During my recent trip to Puerto Princesa, Palawan, I had one spare-chill day to explore the local food scene of the lovely city. I tried to avoid famous touristy restaurants and preferred to check on hole in the walls where locals usually dine. Walkable restaurants lang within the city centre, particularly near Rizal Avenue where I stayed. Here’s how my day went.

Breakfast:

I was on my leisurely 7 am walk from the city cathedral to Baywalk when I passed by this quaint food kiosk serving lomi near Balayong Pension House. Madami na’ng tao that early, and looking at their hefty serving, I already felt that I am at the right place to have breakfast. Huge bowl with egg and meat slices, meatballs, lumpia and chicharon topping with a load of garlic bits. Ala Eh’ Lomi is worthy of a recommendation.

Lunch:

For lunch, local friends recommended Itoy’s Coffee Haus. Itoy’s is said to be the first legit coffee shop in PP, which also offers a lot of food choices on their menu. I tried the Sizzling Bulalo, which is said to be the house specialty; and it did not disappoint. Tender beef, marrow and a hefty creamy sauce to complete the set. 200 Pesos per serve, good for 2 pax. 

Noon Snack:

Reef Hotdog; A small hotdog stand near the provincial capitol with very high ratings on tripadvisor. I was intrigued with the reviews so I made time to check it out and it did not disappoint. The kiosk basically serves gourmet European style sausages with a great deal of sauces and toppings to choose from. I had pineapple curry sauce with caramelised onion for my cheesy Hungarian. Awesome!

The place is run by a German and his filipino wife. No wonder this is a to go place for foreigners. Buns range from 120 to 200 Pesos.

Early dinner:

Puerto Princesa Baywalk Park. For early dinner, I met up with a friend to share a hefty meat, steamed vegetable and seafood boodle set with. 300 pesos lang for two pax, but seriously, this could feed more! Beachfront ambiance is also a plus plus plus for this place.

Late night eats:

I had a hearty bowl of chao long noodles at Thalia’s to close off this binge eating. Chao long is basically Palawan’s version of the Vietnamese Pho. Palawan has strong ties with the vietnamese immigrants since the WW2. As such, Pho noodles, spring rolls and Bhan Me’s are common sight around the city.

Chao long, however, is really a rice and pork porridge dish in Vietnam, I don’t know why that name was given to a noodle dish when it arrived in Palawan. They must have had some translation issues in the past. But whatever! Bala sila dyan.

So there, I ordered beef stew chao long at Thalia’s. It was good. filling. broth is more on the sweet side with a kick of hot spice. There’s another more famous chao long in PP called Bona’s, but a local told me it is super MSG. As such, I opted to settle for Thalia’s. It did not disappoint.

So there you go, that is how Jose Manuel overeats. Sabayan nyo na ako next time. ‘Til then =)