Celebrating Heritage Cuisine at Camiña Balay nga Bato in Iloilo
There’s always something about old houses transformed into bed and breakfasts or restaurants that piques my fascination. If given a choice between a post-modern establishment or a repurposed heritage home, I’ll pick the latter any day.
This is the case with Camiña Balay nga Bato in Iloilo. Literally means “house of stone”, the Camiña Balay Nga Bato, also known as Avanceña House, was originally built in 1865 in the Arevalo District along the Iloilo River by Don Fernando Avanceña as a present to his wife, Eulalia Abaja.
Father Anselmo Avanceña, the first parish priest of Molo town in Iloilo, designed the house in the 'arquitectura mestiza' architectural style, which refers to the concept of fusing indigenous Filipino elements with Spanish influences.
The home has undergone many restorations, but some of its original features, such as the capiz windows, narra floors, and kamagong wooden walls, remain intact. The original wooden posts—there are more than twenty of them—are still the primary pillars that support the house, as the owner claims.
Through the years, the house was handed down from generation to generation until Gerard Camiña and his wife, Luth Camiña (4th generation), came about to become its current owners. A marker outside the house describes it as an “important cultural property,” as declared by the National Museum in 2015.
The decision to build the house near the river was a strategic one, as back then, the Avanceña was engaged in the trade of woven cloth, specifically hablon weaving, and the river serves as an easy gateway to transport materials and finished products to adjacent towns.
Serving the Best of Ilonggo Cuisine
I've had the wonderful fortune of having dined here on three occasions now, covering each of my recent trips to Iloilo. The home-cooked delicacies, a representative of heritage Ilonggo cuisine, made each dining experience feel more like coming home.
Aside from their specialties, the flavorful pancit molo and tsokolate batirol, which is prepared in front of you using a 'batidor' (whisk made from guava tree) to beat the tablea mixture in a heated cast iron jug, you can enjoy a feast with your family and friends with their day’s buffet menu served in the house's airy casual dining room, or what was called back in the day as 'balcon comedor'.
On my last visit to Camiña Balay Nga Bato, the buffet menu consisted of ratotoy (an Ilonggo version of ratatouille), fresh spring roll lumpia, empanada, minatamis na saging, pork binuog with hot spicy dip, chicken inasal, grilled and fried garlic bangus, embotido de arevalo, adobo rice, papaya pickles, pancit miki bisayas, mixed seafood, and of course, pancit molo and tsokolate de batirol.
As this most recent Iloilo trip of mine winds down to this last day, the finale of DOT’s Philippine Experience Tour of Iloilo and Bacolod, we made the most of our hearty lunch by capping it off with great conversations and a song number from DOT Region 6 Regional Director Krisma Rodriguez, who belted a few Disney songs before us participants made our way to Iloilo airport.
What better way to bookend another memorable trip to Iloilo than having a fine meal at the Camiña Balay Nga Bato. Like a returning son, I look forward to coming back to this heritage house that feels like the ancestral house in the province that I never had.
Restaurant Fact Box
Must-Try Dishes
⭐ Tsokolate de Batirol (Chocolate "E")⭐ Pancit Molo
⭐ Ratotoy (Ilonggo-style ratatouille)
⭐ Embotido de Arevalo
⭐ Binuog nga Baboy
⭐ Pancit Miki Bisaya
⭐ Heritage Buffet featuring seasonal Ilonggo specialties
Nomadic Experiences Take
There are restaurants where you remember the meal, and there are places where you remember the house that sheltered it. At Camiña Balay nga Bato, the recipes, ancestral walls, and stories of old Iloilo are inseparable. You leave having tasted heritage, but also with a greater appreciation of the family that continues to keep it alive.
