A Nibble of Ilocos: Hidden Garden of Vigan

True to its name, the Hidden Garden is located deep within the heart of Brgy. Bulala of Vigan, Ilocos Sur. From Baluarte, it took a while before we got to the restaurant. They weren't kidding when they said it was 'hidden.' :P

Hidden Garden

We arrived at the place and it was jaw-dropping. The place was huge. And like the name says, it's a garden and inside you will find the Lilong and Lilang Restaurant. The place was stylishly scattered with fountains and beautiful clay pots. The place was just absolutely relaxed, cozy, green and beautiful. It feels like walking inside a rich uncle's backyard in the province. 

A history of the place according to its website:

"Six years ago, Francis Flores, the owner of Hidden Garden of Vigan suffered from three heart attacks. Half of his body was paralyzed. He then realized to change his life. So he decided to start a garden and became a landscape architect. It was a garden therapy for him until it became a business. Now he is planning to place a health spa to help other people as well."

They also offer other landscape services like design and maintenance. For more info about that, check their website here! :)

We did not get to roam around the entire garden because when we got there, the servers and the crew hurried us towards the restaurant because it was brunch and in a few hours, a lot of tourists will be there to crowd the place. We settled on a long table just in front of the restaurant's entrance where beautiful vines run along pergola frames above our heads shading us from the Ilocos sun and casting a romantic picnic vibe across our table. From there we got to feel and admire the view. 

Because Ilokanos are known for naming their signature dishes with peculiar names, I've provided a glossary of terms at the end of the post for those of you who are unfamiliar with our food and their local names.

Since this is our first day in Ilocos and our first meal, we've all decided to order the Longsilog (yes, with the famous Vigan longganisa!) priced at P125. We also ordered Bagnet Sisig (P225) and Ukoy (P90, I think?) to satisfy mine and Jei-R's ukoy craving. :)

Before I go on describing anything, let me clarify that the Ilokano cuisine I was used to is only based on the preference of my Ilokano father. Having said that, my "idea" of Ilocano cuisine is limited only to that--his preference (which became my preference, as well) of complicated-flavor-but-chiefly-saline.

The meal was pretty simple: the longsilog consists of three (3) pieces of Vigan longganisa (which is typically small), fried rice, fried egg, and a teaspooon of atchara (papaya with muscovado sugar). The taste of the vigan longganisa was a bit bland. I haven't tasted Vigan longganisa before but it wasn't "garlicky" enough. I couldn't argue about it though, since we are in Vigan. But dip it in their equally famous Sukang Iloko (Ilocano Vinegar), and sure enough, the taste of the Filipino breakfast at its finest.

Longsilog (P125 without the fresh buko juice)

The ukoy was the best. The color was perfect; the smell was of shrimp and wonderfully wafting up your nose. It was crunchy, sweet, and full of flavors. I could not get enough of it.

Ukoy/Okoy (P90)

The bagnet sisig was at most, okay. I feel kind of neutral about it because I could not enjoy the taste that much because the cuts were bigger than I expected, making it hard to chew. On the other hand, it was bagnet. Plus, sisig. Two of the best things that can happen with (liempo) meat. As you can see, it was very very oily--understandable since it is bagnet. I don't know if it's just me, since I grew up loving salty foods (especially, saltier-than-normal Ilokano food) but yeah, the bagnet sisig could've been more salty.

Bagnet Sisig (P225)

The Lilong and Lilang restaurant offers the most basic and authentic (debatable) Ilokano food with the most picturesque view. They have an extensive menu which guarantees a hard time for visitors like us who wants to eat everything they lay their eyes on. Their garden is definitely a plus! Even their bathrooms are clean with its stone-carpeted floors, bamboo faucets and glass-paneled walls. So far, this restaurant is the most relaxed place I have eaten in. Overall, this is a good first taste of Ilocos and a good introduction to our Ilocos journey.

Lilong and Lilang Restaurant
Brgy. Bulala, Vigan City, Ilocos Sur
viganhiddengarden@yahoo.com
hiddengardenvigan.com

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Word Index :P

Disclaimer: the definitions below are not from any dictionary. Any inconsistencies are intentional and a product of my own shallow amusement.

 

Longganisa

--closely resembles a Spanish chorizo, longganisa is of Philippine sausage variety often served for breakfast and notoriously known for exposing its identity to people post-burp.

Longsilog

--a meal which consists of longganisa (long), sinangag or fried rice (si), and itlog or egg (log). Heavily commercialized throughout the country. Origin and first conceptualization still unknown.

Bagnet

--huge cuts of pork (preferrably belly), deep fried into crunchiness and usually served with KBL. It's like lechon kawali but, you know, tastier because Ilokano. :P

KBL

--a type of salad highly favored by Ilokanos consisting of kamatis (tomato), bagoong (fish sauce), and lasuna (onion relish). For those wary of eating raw onions, they settle to using it as a dip.

Ukoy/Okoy

--Fancy name: shrimp fritters. They say this is usually served as a snack. I say otherwise. This is a meal in itself. Scrambled eggs with small shrimps and vegetables (varies depending on region or preference).

Atsara

--a pickling served as a side dish to fried foods. Commonly ignored in my plate but often the subject of fondness among my ehem, older relatives.

More on Ilocos here! :)