When in Ilocos

When traveling, I always like visiting local restaurants to taste authentic cuisine and have a feel of where locals dine. Don't get me wrong, I like tasting side walk food and dining at casual restaurants but my belief is that, if you really want to elevate and show tourists the best of Philippine cuisine, you should direct them to the BEST fine dining restaurants in the Philippines too (think: pretty decor, well known chefs, no flies!) It is the only way we can get past the image of Philippine food as mere "turo-turo", "carinderia-style", or "street food" cuisine that is often depicted in international travel shows.

With that philosophy in mind, let me take you to one of Ilocos' fine dining restaurants, La Preciosa's:

 

The place itself is not grand, in fact, City people would think of it as a middle-class establishment but for people in the province, a place like this is alredy considered high class. In fact, La Preciousa markets itself as a fine dining restaurant. Well, the interior looks rather shabby chic anyway:

 

The interior stays true to the Ilocos' trademark of being rustic with Spanish-Filipino influences. I especially love the wooden floors that makes me feel like I really am inside one of those old houses Ilocos is so famous for.

On the walls hung some of the media exposure and accollades that the restaurant has received-- which made me feel even more excited to try their food!

On to the glory!

Dinengdeng: Fresh veggies with grilled fish in a soup

Crispy dinuguan: made with bagnet

Poqui-poqui: unique kind of tortang talong with lots of slice of tomato and onion-- our newest favorite!!!

My vegetarian choice: Pesto pasta-- super yum! One of the tastier pesto pastas I've come across

 Apart from the really tasty dishes (I loved the poqui poqui!), La Preciosa also boasts of their desserts!

For chocolate lovers, they have this:

Yum! My colleague who is a chocolate lover swears to how tasty this is

But for me, this piqued my interest more:

Carrot cake!!! And rightfully so! This cake has been given so much accollade by the press and is one of La Preciosa's trademark menu items

One bite and I died! I am very, very picky when it comes to my carrot cake but I believe, I finally found my "ultimate". THIS. Words cannot give it justice. Super good!

Whenever you're in Ilocos, try dropping by La Preciosa's! Endorse it to your friends too especially foreigners. For really, this is a better way of introducing other nationalities to Filipino cuisine-- let them taste only the BEST. May we all learn to stop making people eat "balut"--lest we want to give the impression that Filipino food is weird and disgusting.

Show them the best that the Philippines can offer-- because we have so much to showcase, it's only a matter of packaging it. So, are you with me on this?

La Preciosa Fine Dining and Catering Services

Rizal St., Laoag City, Ilocos Norte, 2900 Philippines.
Telefax +63.77.777.5130. 

Telephone Nos.: +63.77.773.1162, +63.77.773.2159