Most Filipino Food Sucks, but Not All
During our trip to Coron, Kim and I interviewed locals, foodies, and business owners to get the inside scoop on where to eat in Coron.
It wasn't easy finding great food. Truly delicious dishes here in the Philippines are as elusive as the dugong.
But, unlike the dugong, we found some!
So don't settle for rice and meat on a stick. Take our advice, and those of our local friends, on where to eat in Coron (and elsewhere on Busuanga Island).
Outline:
Where to Eat in Coron Town
Filipino Cordon Bleu at Singuba Sa Balay
Not cordon bleu the dish, but food from a Cordon Bleu-trained chef at chicken adobo prices. The chicken adobo, tuna sisig, and mie goring (noodles made in-house) were all fantastic at this friendly, informal, serve-yourself-water-and-cutlery establishment.
Eggplant With a View from Levine’s
This place was so good it made Kim’s Top 5 experiences in Coron (read the rest here). The food (especially the 80 peso spicy eggplant with rice), and bargain 100 peso 1 liter Red Horse beers were almost as awesome as the sunset views from their third-floor rooftop patio.
Get Real Good Nachos at Get Real Café + Bar
Somehow, despite applying the curious Filipino habit of not baking the nachos and using cheese sauce instead of real cheese, these nachos work. Maybe it’s because the chips are made to order. Maybe it’s because of the delicious sauces used by head chef Maui (ask for him if you’re there and he might just hook you up with his extra special sauce). Or maybe it’s because they’re huge. Whatever it is, at 200 pesos a plate, these are “nacho” average nachos.
Comfort Food at Altrove
The pizzas at Altrove aren’t cheap, but that’s because they don’t skimp on key ingredients (ehem, cheese). The wood fired, thin crust pizzas here are a nice respite from rice.
“Winnie’d” to Mention Winnie’s
While the crab curry we had didn’t “Winnie” us over, Winnie’s was unanimously recommended to us by every single local we asked them where to eat in Coron, so we have to mention it. Either they’re all wrong or we just got unlucky.
The Food’s Friendly at Brujita’s
The vibe we got from the European owner wasn’t Filipino-friendly, but the we were taste buddies with the food. The veggie options here were perhaps the best we had all trip.
Best Food Outside Coron Town
Farm-to-Table Dining at Laura’s Garden
Ambitious, and awesome-English speaking Laura just recently reopened her restaurant off the side of the highway just before Concepcion (30km from Coron Town). In a beautiful spot with a natural stream surrounded by lush vegetation, Laura takes advantage of her 7 hectare property to grow many of her own veggies and herbs, which she uses to make her own dishes. It's a rare opportunity to eat locally sourced food in Palawan!
Tagbanua Coffee at The Funny Lion
Our friend Raul, owner of Pedro’s Gelato in town, pointed us here for their excellent Tagbuana coffee (made using traditional methods by the tribe that owns Coron Island and served with cashew milk (!)). We ended up making the almost daily pilgrimage (ok, 20 peso tricycle ride) back for more. Take advantage of their 500 peso Dip and Dine promotion (one of our 11 Top Things to Do in Coron) to get access to their relaxing pool and 400 peso credit at their restaurant. The food was excellent.
Those Dough Balls
On the highway just before the turn-off to Ocam Ocam is a little shack that sells delicious baseball-sized, sesame covered fried dough balls for just 5 pesos. Thinking they were standard fare we could find anywhere on Busuanga, Kim and I only only got one each. Big mistake. We never found them elsewhere.
So if you’re heading that way, energize yourself with a dough ball or two before braving the treacherous 4 km road into the village.
[Update: In the comments, Kristine pointed out that these are most likely called "buchi" or "butsi" balls. Now you know what to ask for at any little shack around the island!]
The Captains That Picked the Wrong Career
Our captain Toto and his assistant blew us away with the presentation and cooking on our VIP private boat trip around Coron Island (see the cover image of this post). More info can be found by reading Kim and my top 5 experiences in Coron.
Map of Where to Eat In Coron
To help you find each place on our list, here's a map. It also includes our favorite things to do we cover in a separate post.
You can save this map and all the points of interest right to your phone by following our simple, but overlooked, instructions for using Google Maps offline.
Once You're Done Digesting…
Consider burning those calories on one of our 11 favorite off-the-beaten path things to do in Coron and Busuanga Island.
Good Lord, do I even need to bother with any other site before going? Spectacular breakdown of Coron, tips, and advice. I just rearranged my original plan for Coron and my birthday has been saved in advance thanks to you!
Thanks and umm… happy birthday! We're honored that you appreciate our tips, but hopefully you'll manage to make even better discoveries on your own. All the best.
Is the sesame seed ball similar to buchi balls? But buchi is usually filled with bean paste.
We'd never heard of "buchi balls" before so we looked them up and… yeah! They're buchi balls without the bean paste, just like you say. Thanks for letting us know what they're actually celled!
Hi! How do I get hold of captain Toto and his assistant? Planning to go on a private tour also for my family.
Hey Odette. Thanks for the question. Unfortunately I can't help too much because we just hired Toto by going down to the pier and negotiating. We didn't get his number or anything. So all I can recommend is to go down there and ask around. If you're really keen you could even print off the photo and show it to people, haha.
Hi There
How much did you pay for a private boat tour in Coron?
thank you so much in advance
Mandy
Hi. We shared that and more detail in our other guide of the favorite things we did in Coron: https://theunconventionalroute.com/things-to-do-in-coron-palawan/. Enjoy your trip.
Hey just got back from last minute trip to Coron Had no time to pre-research restaurants and used your food guide which was really helpful. Thank you!
Thanks to you, Alma! I checked out your blog, which looks good: full of original info and insights. I see you got away from where everyone else goes and went to Laura's too, which is aweseome. And with 5 kids! Wow. Keep it up!
Hey,
Really informative and well-written blog.
Thanks for collating not-so-mainstream info/advice that you got from locals.
Would have appreciated a more inclusive, and culturally-sensitive title though rather than "Most Filipino Food Sucks". Might be harmless where you come from, but you are in Southeast asia… – Just something worth considering next time.
Hey William, You're totally right that "Most Filipino Food Sucks" is insensitive and over-the-top. If it helps any, most Canadian food sucks, too.
Hey Chris, fuck off.
Hey Jason, No thanks.
Jesus, anyone who titles their blog with such a hateful statement deserves not to be taken seriously. People reading this, take advice from someone more respectful and who knows what they’re talking about.
I partly agree, Chris. I'm no expert, so people absolutely should balance my opinion with that of others, then make their own. If you conclude Filipino food's amazing, great!
What a piece of shit this guy is.
I guess you could say I'm like most Filipino food.
Hmmm, thought Canadians were supposed to be nice? Guess not!
A much nicer critique than the previous two, Bob. You must be Canadian!