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Around Bicol in 30 Plates: Bicol Food Adventure Day 2

Traveling around Bicol in 30 Plates is real fun specially for those who love food and adventure. Just like Pampanga, Iloilo and Cebu, Bicolandia is also a paradise for foodies. Aside from warm hospitality, Bicol is known for its spicy food, fusion food, and local blends that reflect Bicolano culture.

Biggs Tosilog and Brewed Coffee
Biggs Tosilog and Brewed Coffee

Around Bicol in 30 Plates: Bicol Food Adventure Day 2

Laing
Laing

On our second day, we woke up early to checkout the hotel then headed to Pili for our breakfast at Bigg’s Pili in Camarines Sur. Just like the other branches of Bigg’s Diner that we already visited, Pili branch is also filled with retro-vintage inspired decors. From old signages to past memorabillas and past American Blockbusters, this branch will easily capture the hearts of Hollywood fans out there.

Home Made Crispy Bacon
Home Made Crispy Bacon

For breakfast, we tried their famous Pinoy Favorite Tosilog – an all time favorite breakfast meal with sweet caramelized pork that is cooked till tender, sunny side up egg, papaya pickles on the side and Sinangag (Garlic Fried Rice). Tocilog will not be complete without a cup of aromatic brewed coffee.

Pinangat
Pinangat

After our satisfying Pinoy Power breakfast, we headed to the Pecuaria Farm where they process and cook their bacon and their best selling Pinangat. You will surely love their home made bacon once you tasted Bigg’s Extreme Supreme Burger.

Longganisang Hubad
Longganisang Hubad

What makes Bigg’s Diner a true blue Bicolano? Apart from their “American Size” burgers, they also serve Pinangat. Laing and Pinangat are Bicolano dishes that are composed of taro leaves, chili, meat, and coconut milk wrapped in gabi leaves and tied securely with coconut leaf.

Philtranco Heritage Museum
Philtranco Heritage Museum

From Pecuaria Farm, headed to Iriga City to visit some of their tourist spots. Our first stop was at the Philtranco Heritage Museum.

Tenderloin Tips with Baked Mashed Potato
Tenderloin Tips with Baked Mashed Potato

Located in San Nicolas, Iriga City, Philtranco Heritage Museum houses artifacts of the oldest transportation company in the country founded by Albert L. Ammen in 1914. Although the museum is not that well maintained they still manage to showcases old photos of their first transport vehicles, old record books, typewriters and various memorabilias.

Kookie Monster Cake
Kookie Monster Cake

We also visited the famous Lake Buhi. This lake is famous since it is one of the few bodies of water that contains the sinarapan (Mistichthys luzonensis) which is the world’s smallest commercially harvested fish.

Souvenir Shops in Cagsawa Ruins
Kookie Monster Cake

Our lunch was served at Bigg’s Diner in Iriga City. For lunch we tried, Bigg’s tasty Tenderloin Tips with Baked Mashed Potatoes partnered with creamy Cauliflower Soup and for dessert, we had a slice of Kookie Monster Cake – a mouth watering chocolate cake that truly exceeded my expectation. Honestly, this cake is better than those served at Starbucks.

View of Mayon Volcano at Cagsawa Ruins
View of Mayon Volcano at Cagsawa Ruins

From Iriga City, we proceeded to Legaspi City in Albay to visit the famous Cagsawa Ruins and take photos of Mayon Volcano – The worlds perfect cone. While inside the park, we tried Chili Shake – an ice blended fruit shake infused with chili. I tried buko shake with chili and I really liked it, It simply taste like your favorite Buko shake but expect the hot kick down to your throat after your first sip.

Daraga Church
Daraga Church

Our visit to Cagsawa Ruins was followed by a visit to another heritage site Daraga – The Our Lady of the Gates Church or also popularly known as the Daraga Church. The Our Lady of the Gate Parish was constructed in 1773 atop Sta. Maria Hill in Brgy. San Roque and is uniquely known for its rich baroque architecture.

Pinoy Travel Bloggers in Cagsawa Ruins
Pinoy Travel Bloggers in Cagsawa Ruins

After our short stop in Daraga Church, we headed to Ligñon Hill but since the sky was a bit cloudy, I decided not to join the rest in a short uphill climb. While waiting for them to come back I enjoyed munching Bigg’s Cheesy Patty Burger and Potato Wedges along with their famous rock n roll iced tea.

PTB in Cagsawa Ruins
PTB in Cagsawa Ruins (photo courtesy of John Marx)

We proceeded to The Oriental Hotel for Check In. It was my first time staying at The Oriental Hotel and I was really really impressed with the hotel lobby, the façade, the interior, room amenities, design, and the good view of the majestic Mayon Volcano from the hotels infinity pool.

Since it was already late in the evening, the organizers decided to deliver the food to our respective rooms instead of a dine in at Bigg’s Embarcadero Branch.

We sampled their Crispy and tender fried chicken served with crab and corn soup. They also served laing and pinangat to satisfy our cravings and to complete our dinner, they also served Rock n Roll Iced tea and carrot cake for dessert.

Around Bicol in 30 Plates was sponsored by Biggs Diner (http://www.biggsdiner.ph/), follow them on Facebook and Twitter.

*Many thanks to Shulace for proof reading this article:)

Written by Melo Villareal

Melo Villareal is the Online Publisher of Outoftownblog.com. He is an Accountant by profession who left the corporate world at the age of 23 to explore his beautiful country and the rest of the world. Today, Melo works as a part-time Social Media Manager for local and international clients. His full-time work focuses on discovering interesting culture, explore different cuisines and take memorable photos from local and international destinations he's visiting.

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