VIDEO: Food Trip/Road Trip--The Best Ilocos Empanada in Laoag

What's one of the best things to do when going on a road trip? The food you get to sample where you're at, because you otherwise won't get it if your destination is far from home. In our case, for our first-ever 'Food Trip/Road Trip' video, it's a seven-hour drive from Metro Manila to Laoag in Ilocos Norte. And what food did we exactly have in mind once we got there? What else but good ol' Ilocos empanada.

We planned to hit five empanada stores during our three-day stay in Laoag. Unfortunately, we couldn't find one store that was supposed to be beside the public market, one had already closed for good, and another one had changed owners and its menu completely.

We did find two stores though and boy, were we sated by them as the empanadas they made were fuller and bigger than the ones sold in Manila.

Check out our video below to see what we mean, and if you do find yourself in Laoag soon, check out JM's Empanada right beside the Laoag International Airport and Helen's Empanada at Dap-ayan ti Ilocos Norte, an outdoor food court a stone's throw away from the provincial capitol building.

Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjXH3QU7-ws