Country > Philippines > Bohol > Tagbilaran
Date > 2017 > Oct
Activity > Food Odyssey

Chocolate Blogs

Sikwate
Daday
May 2024

Dalareich
Revisited
May 2024

Siamaya
Chocolates
Oct 2022

Cacao
Roasting
Jan 2018

Making Sikwate: From Cacao Fruit To A Hot Dark Chocolate Drink

Making Sikwate
Jan 2018

Chocolate Overload At Dalareich Chocolate House

Dalareich
Chocolate
Oct 2017

Chocolate
Souffle
Oct 2006

Oct 2, 2017

Chocolate Overload at Dalareich Chocolate House

Location : Dalareich Chocolate House, Tagbilaran, Bohol, Philippines

Chocolate Itch
In tableya conversations with friends, the newly opened chocolate factory - Dalareich Chocolate House, the first of its kind in Bohol, kept popping up. It was an itch that finally had to be scratched. Luckily for me, it was in Tagbilaran, just a few minutes away by bike from my place. A conversation with the chocolate princess herself, Dalareich, opened me up to the hidden world of chocolate.

Chocolate Pedigree
Even without the chocolate house, Dalareich's personal story is already compelling. Given the family's newfound stature, she is transparent about their humble beginnings - her mother was a street cleaner and her father was a tricycle driver. Her grandmother started a tableya (local cacao) business selling to sari-sari stores and sikwate (native hot chocolate drink) vendors at the wet market. This was passed on to her mother with everyone in the family pitching-in from sourcing, production, to selling. Modest earnings from the small business allowed her to graduate with an engineering degree.

The Belgian Connection
An opportunity came up when a Belgium-based company sponsored a contest for an all-expense-paid 2-month chocolate immersion course in Belgium. Dalareich, against all odds, made her pitch and beat everyone else. The knowledge, experience and insight she gained in Belgium was the genesis for the launch of the first ever, chocolate factory in Tagbilaran using the latest Belgian know-how in chocolate making. Now, her mandate is to educate people about proper chocolate making. She holds tours in the factory explaining the intricate process on how a cacao fruit turns into the much sought-after chocolate we all love. Not resting on her laurels, she's preparing for a trip to Paris to level-up her chocolate making skills.

Chocolate Overload
During all this story-telling, she lavishly prepared a table full of chocolates for my indulgence - pralines, hot sikwate, cold choco drink, 4 flavors of dark chocolate, chocolate spread, chocolate covered cacao beans, and even the actual cacao fruit! I wasn't shy about downing them all until chocolate came out of my ears! If that wasn't enough chocolates, she even gave me a chocolate loot bag! Christmas came too early for me :)

Ending Thoughts
Dalareich hasn't "arrived" yet. It's a Herculean struggle to pioneer an industry that no one in Tagbilaran has done before. She has to shift the public mindset about chocolate (that it's not just the lowly tableya people relegate it to) and drum-up demand for proper local chocolates in Bohol.

I completely agree with her. I'm a great fan of sikwate but tableya never enjoyed the exalted status of coffee. It has always been traditionally served in wet markets where people pay a pittance for a cup. In a way I take delight that it remains affordable to me, but I would also like to see a trendy tableya cafe ala Starbucks where people can be sipping their sikwate in comfortable lounge seats with good air-conditioning and fast wifi. With Dalareich's forward-thinking initiatives, I think that vision will become reality sooner rather than later.

Thank you for that memorable chocolate pampering, Dalareich!

--- Gigit (TheLoneRider)
YOGA by Gigit | Learn English | Travel like a Nomad | Donation Bank

Yoga for 60+ Students at the University of Bohol

(Oct 4, 2017) After giving a talk to 11-graders at the University of Bohol about my philosophy and spirituality, I was asked again by UB faculty, Mehul, if I can conduct a yoga class for a bigger audience...around 60 11th-graders, all of them first timers. Of course, I said Yes!....more »»

Next Food Odyssey:

Exploring the Cafe Scene of Tagbilaran

(Oct 7, 2017) As a cafe denizen in search of the perfect brew, I'm always drawn to a coffee shop with character - themed, trendy, chique, elegant, muted, subdued, tastefully loud or even garishly kitsch. Time to saddle-up on my bike and do my cafe rounds!....more »»

Related Bohol Coffee/Cacao Links:

Sikwate at Daday Painitan May 9, 2024
Dalareich Chocolate House Revisited May 4, 2024
Cacao Drum Roasting Jan 27, 2018
Making Sikwate: from cacao fruit to a hot dark chocolate drink Jan 25, 2018
Exploring the Cafe Scene of Tagbilaran Oct 7, 2017
Chocolate Overload At Dalareich Chocolate House Oct 2, 2017

