After hearing how guests were treated like royalty in GenSan by the gracious ‘Generals’ and having received an invitation from GenSantos.com‘s Avel Manansala to spend the weekend in GenSan, I coaxed Brendel into going to a weekend trip with me to the Tuna Capital of the Philippines.

Lunch at Kiko’s Restaurant

Shortly after arriving in GenSan, our hosts-cum-tour guides Avel and his partner Marz took us to Kiko’s Restaurant, a newly opened family restaurant located along South Osmeña Street in General Santos City. Restaurant owner Gary Ocampo was around and gamely talked to us about how he came up with his recipes.

Despite being new in the restaurant business, the food at Kiko’s Restaurant is delicious!  Their home-style fried chicken is heaven-sent and yes, it’s greaseless.

We were also served Tuna Belly and Grilled Pork Chop but I wasn’t able to sample those because I was too engrossed enjoying the greaseless fried chicken and the mouth-watering Tinolang Imbao (clam soup). I regularly have clams and shells at home and my mom is a master in the kitchen so I’m not easily impressed by clam and shell offerings of most restaurants but I was floored by Kiko’s Tinolang Imbao. It’s really good. It was so good that I dove in immediately and forgot to take a picture of it!

It was also my first time to try Laing, a spicy taro dish cooked in coconut milk. I’m happy to report that my tastebuds agree with Kiko’s version of the bicolano dish.

Read more about Kiko’s culinary offerings at GenSantos.com.

Chilling at Orange Bistro

Next up in our GenSan itinerary was Orange Bistro.  This homey restaurant in Lagao offers free WiFi to its patrons which is perfect for my blog optimization session and mini-plurkfiesta with Avel.  What’s interesting about this cozy bistro in Lagao is their restroom. Brendel just can’t stop raving about it. She swears it’s one of the best looking restrooms she’d seen. Too bad, I was too engrossed enjoying the nachos and mango salad to check it out for myself.

On second thought, I regret having neglected checking out Orange Bistro‘s much talked about restroom.

Fine Dining at the Royale Lounge

Just when I thought we’ve exhausted our welcome, our gracious hosts took us to the Royale Lounge at East Asia Royale Hotel in GenSan for some fine dining and boy did we feast on the Japanese sushi! There were a number of other dishes as well but I was too overwhelmed to take note of it.

Oh, did I mention that there’s also free WiFi at the Royale Lounge? Avel, Marz, Brendel and I ended up spending the entire evening at the Royale Lounge up until the wee hours in the morning plurking and enjoying the live music at GenSan’s premiere fine dining destination.

Time really flies so fast when you’re with good company.

A Trip Down Memory Lane at Polomolok

I’m not an early riser but I was up early the following day and for a very good reason as our last day in GenSan involved a trip to the Trappistine Monastery in Landan, Polomolok.  You see, I used to live in GenSan when I was small. Our family would take a trip to Polomolok every once in a while to buy canned fruits at the DOLE cooperative and to Kalsangi a few days before Christmas to buy an authentic pine tree which we would decorate to be our Christmas tree. It’s a family tradition that I always looked forward to every year. Then we moved to Davao City and that regular trip to the foot of Mt. Matutum became a thing of the past.

Foodtripping at Dolores Farm Resort

Like all good things, our grand holiday in GenSan had to end but not without a blast. Just before leaving for Davao, we headed to Dolores Farm Resort for a hearty lunch. Our GenSan hosts of two swelled to three with Avel’s younger brother Orman accompanying us.

Lunch at Dolores Farm Resort was fabulous. Not only was it a gustatory treat, it was a visual treat as well.  I never knew food can look this good.  The presentation is so intricate, you’d hesitate eating it.  I took photos of the food but the pics below do not give justice to the work of art that was laid before us. It’s something that one has to see to appreciate.

Thank you

Avel for taking time to make sure we were treated like royalty in GenSan.

Marz for patiently accompanying us around GenSan until the wee hours of the morning.

Orman for the fun trip to Polomolok.

Ate Jinky for providing accommodations at Dolores Hotel.