Pinakbet pizza was a hit!…read more Called the resort a little before our flight to place a phone order and they were able to accommodate even before the resto opened! Brought the pizza with us and enjoyed it at the gate while waiting to board our flight. The side of bagoong to dip in was the cherry on top!

Food is authentic. The quality and care dedicated to the dishes are on a whole other level relative…read moreto other restaurants in the Laoag/San Nicolas area. It's one of the birthplaces of Pinakbet Pizza which is a MUST try! The Tamarind Chicken is amazing and has a unique flavor as well! Honestly, you can't go wrong with anything on the menu. The place has a nice ambience and the clientele is cultured. Occasionally, they'll have a live band on weekends. Looks like they were featured on ABS-CBN. https://news.abs-cbn.com/ancx/food-drink/restaurants/08/23/23/theres-more-to-ilocano-food-than-pinakbet-and-bagnet

1 star- SERVICE, when we first came in, they looked very uninterested and were all on their phones…read more This continued until more customers started to cone in. Not only that there was a lack of description in the food menu and the wrong food was served. We ordered grilled chicken sandwich but they gave us brioche double decker. Staff seemed to not know the menu. I tried to order warek-warek, they said it was unavailable but when the other table ordered the same thing, it was available. My wife ordered coffee, and surprisingly with all the porcelain plates they have and displayed, her coffee came in take- out cup!!!! What a disappointment!! The place looked fancy but it was average and low quality.

Service is wonder. Staff ever so attentive and courteous…read more Food is delicious and just right.! Perfect. Wanted to try many others but I was already "too busog". Too bad we were only there for a day.

Heads up, this is my first time here in the Phillippines in a while. I am now conscious of these…read morethings/places. Any who here is my experience as a visiting Filipino-American. AMBIANCE: Parking: There is a plaza inside that can probably fit about 7 cars. People generally walk or get dropped off here. Seating: All seating is shaded and outdoors. The tables and seats are wooden. It can probably house about 60 people. There's another spot but for the most part, it was reserved. If you're lucky, you can snatch a spot with a fan. Feels: This isn't exactly in the heart of Laoag which is pretty good since there's not much traffic. The space itself is pretty neat. I like the bamboo decor and Filipino art. There's also a nice sign that shares a brief hxstory about the restaurant. They have a bathroom that basically gets the job done and there are sinks if you need to wash your hands. The music is mixed with top 40 and Filipino music. A great place for groups and families. FOOD: Grilled Chicken (Recommend) Nomz! For a healthy bite, I say go with this. The portion is fairly reasonable and the chicken was not excessively seasoned. The chicken was well cooked and pretty juicy. I enjoyed the crisp of the skin and the subtle sweet marination of the chicken. For more flavor or good kick, they provide calamansi, pepper, and soy sauce. Buko Halo Halo (Recommend) Deeee-licious, especially the juice! The presentation was and IG worthy. I enjoyed the flakes and chocolate wafer, there was still some undissolved sugar which provided a good crunch. I am personally not fond of the jelly and beans but the milk itself was sweet and not too thick. I only wish they served it after we were halfway done eating, the ice cream wouldn't have melted as fast. CUSTOMER SERVICE: Pretty good. The servers were all young but helpful. They told us it would take 20 minutes but our orders were served quicker. TL; DR OVERALL: 4.5 Stars. A nice gem in the semi-outside area of Laoag. The price is fair, food is delicious, the feels were enjoyable. I definitely see this place as one of my go tos if I'm in the area. In addition, I recommend this place to tourists as well that wanted a taste of the Phillippines. TIPS: * Excellent place for an all-round menu * For ones that didn't get their travelling shots, this is a good space to eat.

We had to stop for lunch on our way to pugudpod. If you're tired of the abundance of jolliebees,…read morechow Kong's, kfcs, mcdo, this is the authentic spot of ilocano bbq to chill and drink a jug of ice tea and you'll definitely will be satisfied.

Delicious and service was great! The pancit guisado is my favorite. Will come back again!read more

My dad has been coming here since he was in high school. This has been his spot. Came here after…read more20 years from being away and I'm 34 now. They make their own noodles in house and you can buy a crate full to bring it on home. Their noodles make the best Pancit I've ever had. The noodles are thick and bring you a mound of noodles with sprinkles of chunks of chicaron. It's a simple place but damn it's so good. Also, their fried chicken is delicious. You can taste the freshness of the chicken. It is definitely free range from outside the city of Laoag. They use a good flour coating outside of it and it comes out piping hot. I'll have to bring some noodles back home to the states and make this pancit for my friends. If you're ever in the area, you have to try this place. This is a memorable place I'll have to be back. Being in the Phillipines makes me do my ode trip for my hero, Anthony Bourdain.

