We’re in the City of Lights – not Paris – but the Philippines’ own City of Lights, Laoag, to dine on vintage Filipino food at one of the city’s most famous restaurants, La Preciosa. Housed in what once was a two-story residence and occupying a heritage building since 1994, La Preciosa specializes in Ilocano fare, Filipino comfort food, and a wide assortment of cakes (especially carrot cake!).
Before we sample the food, we try out Basi, a traditional Ilocano sugar cane wine that is losing popularity in consumption but these days is repurposed as a blend with red wine. Seeing how the claim to fame of my father’s ancestral town, Piddig, stems in the famous Basi Revolt against the Spaniards in September 1807, we had to indulge on a new interpretation on a beverage so integral to Ilocano heritage.
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Call me Félix and I’m a schizoid – sometimes schizophrenic – subversive surrealist, who sometimes makes food vlogs, travel vlogs, and everything else in between and well outside the loop (I love literature, critical theory, toroidal metaphysics, quantum physics, and the occult).
Here’s some travel vlogs:
* Popular WATERFALLS in CEBU DESERTED! | Beat the Crowds at Kawasan Falls –
* The TRUTH about SWIMMING WITH WHALE SHARKS! –
* FREEDIVE with SARDINES and TURTLES! –
I make a lot of food vlogs too, have a couple:
+ BEEF SOUP for the SOUL –
+ Filipino Family and Friends Picnic –
+ Filipino-American reviews JOLLIBEE –
Some of my food vlogs take place in luxury buffets:
+ $45 Shangri-la Buffet serves BEST LECHON –
+ PSYCHEDELIC Spiral Buffet Review –
Some of the food vlogs I make are shocking, too:
+ LIVE FULL GOAT served 4 WAYS –
+ First time eating RED ANT EGGS –
+ JUMPING SHRIMP SALAD! –
And sometimes, I just make weird vlogs hard to classify:
– The Sandbar Confessions on Kalanggaman Island, or Top 5 Reasons I Hate Travel Vloggers –
– Mutiny near Bounty Beach and JAMES JOYCE –
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LA PRECIOSA REVIEW
– BASI MARIA: A good number of dine-in restaurants in Ilocos Norte and Sur sell basi by the bottle, ranging around 550-650 PHP ($10-13 USD, more or less). We tried Basi Maria, a blend of cabernet sauvignon, trebbiano, and traditional sugar cane wine with the usual adjuncts customary to basi, such as Java plum (duhat) and tree bark. The result is a light, refreshing, deceptively easy to drink red wine with the peppery notes of cabernet sauvignon that finishes slightly sour and vinegary like a red lambic beer due to the plum and the occasional accents of vanilla, augmented by the bark.
– CRISPY PATA: Well fried without the excess grease, this pork trotter is quite light while sustaining a satisfying crunch and moist meat.
– CRISPY BAGBAGIS (PORK INTESTINE): Addicting in its crispy texture and light pork chicharon-like taste minus the barnyard funk, the bagbagis was nicely fried but one little criticism I’ll add here is, it could have been meatier with a slight chew to contrast the crispness. Still, a habit-forming dish.
– INSARABASAB: Also known as tinono with an emphasis on the fast grilling, this insarabasab was nicely char-grilled without any bitterness, smoky, decently seasoned, and maintained a nice acidity to add some dimension to the overall taste.
– DINARDARAAN (CRISPY DINUGUAN): What can be more luxurious yet bohemian than lechon kawali, bagnet, or crispy fried pork belly in pork blood sauce? The flavor was spot on with a well-rounded savory richness and a slight sour twang but I found the pork belly lacking in the crackling and a bit dry.
– SINIGANG NA ISDA AT HIPON (FISH & SHRIMP SINIGANG): The broth had the right balance of sour, salty, and savory while the talakitok (pompano or trevally) was fresh and tender. Perhaps, we were unlucky on the shrimp that day, as they were on the small side with little head butter to speak of and were not as succulent as that fish was.
– POQUI-POQUI: Something of an eggplant salad, poqui poqui is a mix of grilled eggplant (then peeled and mashed), tomatoes, onion, garlic, and scrambled eggs. Coupled with a creamy mouthfeel and some meat-heavy dishes, this is a refreshing vegetable complement that tastes like a familiar breakfast omelette.
– MOCHA SANSRIVAL CAKE: Despite the French name, this Filipino cake is composed with layers of buttercream, meringue, and chopped nuts. The cake was light and ethereal as advertised with a subtle mocha flavor but for my taste, it could have been sweeter.
– FERRERO ROCHER SANSRIVAL: Tasting like a hybrid between a German chocolate cake and an Almond Joy, this Ferrero Rocher cake was light, ethereal, and refined but could have been sweeter.