The visit to Paoay Church was cancelled due to the still sour weather, we went down south again and was back in Vigan City just in time for dinner; our venue, my favorite inn in the city, Grandpa’s Inn.

I can’t recall a visit to Vigan without entering Grandpa’s Inn either to dine or stay for the night. I just love the place; it is by the way an authentic ancestral house turned into a lodge and restaurant.

Grandpa’s Inn has not one but three places where you can chow down. You can choose between their restaurant, Kusina Felicitas; their café, Café Uno and their grillhouse, Uno Grille which is located right across the street from the inn.

Since we were a big group, we decided to eat at Kusina Felicitas which is located in the inner chamber of the lodge. Passing turn of the century furniture and brick walls hung with all sorts of painting, we emerged into a cozy restaurant surrounded by more brick walls and paintings.

We passed another doorway and finally found empty tables seemingly set just for us. The setting was more modern, with sleek white walls overlaid with green-painted trims.

We chose a long table and listed our orders; the quirkily named Poqui-poqui for me and a symphony of food like the famous Vigan Longanisa, the all-time-favorite sisig, a local version of sinigang and a host of other Ilocano dishes.We horsed around while waiting; taking photos of each other, showing off photographs from the Ilocos tour, talking camera talks and generally just hanging out. But it wasn’t long before our orders arrived and everyone straightened their chairs, preparing to dig in.

I love their Poqui-poqui (Php100.00). Its name connotes something unmentionable over dinner talks when you’re in Manila, but when you’re in Ilocos, it’s simply an eggplant omelet.

The difference from this dish over the tortang talong that I’ve come to love at home is its consistency and texture. While the usual torta has everything all clumped up into one pan-sized omelet, Ilocos’s Poqui-poqui is more of a scrambled type infused with onions and garlic. You can hardly discern the egg, but it’s there alright.

According to the Kulisa Felicitas menu, Poqui-poqui goes well with Vigan Longanisa (Php100.00). So we ordered that too. Garlic sausages are one of my most favorite dishes in the world and a visit to Ilocos cannot pass without having one. Sadly, the ones we ordered were a bit lacking in flavor. It just wasn’t salty and garlicky enough that I had to thoroughly dip it in vinegar just to get some flavor into it.

I got to sample the other dishes too with their Krispy sisig (Php180.00) topping my list. I know that the guys should’ve been ordering local food instead of something they can easily have in Manila, but if that’s what they want to order and they’re happy with it, then I guess it’s alright.

Kusina Felicitas had always been consistent in my book. This has been the fourth time I dined at their place and even though their longanisa disappointed this time, the rest of the dishes were still more than excellent.

I still recall the first time I went to Vigan, was served a bagnet dish at Kusina Felicitas and how I was unable to forget it for years. Next time, it would probably be a garlicky poqui-poqui paired with a super crunchy bagnet, I’m guessing that combo would be sticking with me for decades.

Kusina Felicitas at Grandpa’s Inn
Address: 1 Bonifacio St. Corner Quirino Blvd
Vigan City, Ilocos Sur
Telephone: (077) 722-2118 | (0917) 580-2118
Email: reservation@grandpas-inn.com
Menu: Click Here

GPS Coordinates: 17.572725,120.390297
View Location on Google Maps: Click Here