Glorious Food at Sands and Indigo Restaurant in Discovery Shores Boracay
Saturday, October 17, 2015
My short Boracay stay wouldn't be complete without food. For any balikbayan or foreigner, I always believe that it's an integral part of a trip to actually experience Filipino food with an ambiance as spectacular as it is in Discovery Shores Boracay. After lugging around our bags from Manila all the way to Boracay island for a few hours, it was a good thing we stayed at Discovery Shores Boracay because we knew that we're up for an immensely scrumptious feast at Sands Restaurant and later at Indigo Restaurant, of which both are the resorts flagship food destination.
The Interiors
Sands Restaurant and Indigo Restaurant is found in the front beach side of Discovery Shores Boracay. It's a great place to lounge as the breeze of the cold easterly winds makes it way to Boracay's shores. Since you're also located at Station 1, you are bound to have a more peaceful and quiet ambiance with only the occasional crashing of the waves heard on the background. The structure is modern, the furniture and decor follows nature, and it's bordering zen like on some instances. With the white walls, high ceilings, Sands Restaurant pretty much would be a grand place to welcome friends and family before you sit down for breakfast, lunch, high tea or dinner.
If you're a bit romantic or maybe have been bitten by the love bug, have them arrange your dinner at Indigo Restaurant. It's right beside Sands Restaurant but is in the more secluded side of the resort. They do hold events, wedding proposals and formal dinners here so you get to enjoy the more blue classy, club side of the resort's facade.
From the looks of it, they've got a pretty good batting average with women saying yes to most of the proposals so if you're thinking of that special dinner to actually tell her how you feel, Indigo Restaurant's the way to go!
Breakfast at Sands Restaurant
I really require a heavy breakfast because that's where we kinda "refuel" so we can go around later in the day to spots in Boracay. I wouldn't recommend you to cook when in Discovery Shores Boracay as it's very troublesome to actually look for ingredients and cook it yourself when in Boracay. The room packages often come with the buffet breakfast so if you may, ask for it specifically. Here's some of the items on the breakfast buffet which I ate that morning, please don't judge! LOL!
Hakaw or dimsum in the morning is totally okay for me. I am allergic to shrimp but if it's spicy, I'd take a pill and have it for breakfast. Make sure it's cooked thoroughly before you put it on your plate and don't hesitate with the chili oil. You'll love it!
Discovery properties always have bacon, they make it in two ways too where one is soft, like this Soft Bacon and the other is the crispy one which I absolutely love! I always have bacon on anything so if you can, go ahead and take that guilt somewhere else than Boracay.
Champorado might be a little weird to actually see if you're a foreigner, but it's kinda staple in Filipino breakfast or snacks to have a bowl of rice with chocolate on it and pair it up with something salty like fried dried fish on the side. It's like a play on the sweet and salty, a thing that you'll love during mornings at Discovery Shores Boracay!
There was a chafing dish full of pasta too (Carbonara), so if you're not much of a rice fan this could be your next bet.
Like I said earlier, this is my favorite. This is their Crispy Bacon. Mmm...
These are local sausages called Longanisa. You'll see this literally hanging around on meat stalls in local markets. They make a mean one and it's usually paired with fried garlic rice.
They have Four Seasons, Soursop, Mango and Coffee for drinks too, just take your pick then enjoy your breakfast. After that, you'll have to come back for lunch in the same place. Which I'm sure you're also going to enjoy!
Lunch at Sands Restaurant
Lunch at Sands Restaurant is done ala carte. They've got a pretty extensive menu on hand but they could always accommodate your requests especially if you've got dietary restrictions if you're staying at Discovery Shores Boracay. Now the one you're seeing is sort of my friend and I's lunch for 2 days so don't be overwhelmed with the amount of food I'm taking (although I could really eat that much). I knew I'd love lunch the moment I saw this!
This is Jicama and Mangoes with Sauteed Shrimp Paste, Spiced Chili Salt and Fish Sauce on the side. This is actual Filipino street food in an upscale setting. I love what they did here and for appetizers, it's a great way to start a meal.
Chicken Binakol from Sands Restaurant is really good. It's on the sweet side because of the natural sugars coming from the coconut water which is its base. If it's a little drizzly, if you want something hearty, this one's a lovely dish.
This is their Fresh Lumpia and they made the wrapper not just with rice paper, but with Moringga leaves hence the green color. It's fresh, garlicky and those crushed peanuts on top give a little texture. I finished this in 3 minutes.
This is their Beef Caldereta. Their version is a product of testing different recipes from Chef's in the resort. I prefer to have this with white steamed rice as the sauce is pretty rich and tasty. I love beefy stuff, and this one just hits the spot!
This is their Sisig Fried Rice. As the name suggests, it's pork face, ears, and meat that's charred and fried with the usual Sisig ingredients. They top it off with runny poached egg so you can mix it in when you're in the mood.
Crispy Liempo. It's something that you'll love over and over again when in Sands Restaurant. How can you say no to something so mouthwatering, lovely and divine as this slab of pork with garlic, home made salted egg and vinegar on the side. It's just perfect with hot white rice or a bottle of beer. Which you can get on the Sand Bar by the way!
This is their Flat Bread Truffle Pizza. It's not really pizza per ce but considered as toasted flat bread with the right amount of crunch, mushrooms, and truffle. It's my favorite ingredient in the world and if it's on pasta or sandwich, I'd love to have it!