This place hasn't changed in decades and prefer it that way. Suffice to say, it stays true to it's…read moreretro ambiance. Quality is always good and the prices are accordingly reasonable. The service is good. They were even very patient when my senile mother had 20 questions and personal preferences.

The food was very good. Just a personal thing, if you advertise a dish and run out, take it off…read morethe menu!! Also, I prefer a more robust sinigang nga bangus, with more tamarind. Meat and tripe in kare kare was waaaay too big!!

Undeniably delicious and craveworthy Philippine plates are nicely made at Mesa. I love eating in…read moreSE Asia and love savoring the flavor dichotomies: salt and sweet, pungent and acetic, fish sauce and soy, browned garlic and spice..... it's exciting to my taste buds, different and hits my soul just right. I get Bourdain's obsession with Vietnam and its tables; eating in Asia is an example of how these flavors hit any culinary soul profoundly. The setting at Mesa is modern, simple if not utilitarian. The food and service? Delish and attentive. Philippine food is a bit like cooking Spanish, Chinese, Malay, Indo, food all converging into a melee of flavors, unfamiliar and strange to the novice, craveworthy to its aficionados. Once you've had it a few times you're hooked. The stews are delicious and tasty unique, the inihaw (grilled meats and seafood) savory and distinctive, and to a first timer, the flavor discoveries go on and on. My love of this food is vast as this cuisine represents the wondrous flavors of SE Asia: pronounced, distinctive, funky, tasty, flavor-rich and the memory it imparts to your palate is soulful, sexy, pervasive. A bit about the service here: Wait staff are attentive (in the 5 times I've visited) and if you're confused as to what to get, feel free to ask your waitperson. They'll be glad to help. Another reason I love eating in SE Asia and the Philippines is providers and wait staff have no attitude, EVER. They're so helpful and hospitable-- you're in SE Asia; it's about the enjoyment of the memory of flavors and planning your next meal during. Not questioning that.. what-so-ever. Love. Visits: 5 in different locations.

Literally cockroaches by the food and after telling the staff they just squash the cockroach to…read moreclean it off right in front of your face. That doesn't clean it. Cockroaches are just running around the store. This place needs to get fumigated and I'm sure they are not doing anything about it. If I were the Cabalen franchise I would look into this specific branch and see the cleanliness of the place.

The buffet were only 2/3 of the trays with food. Staff told they would not fill again as only 2…read morehours till closing time.

This has got to be one of my favorites places I've eaten since I've arrived to San Nicholas…read more Krispy Kare Kare is now my new favorite way to eat Kare Kare!!! It was filling, just the right amount of bagoong, vegetables and Krispy bacon. Bacon is cooked perfectly... not oily, and satisfying to crunch on. And came with a tasty sabaw!!!! Nice service and great to follow meal with Halo-Halo!!! I liked the creamy ice, flan and Ube was yummy!!! It's a win win for me!!!! I wish this was in California!!!!

When first came to this place I didnt know what to expect. But my cousin came here before so she…read morerecommended me the Crispy Kare Kare. Which was sooo good! I love how crispy the pork belly was and how it was soggy even if it was on top the Kare Kare. There was much Kare Kare but was enough to satisfy my needs! We also opt for some Halo Halo which was also delicious! Ice was shaved right but can melt easily. Service was good but not great. Theres some hiccups here and there. Probably one of the few restaurant that actually says, "Thank you" or make eye contact and smiles. They were attentive about our rice since its a unlimited rice restaurant. They were kind enough to even raise the TV volume up for the kids. Overall, I highly recommend this place for those who haven't tried it yet. Especially their Crispy Kare Kare!

From the outside Kuya J's appears to be trendy at the very least and held so many possibilities…read more We were seated pretty quickly and we placed our orders but weren't even offered any water. We were then informed that they didn't have the crispy bangus that we ordered or the dinaguan or any of the solo meals. Order took forever to come out given we ordered pancit, vegetable chop suet, talong with egg and pork sisig. Mind you the place wasn't busy at all. Food came out and looked nothing like was presented in the menu. The pancit was over cooked, the grilled scallops didn't have the cheese sauce and the pork sisig reminded me of shredded pork with an egg mixed in and salty. We also ordered three Halo Halo which all took over 15 min to be made and each one was sent out separately. Our bottled waters and table water finally came out after 30 mins. The only thing that stood out was the Halo Halo which the ice is superfine and soft and couldn't complain about the price at 190 pesos. Overall, a very disappointing experience and meal.