La Paz Market and Batchoy

La Paz Market in the La Paz district is the original home of la paz batchoy, the noodle soup that put Iloilo on the Filipino food map. The market is a busy public market from early morning, selling fresh produce, meat, fish, and cooked food, but the main reason to visit is Ted's La Paz Batchoy — the original restaurant founded in the 1940s, still at the same stall inside the market.

The batchoy is made with egg noodles in a rich pork stock with pork offal (liver, kidney, heart), chopped fresh pork, and crushed chicharron on top; a raw egg is cracked into the bowl and stirred in by the diner. Eat it in the morning when the stock is freshest. The surrounding market stalls are worth a browse for fresh vegetables and local snacks.

eating out restaurant market
A story
La Paz batchoy was invented in this market in the 1940s by Federico Guillergan Sr., who sold noodle soup at a stall he called Ted's. The dish — wheat noodles in pork broth with liver, kidney, and heart, topped with chicharron and a raw egg — became the signature food of Iloilo and eventually spread across the Philippines. The original Ted's stall is still operating, still in the market, and still widely regarded as the best version.