most popular dishes. It was an absolute feast – all the famous Silay delicacies in one place!
We arrived on the second day of the festival to take in the sights, sounds and more importantly – TASTES of this wonderful event.
Lots of large Canopy tents were joined together to form an impromptu market. Walking through the booths made us very hungry as each booth had their most tempting wares on display!
There were so many booths and things to try at the Kaon Ta Food festival that we couldn’t try all of their food so we went to a few select ones that caught our eye.
We were drawn to Mariel’s Bakery – this booth had their staff dress up in traditional attire and had simple native decorations that complemented the food.
We bought a couple of Mariel’s Ukoy to munch on as we made our way around the festival. Ukoy is made out of shrimp and julienned squash. Deep fried and served with vinegar, this is a delicious traditional Filipino snack.
Sinda Belleza was our next stop. This simple stall serves yummy Fresh Lumpia Ubod.
Lumpia Ubod is lumpia made from heart of palm which is considered a delicacy in the United States. Here in the Philippines, this delicious vegetable is quite common so one can find it in all sorts of native food.
Nieves’ Kitchen was one of the most popular stalls! Their main draw was the piping hot, freshly made Panara. This tasty treat is made with mung bean sprouts and meat, wrapped in a pastry and deep fried. I usually don’t like Panara because of the mung bean sprout texture but Nieves’ Kitchen’s Panara stuffing is processed in such a way that the resulting stuffing is smooth and pleasant tasting. We bought a big paper bag of these!
El Ideal had a gorgeous display of their baked goods! Barquillos, native cookies, desserts were all in display.
Of course El Ideal had on display their famous Guapple pie! Made from Guava, this pie is sought after by locals and tourists alike. This pie was bought by a customer mere seconds after I took this picture!
Don Papa Rum set up a small sari sari store named after a former revolutionary Papa Isio. Brewed in the shadows of Mount Kanlaon, this rum is being exported all over the world! In fact, Forbes has a fascinating article about Don Papa Rum! (click here to read it!)
There was Julian Lozada ice cream being sold at the Silay Food Festival but the flavors were out of this world! Buko cheese, mango cheese, banana cheese and coffee rum.
Of course we had the coffee rum ice cream. The flavor of the coffee and the rum was luxurious.
Emma Lacson’s Delicacies booth had plenty of their lumpia and their famous Empanada and Pili squares. The Empanada is their most famous product. It is ordered by people for big events and parties.
We took a break in the central part of the festival. The trees provided plenty of shade and there was plenty of fun to be had because while we were there, there was a trivia contest! The contest was really fun – the questions were about local food. Prizes were given out by the participating booths and there was plenty of prizes to go around. The most coveted prize was a Petron Gasul bank that was made out of a miniature gas tank.
Bacolod Chicken house had plenty of chicken Inasal to go around.
Brave culinary adventures should try the special native treats served by Tito Chuck’s Restaurant. They had palakang bukid (mountain frog) legs and Tamilok (Giant ship woodworm). I will try these next time for sure! Kudos to Tito Chuck’ restaurant for making these available!
After all that snacking, we had a power lunch with Owa’s Balay Pangahan. It was my first time to try their excellent grilled tuna jaw with savory peanut sauce. We had sides of potato croquetas, empanada, ukoy and a lot of other delicious stuff.
It was a wonderful event. To the organizers of the Kaon Ta food festival and all the booths and participants, We would like to say “JOB WELL DONE!”
The Bacolod Food Hunters 
Looks fun!!! Is this a yearly event? What month? Godd for balikbayans to experience such community event.