This is my third and last installment of our trip to Roxas City. After a brief stopover at Pilar, we took the route to Balasan for only fifteen minutes. Balasan is one of the popular fishing towns of northern Panay. The road from Balasan to Iloilo has refreshing scenery that most travelers will find very relaxing. You will see verdant mountains and valleys on the right side, alluring aquamarine seascapes of the coastal towns (Barotac Viejo, Banate and Anilao) on the left side. Most of the public transports during that time were heading north so the other lane was almost empty. Inside the vehicle, some have already fallen asleep while my eyes are busy looking at the view.
We decided to have a early dinner before going back to the city which everyone seemed to agree. While passing through the town of Banate, we saw Khuzeena Seafoods and Resto Bar perching perfectly along the road. “Experience bangus fishing and feeding. You catch, we cook.” says the outdoor sign. We parked the rented Mitsubishi Adventure and the three of us went inside the restaurant. The entrance leads you to an open space, a spacious terrace overlooking the fishponds – a nice place to hang out on warm summer nights. It has a native touch because of bamboo slats flooring and nipa frond roofs. Those in the vehicle were still asleep or just too tired to move so we decided to look for another place to eat.
Twenty minutes later, we were already traversing the road to Joy Joys Seafoods Restaurant. The road was awfully bad and filled with potholes. Joy joys has a nice view of Monfort River and is strategically located in the coastal road, halfway between Iloilo City and the town of Dumangas. We quickly searched the menu for a hot, freshly cooked seafoods (again) but to our dismay all they have left were bangus. We skipped Khuzeena but we ended up with bangus just the same. Anyway, we ordered sinigang na bangus and sinugba na bangus. Good thing they can cook very quickly and the service was also good. Joy Joys became popular through words of mouth because of their tasty seafoods at cheaper prices.
the entrance
empty plates waiting for customers
weary traveler
Joy Joy, here we come!
the menu
bangus belly . . uhmm yummy!
