They also have a YouTube Channel with content on food, travel, and “real conversations.”
Dining at home has never been more celebrated since the pandemic began. Fortunately, even if you’re not a kitchen whiz, there are many places you can order delicious and comforting cuisine delivered straight to your doorstep. Especially with the holiday season in full swing, you can stay stress-free on what to serve your loved ones during festivities.
Illo’s Party Trays has a wide range of local and international dishes apt for intimate meals or gatherings from their Dine at Home to Celebrate at Home dishes. Founded by Chef N and his wife Anne, they began the homegrown brand in December 2019 to help families “celebrate every day.” Fast forward to this year; they continue to bring celebrations at home more special by adding up dish options for their patrons to enjoy.
Scrumptious options
Among a selection of close to 100 dishes, Illo’s is known to have specialties like paellas, kinds of pasta, and their famous Chef N Tenderloin Beef Salpicao. However, they’ve broadened their options to cater to a market that enjoys smoked, roasted, and grilled dishes through their Churrasco line.
Under the expanded menu, they offer Filipino favorites: Balamban Lechon Belly, Smoked Prime Beef, Sinugba Feast, and Cochi Ni Illo’s Set (Illo’s version of cochinillo)—which comes with veggies, crepe bread, and four exclusively curated sauces, for decadent lechon wraps. In addition, the line offers premium meats and seafood dishes in a large churrasco party box good for 12-15 people.
For pescatarians or just those who love seafood, Illo Party Trays’ new Lobster Series can be worth a try. The menu includes Lobster Thermidor, Truffle Cream Lobster, Tomalley Pomodoro—all served in a bed of pasta, and Seafood Cajun Boil Lobster for those who want to have a more uncomplicated but still flavorful seafood dish experience.
Depending on your cravings and your party size requirements, you can choose from various packages that range from office, party, and family options. Their “Roma’s Best” and “Rosie’s Best” boxes can feed 10-12 people, including their best-sellers such as Baked Salmon, Chili Garlic Prawns, Kare Kare ni Lola Remy, Pork Binagoongan, and Chicken Pastel, to name a few.
Seasonal offerings
As a seasonal offering, Illo’s also launched their Christmas Treats that comprise their well-loved dishes together with some holiday favorites such as Flat Porchetta, Chicken Galantine, Prawns Thermidor, and Fiesta Lechon.
The local brand releases new dessert offerings in their cake and pastries section to compliment these new product lines and dishes. According to them, Mocha Loco, Carrot Cake, Avocado Cream and Tiramisu Love, Lime Cheesecake are the variants to watch out for.
“Sampler” options are available for those clients who want to enjoy four different cake flavors in a box.
On their pastry block, you can order coffee buns, cheese rolls, special ensaymada, custaroons, eclairs, and cream puffs—which are their newest additions as well.
Exploring through food
“Our story begins in a spoonful of passion, sprinkled with hope and savored in faith. Now, another chapter has just begun,” is written on Illo’s bio on their first YouTube channel video last September. True to their channel mantra, “Real Food. Real People. Real Lives,” their content focuses not just on food but people and places that will inspire, inform and empower their audience through unique stories while taking them on a gastronomic experience.
Their content spans travel vlogs to places like Quezon and La Union, to visiting celebrities like Claudine Baretto in their homes as they talk about life, family, and career while enjoying spreads prepared by Illo’s.
Hosted by Maq Agapito, Jens Antonio, and Chef N, you can watch their weekly episodes that incorporate how to enjoy their dishes at home in different ways.
Photos courtesy of Illo’s Party Trays.
You can follow Illo’s Party Trays and place orders on their Instagram, Facebook, and official website.
