travelandleisureindia.intravelandleisureindia.in 6967
FROM TOP: MAGDALENA BUJAK/ALAMY; JTB PHOTO/UIG VIA/GETTY IMAGES
From left: Ceramics
at the Onoma Shop;
a cinnamon pastry
at Café Antique.
Opposite: The
taproom at Ägräs
Distillery, which
produces gin
and aquavit.paste, and sugarcane wine called basi. Today,
they’re more of a decorative item, sold here at
the Ruby Jar Factory and at curio shops along
Calle Crisologo.ON THE TABLE
The best way to get under the skin of a city
is to eat your way through it, and so, we headed
to the cutesy Café Uno for a meal fi t for royalty.
With the mishmash of cultures we’d
experienced already, the meal was a true
testament to Filipino heritage, with a table full
of traditional dishes. Sitting within stone walls,
the long wooden tables piled up high with
longganisa—a local, vinegary chorizo variant;
inihaw na hitow (grilled catfi sh); deep bowls
of seafood miki, with prawn, noodles, and
mussels; a tangy fi sh stew; sizzling bagnet—
deep fried crispy pork belly. The grand meal
wound up with the traditional Filipino dessert,
Halo-Halo, which I sampled purely out of
curiosity—a rather jarring medley of leche
fl an, tapioca balls, purple ube bits, cornfl akes,
cheese, and boiled corn, swimming in a milky
base and topped with crushed ice. In this
Spanish-Chinese infl uenced city, it was food
that ultimately gave away where we were.
Groaning, though we were under the weight
of our bellies, we had to sample the hotGETTING THERE
Fly from Manila to Laoag and drive
two-and-a-half hours to Vigan. Consider
Vigan as a day trip from Ilocos Norte for
easy access to the sights, beaches, and
the airport. Stay at the Playa Tropical
Resort Hotel (playatropicalilocos.com),
a beautiful beachside property.EAT
Café Uno at Grandpa’s Inn (grandpas-
inn.com) offers authentic Ilocano
cuisine with a cosy atmosphere. Sample
empanadas at one of the many street
stalls. Don’t miss the street side snack,
raw mango slices with shrimp paste.DO
Visit St Paul’s Cathedral take a kalesa
ride down Calle Crisologo, buy pottery
at the Ruby Jar Factory. Explore Syquia
Mansion and hunt for curios at the many
stores in town.THE DETAILS
The city’s multi-ethnic vibe
draws from Chinese, Filipino,
and Mexican infl uences,
alongside the European.
empanadas fl ying off the shelves just outside.
I watched as a local lady stuff ed a cornstarch
pastry with veggies, eggs, cabbage, and pork,
and proceeded to deep-fry it. It tasted
gorgeous—of course—the fl avours of the East
and the West all in one tiny stretch of road.From above: Pork belly
with mashed potatoes,
apple sauce, and deep
fried sage leaves;
a fountain in front of
St Paul Cathedral
in Vigan.