Ponsyon by breakthrough — Restaurant in Iloilo City

ok so here's the thing.....i live in boracay when i'm in the pinas. but when i get island fever and craving a trip to the city, i love going to iloilo. i mean, forget crazy ass manila, but that is a different story. on the numerous recommendations of various friends, i have been searching for the best ilonggo food in the city. over the last 4 years, i have tried most of the places on this google list. but i keep coming back to one place that has repeatedly convinced me that this has to be the best. Ponsyon/ Break Through.....2 different locations, but same same.

efficiency and speed are not typically characteristic of most restos in the philippines. maybe coz the culture is just naturally laid back. but this place scores definitely above average. i have been to these restos quite a bit, often on consecutive nights. in maybe over 20 dinners here, one night, a trainee waiter messed up our order. but what is amazing to me is that over 95% of the time, the service makes me feel good about tipping generously. the screw up was just that one night....all the other nights have been wonderful.

the place is designed rather tastefully pinoy as well. it looks welcoming, even relaxing. but you can't really relax when the place is always so busy......but how can you argue with success? they are obviously doing something right.

i have tried maybe less than 70% of the total dishes on the menu.....my never fail picks are any of the seafood soups, ensalada, kinilaw tanigue, sizzling crab, catfish in coconut milk, paksiw lechon, kansi on a hot plate, kalkag fried rice. i have my girlfriend invite as many family members as possible so i can order a bigger variety of dishes, haha. though i haven't tried any of the desserts.....at plazuela, i go to the excellent pastry place next door. overall for the flavor, quality and serving sizes, i find the place a great value. many places on the google list are priced similarly but fall short on taste or quality or serving size or all of the above.

my bottom line, i will keep trying other places. but so far, unless some other place comes up, i find myself coming back here...

No wait when we came in around 7 pm on a Monday for party of 6. Complimentary chips in the beginning

Ordered the following: Green mango shake - i was told “habal” mango will be served. Which means it’s between raw green mango and ripe mango. I asked for half the usual sugar/syrup and it turned out perfect Ripe Mango shake Buko juice Buko shake Baked scallops Grilled Sibingan (Blue Marlin) Aligue Rice Adobong tangkong Chopsuey Sizzling Kansi - very tender meat and of course, I love the bone split in half with the bone marrow exposed. The sauce on it was good too. Grilled lechon belly - just ok Fish and chips (had 2 good dipping sauce, but the fish was just ok.

With all the food we ordered, nothing stood out except the Aligue rice and sizzling kansi.

Food: 3 star (Nothing stood out) Ambiance: 4 star (temperature was comfortable Cleanliness: restroom is clean, smells good, with toilet paper and soap with running water, whole restaurant is also...

Decided to take lunch here on a weekday. The place was empty. The crews was welcoming and are happy to assist.

The restaurant is clean. A crew presented us with the menu and took our order. It was served hot. Waiting for food took about 15-20mins. We were served with a complementary kropek.

The chicken binakol was great. Meat is very tender. Pork estofado was also great. The grilled tangigue was abit off for me - I wish I ordered the kinilaw. We ordered half of the serving which is good for 2-3 pax. There are alot of other menus to choose from but I forgot to take a photo of the menu. Food prices are reasonable.

Over all this is a great restaurant for an ilonggo food indulgence. Would...