Bohol, Philippines

tourist attractions

Danao Adventure Park - zip lining, cable car ride, caving, river rides/trekking, off-road buggy ride, root climbing, rappelling and ultra-glide rides
Alona Beach - hub for tourists with hotels, resorts, restos, bars and dive shops
Chocolate Hills - hills side-by-side shaped like giant Kisses chocolate
Tarsier - pocket-sized marsupia looking like a monkey
Balicasag Island - one of the best dive spots in the Philippines
Loboc River - river cruise on a boat
Anda Beach - fine white sand beach with resorts, restos and cottages, 3 hours by bus from Tagbilaran
Cabagnow Cave Pool - brackish water pool about 5ft deep inside a limestone opening on the ground, 8 feet deep, P50
Lamanok Island - walk on a 100m bamboo bridge on stilts to a resto area to take a boat tour to caves and nearly attractions, P300
Combento Cave Pool - cave pool with underwater cave system, P20
Can-umantad Falls - long narrow drop until it hits a bulbous mound spreading it into a a curtain-like water canopy and down into a splash pool
Canawa Cold Spring - deep refreshing cold spring with developed pool area
Firefly Tour - evening boat ride into the river to watch fireflies

hotel

Fox & The Firefly Cottages - SUP paddle boarding, luxury riverside native cottages, mountain bike tours, SUP yoga
Baranggay Valladolid, Loboc, Bohol
Bohol Tropics Resort - seafront location, manicured surroundings, swimming pool, resto/bar
0133 Graham Avenue, Brgy. Cogon, Tagbilaran, Bohol 6300
Oasis Resort - Alona Beach location, dive center, resto / bar
Alona Beach, Panglao, Bohol

yoga

Jing Yoga - health & well being through yoga
The Courtyard - Airport Road fronting the church
Bohol Meditation and Yoga Center - 2nd Floor Lim Magtajas Bldg. CPG Avenue

Bohol Travel Info/Tips

Bohol FYI / Tips

the tourist area where most of the hotels, restaurants, ticket offices, tour operators are, is located within the Alona Beach area
the tourist attractions in Bohol are far apart and spread-out. It would be difficult to visit them all using public mass transit. Better hire a van (P3500/day) if in a big group, or rent a motorcycle (P400/day + gas)
Bohol relies on its tourism for revenue. As expected, everything they can capitalize on from tourism is extensively used and developed

Tagbilaran Port to Panglao

You can charter any tricycle from the port all the way to Panglao (~P300), but if you want to do it on the cheap,

don't take the tricycles lined-up inside the port. Walk past the port gate and immediately outside, you'll see many tricycles. Take one to the bus terminal in Dao (~P15)
in Dao, take the jeep that plies the Panglao route (~P20)

Tagbilaran (Bohol) to Cebu City by boat

** schedules and rates keep changing, call for latest schedule

Weesam Express - departs 6:15 AM, 11:30 AM, 4:00 PM
one way: Economy (aircon) P500.00, Economy (non-aircon) P400.00, First Class P600.00
round trip promo (at least 2 days advance booking): Economy (aircon) P600, Economy(non-aircon) P500, First Class P1200
round trip promo (1 day or on the day booking): Economy (aircon) P800, Economy (non-aircon) P700, First Class P1200
Ocean Jet - departs 6-7:05-8:20-9:20-10:40-11:40AM, 1-2-3:30-4:20-5:30-6:30PM, 2 hours, arrives Pier 1 in Cebu
Open Air / Tourist Class P800, Business Class P1000
+63(32)255 7560 / +63 (32) 255 0115 / 0917 638 0000
SuperCat (2GO) - departs 5:50-11AM, 3:45-5:25-8:15PM, arrives Pier 1 in Cebu
P 500.00
+63 32 233 7000

Things to do, Places to go in Bohol

Chocolate Hills - this is a clustering of more than 1200 hills within a 50km² area. They range in height from 30-50 meters. What's unusual is their near-perfect conical shape resembling an individual chocolate chip. No one knows how they were formed. Entrance is P50/pax.
Tarsier Conservation Area - located Upper Bonbon, Loboc. The tarsiers are no longer being played at by tourists as circus props, but instead, visitors now view them in cordoned-off areas in their natural 6ha habitat. As they are territorial and nocturnal, they are predictable on where they can be viewed. P50/pax.
Alona Beach (Panglao) - Alona Beach is the tourist hub of Bohol. It has 1.5 kms of white sand beach lined-up by bars, hotels and restos. Alona is also the jump-off point for Balicasag Island, a world class dive destination.
Danao Adventure Park - located in Barangay Magtangtang, 72 kms (2 hours ride) from Tagbilaran. Adventure activities include river trekking, tyrolean traverse, rappelling, bouldering, rock climbing and ziplining.

Bohol Blogs

Bohol blogs