I love Truffle and this Truffle Linguine is just phenomenal. I'm admittedly addicted to it and they might have researched well LOL!
Baby Back Ribs, Coleslaw and Fries just hits the spot. This piece of meat is on the barbecuey and tangy side if there's a term like that. I preferred it to be smokey but really who's going to be choosy when you've got this on your plate right?
Guyabano and Passion Fruit Smoothie just made my day. They have other smoothies on the menu but this concoction was just super good. Albeit pricey, it was totally worth it! You can ask them to combine fruits in season so please do indulge!
Let's not forget dessert. This is their Turon Espesyal. It's fried banana, ube and sweet potato fritters covered in rice paper and sugar, caramelized then fried til golden brown. They mix it up with the usual flavors of halo-halo, 3 scoops of wonderful ice cream, wafer sticks and maraschino cherries. It was really good but we had room or one more!
This is the Signature Discovery Shores Cake. It's moist dark chocolate cake with salt on top, raspberry and mango compote, popcorn and salted caramel ice cream on the side. They've got more on the menu and it's not wonder they've got patrons who come back every year just to get a load of this!
Dinner, lovely dinner!
When in Sands Restaurant, you have choices. This is actually part of their menu and with lovely reason, it's definitely a hit among tourists and locals who have guests coming in from abroad. The Philippine Army even does this on a whim to promote camaraderie, brotherhood and sometimes just to have a good time. This is what they call a "Boodle Fight" where 6 or more people have a meal, sit down and have dinner under the stars using their hands as utensils. Yes, we do eat by hands on occasion and this is one glorious way to do it.
They line the table and set up banana leaf as your plates.
They arrive in style, a feast designed for 6-8 people. This is Filipino cuisine in it's bare form.
Before we do participate in the feast, we had to wash our hands thoroughly.
We had Mango Ensalada, Fried Rice, Chicken Adobo
Plated are some northern favorites like Poqui Poqui, Pinakbet, Bagnet and Kare Kare.
It was super good. I loved my fair share on this boodle fight especially the super hearty Tinola placed on small kaldero pots and I think it could have fed around 10 people... but you know me. They were also very enthusiastic in saying that a lot of foreigners have tried this and loved it too. Thanks to the lovely people of Discovery Shores Boracay who joined us during this dinner and feast!
Meanwhile at Indigo Restaurant
Indigo Restaurant might be just next door but it's ambiance is more upscale than the casual Sands Restaurant. As with their food choices, they have rustic yet the same opulent items on their menu.
Freshly baked Olive Bread
Tomato Butter
Cream Cheese
This was fresh and crunchy, perfectly paired with very tangy dressing and cherry tomatoes. This is their Fern Salad.
The Bacon Chowder Soup was heavenly! I loved the warm soup with bits of salty bacon and swirls of cream on top. I think I timed myself and consumed this in 2 minutes. It was sublime!
Among the things I ate during this trip, this is my favorite. Why? It's so good! This is Indigo Beef Rossini. I had it made Medium Rare just the way I liked it. It was so soft you don't even need a knife to cut it. Add to that the perfectly seared Foie Gras on top, then the creamy mashed potatoes and the haricot vert in truffle sauce. I kept closing my eyes after each bite because it's something that you would want to savor every time you have it in a perfect bite. I highly recommend you order this if you've got a special dinner planned for your lady. The best part is you get to enjoy it too!
To end another night of good food, this is their Chocolate Marquise. It's Chocolate Mousse, Pistachios and spiced Creme Anglaise. It's surprisingly very light, not to heavy as we already had some major items consumed earlier. This is part of the Chef's carefully prepared special menu for us. If you've got something special going on, just tell them and you could always have your proposals happen here. Indigo Restaurant really exceeded my expectations.
As I mentioned earlier, food is an integral part of how you would enjoy a trip. Make sure you splurge when in a vacation, more so if you only want the best each time you go out and take a break from your busy work schedules. Discovery Shores Boracay has entirely made our stay hassle free with these packages and we get to save a lot. Imagine if you had to do this individually, and the effort to just do that is going to be way crazy.
Terra Spa
In between meals, we had the pleasure of getting pampered by Terra Spa. It's located at the second and third level of Discovery Shores Boracay's front building.Just go up the plight of stairs on the left if you're coming from the rooms. They have very professional masseurs and some of the best massages in the island. I could tell, I slept through half of it because I was so relaxed.
The Interiors are conducive for relaxation. Aside from that, they also have signature scents you can choose from for massage oils and oils that you would want your room to smell like. I tried them on my arm first.
I found the Orange based scent very apt for my massage. It's very fruity, a thing that I love rather than the minty ones.
They also have Ginger Tea. You have this before and after the massage. It's really relaxing!
As you can see, the massage rooms are huge! You've also got a fully functioning bath if you're up to it after the massage.
Here's a couple of videos I made from our trip.
Here's the one I made from my GoPro camera
Lastly, here's how to make a mojito courtesy of Mr. Philip Bolano from The SAND Bar
Oh by the way, the APEC Summit 2015 will happen on November and now is the right time to book a stay for the long weekend. I saw on Facebook they're offering the package called The Great Escape here. You can use the promo code APEC15 so you can get special rates for your hassle free vacation. Discovery Shores Boracay has won awards several times now because they pride themselves with the personal service they do when in Boracay. Now it's your turn to experience it!
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