I formerly found Vigan to be a bit of a lame town, but after years of traveling here it has slowly warmed to me, particularly for the Street Food Vigan scene, but now most recently for its great cocktails.
Famous mostly for its colonial past a visit here os well worth it if you like Spanish colonial architecture, as well as as a drop off from the many surrounding tourist hotspots.
What the Vigan?
Established in the 1500’s it was not until 2001 that it got city status. Its initial importance was being at the heart of the Spanish colonial empire and governance of northern Luzon.
Nowadays it is known as a sleepy town that attracts a fair amount of guests interested in Spanish colonial architecture and indeed even the Vigan street food and overall culinary scene.
We personally visited after Sagada and prior to going to Paoay.
Street Food Vigan
Vigan and Ilocos Norte are both famous for their Empanadas, while Vigan also has a fairly famous for its okoy. What is an okoy you ask? Basically a flat savory hard pancake type dish that is “crispy” and like an “omlet”. What it comes with Aries, but on our visit at least it was the shrimp that went down well.
Empanada write Vigan will say that theirs are better than Batac, with us all venturing for meat and entangle combos. Both of these go great with the local spicy vinegar.
And the Street Food Vegan scene ie best enjoyed at a street food specific area just behind the main park. They also sell glass bottled Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Royal and Sprite.
Best cocktails in Vigan
I will keep this brief as the best cocktails in Vigan deserved its own article, but I will surmise that they were found at the impeccable Hotel Luna. Partciualt kudos here goes to the Milky Way cocktail.
I will add that we only found this place as the Calle Bar, famous for its draft beer was sadly closed on this day.
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