Vigan eats: Cafe Leona, Hidden Garden and Kucina Felicitas

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:

Bagnet, P250

Sisig, P160.

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:

American (or Caucasian) and Japanese tourists are here, too, as we dine

Outside:

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:

Dinengdeng, P140.

Sinigang na Bangus, P180.

Warek-Warek, P160.

Poqui-Poqui, P100.

Bagnet Sisig, P220.

Binagoongan Rice, P130

From left: Melon Shake, P80; Mango Shake, P80. and Buko-Banana Shake, P100.

Picture-perfect places inside Hidden Garden:

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.

Molo soup, P125.

Fried Chicken, P410.

Adobong Kangkong with Tokwa, P115

Cookies and Cream Cake, P140./slice

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

Inside the restaurant

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!

Regional Cuisine I: Vigan empanada, bagnet and more at Fariñas Ilocos Empanada

It was around five years ago when I first ate Vigan empanada at a stall in front of the Fariñas bus station near UST and at once, I fell in love with it. I didn't know there was empanada that I could eat after being poured with Sukang Iloco (Ilocos vinegar). You see, I love food that is dipped in or poured with vinegar, especially the hot and spicy kind, like pritong lumpia, okoy and chicharon. Over the years since then, I've been satisfying my Vigan empanada cravings at Sidcor Sunday Market. But last year, I started seeing Farinas Ilocos Empanada eateries sprouting in Quezon City. Was I glad that one store opened near our office on Visayas Ave.! Now I can have Vigan empanada for lunch or merienda, anytime I want! And I just love that they also serve my other favorite Ilocano specialty: bagnet, which is pork fried to a crisp. Once, I tried their bagnet pancit and loved it too.  My friend, on the other hand, ordered Vigan longganisa, another Ilocano food favorite. 
These are what me and my friend had tried on different occasions at 
Fariñas Ilocos Empanada:  

Regular Ilocos empanada, P40.

Special Ilocos Empanada (w/ chorizo), P50.

Pancit Bagnet, P125. One serving is good for two.

Bagnet Meal, P80.

Vigan Longganisa Meal, P65.

Inside Fariñas Ilocos Empanada.

100% organic and cholesterol-free oil. Isn't that nice?

Ilocos vinegar and munchies like cornic sold here too.

Fariñas Ilocos Empanada on Visayas Ave., QC

By the way, at Sidcor Sunday Market, I was able to take a few shots of the making of Vigan empanada. It was interesting and fascinating to watch. Eating is the best thing, though. Hahaha! 

Orange-colored rice flour for the dough and the fillings: grated unripe papaya, chopped longganisa, eggs.

Dough is flattened and the fillings assembled on top. One whole egg is put in every empanada. 

Dough is folded to a half-moon shape. 

Sides are trimmed with the use of a saucer.

Empanada is then deep-fried.

Ready-to-eat Vigan empanadas. Yum!