Blackbeard’s Seafood Island: Seafood Bonding Extreme!

Blackbeard’s Seafood Island is our go-to place whenever we crave for a boodle fight style of dining and it is in my list of recommended restaurants for big groups. Their food is placed on top of a big banana leaf so it is really meant forsharing while customers eat with their bare hands. Boodle fight is a Filipino tradition of dining originated from the Philippine military where the hungry soldiers eat and grab food as much as they can before the others grab them and food runs out. I like their idea of embracing this concept and I guess this is one of the reason that makes them outstanding compared to other Filipino restaurants.

The usual grubs in the boodle fight are seafood, Filipino grilled favorites and fried rice. But they also offer a la carte meals that are equally mouthwatering such as live seafood paluto, isla ensalada, island pica pica, hot plates, vegetables, pansit sa balsa, bbq and deep-fried trippings, binalot, island meat madness, sopas de palayukan, seafood island bag and eskinita. 

Davao Gulf

I think Davao Gulf is the most memorable Seafood Island’s dish for me not only because it’s the first boodle feast we had in this restaurant but also because it has most varieties of dishes. It has chicken, pork, seafood and vegetable viands. Plus, we can enjoy three kinds of rice, Kalkag Rice, Bagoong Rice and Garlic Rice, all at the same time. This will cause people forget their diet plans as I forget mine.

Island Sinugba Espesyal

As a seafood lover, the Island Sinugba Espesyal of Seafood Island looks like a heaven to me. I love everything in this pack. Oh my God! Look at those crabs! They look big and the amount of crab meat and aligue inside does not disappoint. The same goes with the mussels. I hate to say this but even the seaweeds are addicting. Sadly, we missed mixed seafood binakol as it is not available during that time.

Meaty Madness

While we enjoy the seafood in Island Sinugba Espesyal, Meaty Madness is all about meat. Although the laing, canton sotanghon, kinilaw na tanigue and chicken inasal skewers got me, I was quite disappointed with this dish. It says that it is good for five to seven persons but we were six in the table and we still have to order for additional cups of rice and one more dish. I can literally count the grilled talong, grilled okra, salted egg and liempo bits.

Isla Mano a Mano

Boodle fights for two persons are also possible as Seafood Island offers menu with smaller boodle feasts. They’re just like huge platters yet it still has a lot of selections. When my mom and I had an alone time in this restaurant, we chose Isla Mano a Mano, a plate of grilled meat and seafood, and we didn’t regret having it. The skewers were well-marinated, the shrimp and mussels were fresh as always and the chicken was flavorful.

Crispy Lechon Kawali Kare Kare

I always want my Kare Kare in Seafood or Beef but this one is worth-trying because they just combined two of my favorite Filipino dishes – Lechon Kawali and Kare Kare. The Lechon Kawali is truly crispy. I wish it has more of it. The Kare Kare has a lot of peanut sauce like how I want it to be. We also tried their Grilled Tuna Panga and we find it hard getting the meat parts. It looks big but we can only eat a little from it.

Sinigang na Ulo ng Salmon

The first thing I noticed with Seafood Island’s Sinigang na Ulo ng Salmon is its tanginess. This sour soup is no joke and I love it. I keep telling my companions that this is how a sinigang should taste like. It also has the natural flavors of the vegetables. Aside from that, although the main ingredient includes only the head part of the Salmon, most of it is edible and enough to be shared by a group of six, unlike their Grilled Tuna Panga.

Cheesy Kamote Fries

The cheese sauce and sweet potato weren’t a great combination but I can learn to love it. It’s a good thing that the cheese is just a dip so we still have the choice to mix them or not. Individually, they are fine. The sweet potato fries have crunchy edges and soft insides. It tastes naturally and it isn’t oily. On the other hand, I think the cheese dip was homemade because I can still munch bits of it. And that’s a plus for me.

Mt. Apo

While their food gives us an ultimate boodle feast experience, the service in their MOA branch is kinda poor. Two of my friends have to share in one glass because they gave only five glasses instead of six. We asked the waiter for water and he came out of the kitchen without it and started doing other stuff. But I’m glad that the heads humbly addressed my concern. They even called me regarding this situation.