Beat the Heat with a Jonah's Shake

As mentioned in an earlier post, our trip to Boracay was my first, and as with my other first time trips, I did a number of extensive research beforehand as to recommended establishments and the definite to-dos in this wonderful paradise.  One of the popular must do things that kept on popping up through my internet scavenging was to try a shake at Jonah’s Fruit Shake and Restaurant.

And so, pestering my companions after a grueling 2-hour walk along the white sandy front, we decided to quench our thirst at this very popular joint.

Upon entering, one finds the place packed with foreigners.  Having been brought up in the Philippines, I am so used to having real fruit in my drinks.  Apparently, in other countries, for some reason or another (highly industrialized nations, low agricultural lands, high export fees, etc.), they do not get to experience that which we normally take forgranted, and as such, consider this a luxury in itself.  It also helps that their currencies are posed at a much better advantage in exchange rates to the Philippine peso (in other words, they find our prices here extremely CHEAP!)

Jonah’s, in terms of their ever-famous shakes, does not disappoint. Their Mango shake was pure heaven. You could really taste the fruit.  Their Banana chocolate vanilla shake (Php90) was also to die for.

One might think that Php90 for a shake is way too much, but please take into consideration the size of their containers.  They're huge!  A serving is good enough for at least 2.  But in Boracay’s heat, I doubt if you’ll be willing to share your cold treat.

What also struck me was the way they packaged their shakes for those wishing to enjoy it on-the-go.  You could never beat the ingenuity of us Filipinos.  As they say, necessity is the mother of all invention, and what better way to feature this than to use recycled mineral bottles as their shakes' take-away containers.  Saving the planet one bottle at a time! (I have to apologize, though, as I was not able to obtain a picture, lest I be called a stalker, or worse, a perv.)

The food, however, was something to be desired.  Aside from the drinks, the family also decided to order a Jonah’s Special (Php150), which consists of ham, egg, cheese and tuna club sandwiches, served with a side of fries.

When the order came, though, I was quite surprised to see the sandwiches disassembled and not stacked on top of one another as I am used to seeing club sandwiches in.  The bread was a little stale and hard; and so were the fries.  Beggars can’t be choosers though.  At least their shakes made up for what the food lacked.

Another thing, prepare yourself for quite a long walk along the dusty Balabag main road, where Jonah’s is now located, as opposed to their once convenient beach front venue.  I may be mistaken now though, as when we went to Boracay, the Balabag main road was still in the process of some sort of maintenance.  Some tricycles were also major smoke belchers (I hope the Aklan government does something about this in the near future.)

I can now finally tick off Jonah’s from my Boracay to do list!  But I definitely have plans of going back there again.  =)

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Jonah's Fruit Shake and Restaurant
Balabag Main Road (Beside Prince Crown Regency Hotel)
Boracay Island, Malay
Aklan, Philippines
(036) 2881632 / 2883281