The "Paluto Experience" at Vista Mall Iloilo

Inspired by the "dampa-style" restaurants dotting the seaside across the country, the PALUTO section inside All Day Supermarket at Vista Mall Iloilo, gives the Ilonggos a new dining experience. 

Tastes like home even when its not home-coked

With the convenience of an air-conditioned environment and the ease of pushing a cart, it is "paluto" taken to a whole new level!

The kitchen army at All Day Supermarket

To make the most out of this experience, take time to be early (the mall is open from 9am to 9pm) for when it nears lunch or dinner time, the line and waiting time tend to be longer.

Paluto 101

You start by checking out what kind of dish is available and you want on the PALUTO menu. Don't worry, they have a wide variety of Filipino specialties to choose from.

My mother enjoying the "marketing"

Then it's time to do the "marketing" around All Day Supermarket. With this you can control the quantity and quality of the ingredients. But remember, you ingredients must weigh at least 500gms as that it is the minimum requirement for paluto.

Salmon!

 You can choose ready packed goods or you can choose individually - just in the the wet markets. You can ask for assistance if don't know the other ingredients your a dish you want to be prepared.

Fresh produce ready for the paluto

When you are done, there's a dedicated counter for the paluto for faster transaction. Aside from paying for the ingredients, you also pay for the paluto fee, which includes the cooking and the basic ingredients.   

The cashier first then the kitchen

That means, you don't have to buy vinegar, soy sauce, bay leaves and peppercorns if you will be having adobo. But if you prefer your adobo to come with hardboiled egg, you must include the eggs in your cart.

PALUTO MENU

You also order rice (per cup) at the counter, don't worry it's bigger than the usual serving in most restos. You can also order ala noodle dishes by the bilao - no need to shop for the ingredients.

Fires up!

You will get a number for your order as the cooks start to prepare you dish. This may take around 20-30 minutes depending on the crowd and the dishes you ordered. But prepare to wait for an hour or so if you come during peak hours as experienced by many.

Eating while shopping

While waiting for your order to be served, get your drinks ready too. You can buy cups of iced tea or juices from stalls or buy sodas/juices/water by the liter in the grocery. Don't forget to buy plastic cups as they dont have glasses. I suggest individual drinks likes soda in cans or 500ml bottles.

CRISPY CRABLETS

Fried orders are first to be served and just a perfect time for some appetizers. We had some FRIED CRABLETS to whet our appetites and good thing there's an unli vinegar dip in the counter to make it event more appetizing.

JUICY GRILLED SALMON

The GRILLED SALMON was cooked the way we liked it -seared but still oozing with juices inside. You can give last minute instructions in the open kitchen for your cooking preference.

A KILO OR GRILLED PORK

GRILLED PORK BELLY. Delicious! Just like how we cook it at home - just salt as seasoning before it goes on the grill. And it goes well with calamansi-soy sauce-chilli dip.

SEASONED BONELESS BANGUS

You can also buy packed/frozen goods like this BONELESS BANGUS then have it cooked to your preference  - that's grilled for us. But there's lot of fresh fish and seafood to choose from.

OH NOT, IT'S BULALO!

And last to be served was the BULALO. Even though it was already pressured cooked, it still takes time to cook this dish from scratch given it was beef shanks and the other ingredents. But it was worth the wait.

Hurrah for the kitchen army!

Left-overs? Just ask for plastics and paperbags from wait staff at teh kitchen. And yes, you'll have to pack your "take-homes" yourselves.

We all live to eat and eat to live. It just differs on what we eat, where we eat and how we eat. And with the PALUTO at Vista Mall Iloilo, "eat's a whole new gastronomic experience"!