Ragoomu: Crunch of Joy and Comfort

By John Noel E. Herrera

Comfort and joy – two feelings that every Ilonggo will feel while they are enjoying the relaxing ambiance and sumptuous food of Ragoomu.

Derived from a play of the Hiligaynon word, “ragomo”, which means to crunch, to be crisp, or emit a crunching sound, Ragoomu opened its door to the public on October 14, 2022, with the aim of capturing “Ilonggo taste on Western and Asian-inspired crispy chicken.”

This local comfort food restaurant was conceptualized by high school friends, Ely Vasig, Jesse Lagon, and Marc Guillergan with Val Vasig and Hannah Vasig-Tan Yau. The goal is to make it a place for quality bonding, joy, and love among families and friends.

“We wanted to have a place where we can waste time talking about old memories, or making new ones, over good company and great food,” Ely said.

Ragoomu stands along the bustling streets of Barangay Dungon B, Jaro, Iloilo, but its serene and simple interior design screams comfortable relaxation while also fixing your eyes on the view of the Diversion Road outside.

This 100 percent Ilonggo restaurant serves comforting sets of food that will excite every Ilonggo taste of Western and Asian crispy chicken dishes – burgers, crispy chicken pops, and fried chicken with different flavors, among others, that are all cooked to perfection and will indeed satisfy everyone’s hunger and taste buds for a very reachable price.

“We hope that we are able to help create special moments knowing that we are serving great-tasting food to be shared among families and friends. We are not simply feeding the hungry, the goal is to make sure that what we offer is able to complement an overall pleasant experience,” Ely said.

“We would like to believe that we were able to come up with something new yet familiar, comfortable but exciting, and simple but special – something worth sharing and something worth coming back for more. And the commitment moving forward is to allow our customers to “want more”. We will always keep in mind that our customers will want better taste, better menu, better experience, and we must be ready to exceed these expectations,” he added.