Foodie.ph: Ihaw-Ihaw Balot-Balot

For the longest time, my mother does most of the cooking at home. This is one of the many things that I will surely miss when my husband and I move out of the house and transfer to our own next year. On the very few times that my mom is not in the mood to cook, we usually resort to food delivery. Having food delivered to our doorsteps always gives delight to our family of foodies.

I have to say that food delivery has gone a long way. When I was growing up, we would usually consult our dusty phone directory and scan the available food delivery services. Yes, I am that old!!! With the birth of the internet, everything is now as easy as one click (literally). A couple of weeks ago, I got an invite from Foodie.ph to try out their services. Foodie.ph is like a phone directory but 1,000,000,00 times better! You don’t need to battle with your old-fashioned and dusty phone directory unless you have to use a dusty computer in placing an order. :p

Foodie.ph has a wide array of restaurants to choose from. It’s nice that the site has a quick search for easy access. For those who are indecisive of what to have for dinner, this site will surely be your best friend. “Oh, I want a big, fat, juicy burger! Nah,  I’ll have Chinese food instead. But wait, I’m on a diet! I’ll have something healthy instead!!!” Fret no more because Foodie.ph sorts out the restaurants by cuisine and food choices. Isn’t that amazing?


Placing an order is also as easy as 1-2-3. I’m not sure with the other restaurants but in the case of Ihaw-Ihaw Balot-Balot, some of the food choices from the menu have photos. You just have to click the camera icon beside the food and you’ll see a photo of the dish.


Once you’re done, you’ll see the status of your order. When I signed up, I also enabled the option to send email notifications. I received an email of my order and received another one saying that my order has been received.


I also got a call from Foodie.ph a few minutes after I placed my order. Unlike the old-fashioned way of food deliveries, you don’t need to get through a restaurant’s hotline. And we all know that a lot of these are not really efficient. In this case, they will call you and not the other way around. This part also adds a personal touch. During the call, they confirmed my order, the amount I need to pay and my delivery address. This step will ensure that your order is indeed being processed. For technology cynics, no need to be paranoid that your order has been lost in the World Wide Web!

I specified to have our food delivered at 530PM because our family usually eats around 630PM. I allotted an hour of contingency because I was anticipating delays considering that I live in Manila and the restaurant is in Quezon City. The weather was also uncooperative so I was already expecting for the worst. Imagine my surprise when my mom called me before 5PM telling me that the food had already arrived! The rider handed me the receipt along with two giant paper bags, each were properly labeled with the contents. As I open it, I saw that everything was carefully wrapped in individual paper bags. And most importantly, everything was still hot!


I may have acquired my love for spicy food because my father loves everything spicy. It was a no-brainer that he decided to have the Hot and Spicy Squid. When he opened the banana leaves, I already knew that this dish is not for the weak-hearted. To confirm this, I had a few bites of the squid. I was right! It is really spicy but a dash of sweetness balanced it out a bit. I love that the squid is still tender because one wrong move in cooking squid can cause lock jaw to the one eating it. Nyaha!


There is more to Ihaw-Ihaw Balot-Balot than the classic grilled dishes wrapped in banana leaves. When I saw Crispy Kare-Kare on their menu, I didn’t think twice in trying it out. This particular kare-kare has… hold your breath… lechon kawali instead of the usual pork innards. It took me a while to appreciate this because of two things. First, I am used to eating the traditional kare-kare with pork innards. It just felt weird having something crispy on my kare-kare. Second, the peanut sauce is on the sweet side. I like it a bit salty. It was new for my taste buds, but I still enjoyed it because you simply can’t go wrong with lechon kawali! :p


My brother requested for the Ensaladang Talong. It was definitely a hit for us. The grilled eggplant has a very distinct smoky flavor. Everybody seemed to enjoy it because I almost failed to have a bite of it. :p

Thank you, Foodie.ph, for letting me and my family experience the good food of Ihaw-Ihaw Balot-Balot without the hassle of driving from Manila to Quezon City! Now, I need to retire those dusty and bulky phone directories. :)


Foodie.ph
Website: http://www.foodie.ph/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/foodiedotph
Twitter: http://twitter.com/foodiedotph