Ilocano Cuisine

At 12 noon, we were back at our hotel after our Pagudpud tour.  I simply chose the attractions which were must-see sights as our time was limited. There were a few others like several waterfalls which we will reserve for our next trip, whenever that may be. We checked out from our hotel and were on the road by 30 minutes past noon time. It was so hectic, we barely had time for even a quick shower but we loaded all our pieces of luggage into the car and found the correct national highway to take us all the way, home.

The scenic road passed by several towns in Ilocandia and two hours later, we were in Laoag City. This was a planned stop as we wanted to buy some pasalubongs from the market like longganisa, bagnet and crunchy chicacorn.

I googled for suitable restaurants to have lunch and came up with three options. The first one did not have parking while we got lost looking for the second one. By then, we were hungry and cranky already so we gave up the search for the third one. hehehe. Luckily, I chanced upon a restaurant which looked presentable enough as it was located near a hotel named Balay da Blas.

On the outside, it looked quite ordinary but once you enter, it felt like you were transported into an old house with many artifacts. It exuded a museum-with-many-antiques vibe so it was a quaint little place to have lunch. I am glad we picked Saramsan Ylocano Restaurant in Laoag City.

We were 'tired' of eating longganisa, bagnet and pinakbet which are common fare in any restaurant in that region. So I decided to go vegetarian and ordered the Poque Pogue Salad (eggplant, tomatoes, and loads of onions) and Inabraw (seasoned vegetables cooked in fish sauce and tukmem broth). The food was okay, nothing special but the ambiance more than made up for it.

After lunch and buying pasalubongs, we shoved off.  Except for the few toilet breaks at gasoline stations and a 9 P.M. McDonald's dinner in San Fernando, La Union, the hubby drove 10 hours straight to our home in Quezon City, What a brave soul!  =)