Take Home Marsha

Marsha's Delicacies
Nat'l Highway, Brgy. Cabalanggan
Bantay, Ilocos Sur
+63 (77) 7228119

After sharing some of brother's pasalubong from the south east part of the country, we now take a big leap to the north west part of the country. For three weeks, I'm going to share different pasalubong from Ilocos Sur. As you know, my friend Ria and I had a little vacation in the north last weekend of October, and aside from taking her to different places, I also took the time to take pictures and gather new materials for my blogs.

First stop, Marsha's Delicacies. {Funny, this was actually our last stop}


Located along the highway in the town of Bantay, This is one of the famous pasalubong shops in the area. Even if it is located a few kilometers away from Vigan City, people touring Vigan in their own vehicles can easily pull over and buy their baked goodies. As for bus passengers like Ria and I, well, we were lucky that there were very few people in the bus, so I was able to ask the bus driver if he could make a quick stop at Marsha's so we can buy some foods to take home. He was very happy to oblige.


Upon entering the shop, people can immediately line up to place their orders. There was a big catalog with pictures, and the shelves also had labels. Every product also had their prices printed, so people in queue can easily budget. There were three lanes, but during hectic days, sometimes they also let customers line up on the "dining" lane.


It is primarily a pasalubong shop, but they also set up a dining area on the right side where people can have a quick snack. We were pressed for time so I wasn't able to check what sort of snacks they serve, but I think they also serve the baked goodies they sell.

It was already quarter to ten in the evening, so they didn't have much to sell anymore. Among the available ones, I took home:




Royal Bibingka. The bibingka that's very soft and chewy. This is not like the bibingka in banana leaves. This one has the consistency of the galapong - like the ones in guinataang halo halo. The very first time I tasted a bibingka like this was in La Union. My aunt brought home a bibingka in aluminum foil the shape of a small plate. It was chewy and cheesy... and yes delicious. She told me it was just a copy cat, and that the original ones can be bought in Vigan. True enough, these Marsha's bibingka cups are really much, much better than the ones I tasted in La Union.

It's available in two sizes - full (box of 12 pcs.), which is sold at p128. The half box is at p77. It's very okay to eat these straight from the box, but I personally prefer to eat it chilled, because the body is much fuller. The ones straight from the box were too soft and chewy for me.


Pudding (whole - p110 / half - p55). This is my brother's favorite. Whenever I had the chance to visit Marsha's, he would always request this. Comparing to the other bread pudding I tasted - this one had a much finer consistency and very milky, too! It's like eating French toast without frying it. It was that moist. I took home the half sized one, which I think is about 5x12 inches in size.


Brownies (whole - p145 / half - p78). This was actually the first time I tasted their brownies. My brother told me it tasted like the traditional chocolate cake - fluffy and soft. At first bite, it was really just the way brother described it. It wasn't really sweet, so I found myself eating two slices after I eat my meal. There's something nostalgic about eating their brownies... I guess with so many new innovations in making pastries, me eating this took me back in time. It wasn't over the top delicious, but delicious in its own right.

Other baked goods being sold here include:

• Supreme Bibingka (p148)
  
• Baked Macaroni (p180)
• Leche Flan (p70)
• Pichi Pichi (p70)
• Calamay (p70)
• Ube Macapuno (p70)

They also sell finger foods:

• Camote Chips
• Chicharon (p55)
• Adobo Peanuts
• Banana Chips
• Butong Pakwan

And other miscellaneous foods:

• Sukang Iloko
• Atchara
• Rice Coffee
• Tablea (Chocolate Tablets)

Some of the products being sold here (aside from the baked ones, of course) aren't really made by Marsha's Delicacies, some were either made for them, and some they sell to make the store a one-stop shop.

Marsha's Delicacies have branches in Vigan City - there's one at the GSP (Girl Scouts of the Philippines) building, and another one at the Partas Bus Terminal. Stocks there were minimal, and the one at the GSP building closes around 5pm, so if you're a bus commuter and would like to take home some of Marsha's Delicacies, you can ask the bus driver to make a quick stop over. Depending on the amount of passengers, and depending on the time of the year, the driver will either grant or decline your request, but just try anyway. Sometimes, when the bus does pull over, other passengers would also go down and buy with you, and if there are a lot of passengers going down the bus just to buy, the store would give the driver and conductor a box of their delicacy, so in the end it would be a win-win situation. Since I usually travel night time from Vigan to Cubao (Quezon City), asking the driver to pull over was a very easy request to do because passengers don't really mind the time.

By the way, the baked goodies can be kept in the fridge up to a week.

*** Jenn ***

ps - the picture of the store's facade was something from my files - it was taken 25 May 2008, when I had a road trip with aunt Julie and her former high school friends, while the rest of the pictures were taken sometime between 30 Oct - 03 Nov 2010