Cantina Mercante — Restaurant in Vigan

Happy they followed my request of no bagoong for my pinakbet! Thankful they have solo serving for their vegetables menu.

Also I ordered the strawberry glazed chicken gizzard bowl which I find surprisingly good and it's generously served I had leftover I brought home. I came from the strawberry capital in PH (and currently, strawberry festival is still ongoing as to this date) and I could tell they use strawberry jam for the strawberry flavor and not a powder¿ it's pleasantly like having orange chicken but strawberry (if you get the point haha!). The gizzard is crispy (I was expecting it to be tender and not fried haha!) but at least it's not like rubber.

Service is also great. I see they also give breaks to the staff and they maximize it well which is a good it's a win-win for both staff...

Checked google about the best restaurants in Vigan, was excited to dine in here coz I've read several good feedback and recommendations. Unfortunately, got the worst experience. June 16 at around 7:30pm we were here, 13 pax. We waited to be given seats next to each other, yun naman dapat yung normal na salubong. Sadly, since we already waited for too long to be given one, we decided that we could sit on different tables. Orders were taken by 2 different staff. In the middle of our wait time, we were told we will be given a long table and a staff pin pointed if where we will be seated so ang mommy ko, nauna na dun. She was told not to sit there yet amd empty the seat and wait for the staff's signal to transfer once it's ready. Customers arrived and seated on the seats designated for us. We understand the busyness but what's unacceptable was the service given to us. We've waited for 2 hours, kalahati lang yata ng inorder namin ang dumating. Follow ups were made only to find out na the list of orders the other one took from some of us were not sent to the kitchen. So we've waited for nothing, majority of it were for the kids. Imagine the long wait, kaya nagtataka kami nauna pa yung food nung mas late dumating sa amin. Settled the bill and decided na lumipat na lang sa ibang resto na bukas pa because it's getting late and gutom na mga kids. I won't forget Cantina Mercante. The only resto sa Ilocos trip namin na unforgettable dahil sa palpak na service. Take note, very poor customer service. Yung staff na babae tried to convince us to stay kasi malapit na daw matapos yung remaining orders eh clearly hindi pa napprepare. Nakakawalang gana din kumain na at maghintay sa resto na hindi naman namin nakitaan na vinalue kami as customers the moment na pumasok pa lang kami. Lesson learned not to trust high ratings sa google and nagpromise ako na magffeedback ako regarding our experience. This resto is really overrated. sana pala kako nagbase din ako sa fb feedback, nabasa ko sana yung huling hindi...

We ordered food at 8:00pm. Two silog plates, one chicken bites, and one chicken katsu. 30 minutes later, the silog plates came out and then the chicken bites. All 3 of us finished our food already and we were waiting for the chicken katsu. Almost an hour wait, we asked where it was, and guess what the staff said? “Oh, sorry the chicken katsu is out of stock!” Like no one checked or communicated so that we can change the order. If we didn’t follow up, my kid would’ve never gotten his food. And guess what? The restaurant closes at 9pm. What horrible service. Will not recommend...