I love having lunch with the kids. They just sit and chat, chat, chat. They play, they laugh… It’s just so nice to see them interacting with each other as they don’t see each other all the time of course. It’s so nice, right? WTF!!!

YanYan’s fruit of his labour for his sister, my wifey. Wow, that looks amazing, so appetizing. Is that before or after it’s been eaten? Seriously though brother you made your sister a VERY happy girl with these and she did say they tasted incredible – so double Brownie points for you. I also promise you NEVER need to give me any of these to make me happy. I PROMISE!!!

I’m sorry but how is this a delicacy? It looks like road-kill or a sea-urchin that has jumped off a 60-storey building.

And all for this. Did the sea-urchin sneeze? Of course, I am embellishing to get my point across. There was a lot more. Just made me giggle when she got the first edible bit from the first urchin. “Ahhhhhh, choo”, said the sea-urchin.

BIG family dinner tonight at a new place on Dauis that Sis and Brother have visited and said is good. I am liking it a lot. Alcoholics Anonymous BBQ. Bring it on. I am hooked already!!!

Like the Philippines version of The Waltons. We go big tonight with Mum, brother and sis, kids galore, and nieces and, and… This restaurant is Uber cool. No frills and all that but it has a really cool atmosphere. Music pumping, it’s busy and vibrant. Staff are great. Prices very good and the menu looks incredible too. Yeah, one big happy family of food campers tonight.

Sorry, but one of our family party said he did not agree to have hos photo used in this blog and could we please anonymise him from the photo. I wonder which member of the family it was?

Here we go. This was one of the very best version of this dish ever. We ordered two in fact. This is eggplant that they fry with onion, tomato and egg. It forms this quasi-omelette. The eggplant almost melts into this delicious puree. Dip this in native sauce and holy shit, best thing ever. Wow, this is so good. Two times so good! This is Tortang Talong.

Filipino version of Sweet & Sour Pork next. Bloody brilliant. Almost sherbert like. So very delicious. I am liking this food here a lot!!! And, as The Carpenters say; “It’s only just begun…”

Guso up next which is a Filipino salad made from fresh seaweed with pickled vegetables. My first time to try this, and yet another WOW moment for me on this trip. This was just so fresh and almost invigorating in a strange way. Love this, and I really thought I was not going to. Big tick in the box for this dish. Really different, so very good. The little balls are bladders to make the seaweed float (if you were wondering).

I shall just call this one chicken soup as that is what wifey called it. Jude went for this in a BIG way on his rice. I just had it described to me that this is chicken soup with vegetables – that are non-descript. Looks Yummy!

Next up is a rather special Lechon Kawali. This was so, so good. Deep-fried to perfection and not a drop of oiliness in sight. Crunchy crackling and dipping sauce. Oh yeah and an icy cold beverage of some San Miguel brand and I am in foodie heaven. Spanking! Do not be fooled. This is not just pork belly chopped up and fried, this is seriously seasoned beforehand with secret stuff. That’s the magic in Filipino cuisine.

A 1st time EVER in all my years of coming to the Philippines. Native Dipping sauce with raw green tomatoes. Holy crap, best-in-breed. I was eating this on its own at the end of the evening – well vinegar is supposed to be good for you, isn’t it? LOVE THIS!!! AA BBQ you are rocking my friends. So apparently AA BBQ originates from Cebu, and this is #1 branch in Bohol – I suppose we watch this space for more to come as this was jammed!!! And funnily enough, quite a few scooter white faces in the mix too.

I am never a big fan of ‘wet’ Sisig. So when looking at this I was a little ‘not sure’. But I have taught myself not to eat with my eyes. I mixed this up on the sizzling platter and gave it a go. Holy cow, or pig. This is without doubt one of the best tasting Sisig ever, if not for the ‘slime’ it could be up there with the absolute overall best. Remember that Sisig blog? This was superb, truly.

Their Crispy Pata was well up there too. The crackling was absolutely to die for. Especially with dipping sauce and some of that green tomato, Double WOW for AA BBQ for this. So very good. Again, do not be fooled by its over-simplistic nature. Deep-fried pork knuckle. This is boiled beforehand in a special array of herbs and spices to cook it, infuse the meat, to tenderize it and also help the skin crackle and puff up when fried. Yeah, baby, this is legendary! Move over Ze Germans, the Philippines has this licked – literallY!

Fish-eye fun on the new camera. Suffice to say, it was busy in here. As we were about to leave a table fo 18 rocked up, and I thought our 10 was rocking!

I could not help myself. This lady was st a table away and every time she lent forwards I thought to myself; “Wow she is taking Xmas to a new level, and I love her reindeer costume… GENIUS!!! She’s just missing a red nose.”

Fly-on-wall conversation ear-wigging now. Jude goes to sit with his favourite Uncle YanYan. Magic shows and chats and giggles all commence and I could not help take a few snaps. Love it.

“Look into my eyes. Only my eyes. Not around my eyes. Only into my eyes…” said Uncle YanYan. “Cockadoodledoo!!!” said Jude. “Yep he’s hypnotised alright!!!” said Uncle YanYan.

Oh no I have been spotted. paparazzi has been rumbled.

I think I can safely say that that dinner was DESTROYED by family Burlas and Kennett. WOW. Blink, chew, gone!!!

“And now we patch over to our live reporter Brian, who is at the Bohol synchronized ice-cream eating championships, how’s it going Brian?” said the TV anchor. “Yeah thanks, Janet, the girls and youngster on the Burlas team are performing so well, but overall the team is a little let down by the older brother who seems to think his cone is a Karaoke microphone…” said reporter Brian

Nothing more on this yet as we did not visit to eat, but Amy and I popped next door and yeah this is on the agenda for the next trip.

Old converted petrol station to cool diner. Have a wee zoom in and see the DJ in a converted VW by the looks of it. Quasi-The-Hideout happening here. Yes, live music to I sees from their Facebook site.

Looks good right?

Very USA diner of the 50s = Uber cool. We’ll be back next trip that is for sure guys! Be seeing you!

I can’t find a web site for our mates at AA BBQ – so I think I’ll send them a text to ask where to share our blog. No complaints at all. Excellent dinner thanks, as confirmed by many empty plates from 10 guests of all ages and nations. Be proud AA BBQ.