On
the last week of May, our family spent six days traveling to the North
for a mini-vacation. What a blessing from the Lord to be able to see
wonderful sights in Vigan on the first leg of our trip, and in Ilocos
Norte and Baguio City afterward. We stayed for two nights in
Vigan - which is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site - making the
rounds of interesting places and grabbing the chance to eat Ilocano
dishes. We enjoyed bagnet, pinakbet, warek-warek and the funny-sounding
(for us Manilans) eggplant dish poqui-poqui. We so relished the culinary
experience! The kids were eating bagnet for three days! Breakfasts were
at Villa Angela Heritage House where we stayed for three days, as
brekkie was included in our accommodation. Meanwhile, lunch and dinner
were at Cafe Leona, Hidden Garden Lilong and Lilang Restaurant and at
Kusina Felicitas.
Cafe Leona is on Calle Crisologo, where most of the Spanish colonial houses are found.
Here, we had:
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| Bagnet, P250 |
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| Sisig, P160. |
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Pinakbet, P160.
Tower of iced tea, P225.
We
liked everything we ordered at Cafe Leona. I particularly loved the
bagnet and pinakbet. I hope to come back here for coffee on a quiet
afternoon (just myself. Haha!) as the place seemed to me the perfect
venue for a good cup of joe.
In and around Cafe Leona:
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|
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| American (or Caucasian) and Japanese tourists are here, too, as we dine |
Outside:
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| Here we learn who Cafe Leona is named after |
Lunch
on our second day was at Hidden Garden Lilong and Lilang Restaurant. As
the name implies, plants and trees are everywhere, which they also
sell. I bought ashitaba plant here, which many say, is almost a cure-all
plant.
These were what we had for lunch:
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| Dinengdeng, P140. |
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| Sinigang na Bangus, P180. |
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| Warek-Warek, P160. |
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| Poqui-Poqui, P100. |
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| Bagnet Sisig, P220. |
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Binagoongan Rice, P130
|
From left: Melon Shake, P80; Mango Shake, P80. and Buko-Banana Shake, P100.
Picture-perfect places inside Hidden Garden:
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| Pictures of menu are seen as you wander in the large garden. They make you grow hungrier as you walk around. |
Hidden
Garden is a visual delight for nature lovers like me, who find bliss
around plants and trees. The food is quite good too. Service,
thankfully, is very friendly. Hidden Garden is in Barangay Bulala, Vigan
City.
Meanwhile, on our last night, dinner was at Kusina Felicitas, which is inside Grandpa's Inn, housed in a 100-year-old building.
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| Molo soup, P125. |
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| Fried Chicken, P410. |
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| Adobong Kangkong with Tokwa, P115 |
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| Cookies and Cream Cake, P140./slice |
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| Mini Kisses Cake, P140./slice |
We
also ordered Tinolang Manok but I wasn't able to take a good picture of
it. Sigh..Anyway, I liked everything here, too. My family and I raved
about the Adobong Kangkong
with Tokwa. Yummy!
Entrance to Grandpa's Inn and Kusina Felicitas
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| Inside the restaurant |
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| Grandpa's Inn reception area |
Anyway,
Kusina Felicitas belongs to a trio of restaurants being ran by the
owners of Grandpa's Inn (I suppose. Haha!). The other two are Cafe Uno,
which is right beside Kusina Felicitas, and Uno Grille, which is across
the street from Grandpa's Inn. When you're dining at either of these
three restaurants, you can order dishes from the two others at the same
time. Our cake desserts, in fact, came from Cafe Uno.
Kusina Felicitas inside Grandpa's Inn is at 1 Bonifacio St. Corner Quirino Blvd., Vigan City.
Hope you could try these restaurants when visiting Vigan City. Happy eating!
Entrance to Grandpa's Inn and Kusina Felicitas
