Eating the Philipinnies

Holiday in Philippines
6th to 15th April 2007

One of the great things about living in Hong Kong is the number of places that you can quickly and easily escape to; for us the Easter holidays were a chance to check out the neighbouring Philippines. With a night each end in Manila we spent most of our time relaxing around the beach resort of Sabang. A great place for diving Sabang also offered some good eating options; here are a few of my favourites.

Hemmingway's
This outstanding Cuban themed Restaurant was so good that some days we had to resist eating here for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Huge serves of Caribbean and Filipino influenced food, excellent coffee and an interesting selection of tapas. Hemmingway's friendly service and beautiful beach side location meant many hours were spent here flipping through books and watching the world go by, accompanied by a coffee or cold San Miguel.

Marti's Bar
Run by a friendly New Zealander this is a great place for a beer. Devoid of the sleaziness that lingers around many of the other bars in town Marti's has a book exchange, board games and enough cold beer to keep anyone entertained.

Rhaphels
Another great bar with a relaxed feel and cheap beers to boot. Situated above the water at the far western end of Sabang beach this was a favourite place for a thirst quencher after a sunset walk along the Laguna beaches.

Street Vendors
The two stalls on the corner of the main intersection were both excellent for late night snacks. One sold an array of tasty grilled skewers, the other delicious fried chicken and fried pastry fingers stuffed with lamb. Cheap and tasty the only issue was having to resist gorging on fried chicken every time I walked past.

Lucky's Saloon
The big serves of freshly cooked, authentic German food is excellent value, but the service was terrible. When we visited we had to wait an hour and twenty minutes for our food to arrive and on inquiring where our meals were we were literally yelled at by the German owner; a real shame.

Luka's, TALIPANAN BEACH
Talipanan Beach is not in Sabang, but the other side of the town of Puerto Galera past the resort of White Beach. Talipanan is not just remote, it is isolated, underdeveloped and empty; a perfect spot for getting away from it all, but certainly not where you would expect to encounter gourmet delights. Luka's is amazing, its classic Italian menu was stuffed full of authentic, reasonably priced offerings. The pizza was especially good and would have to be close to the best I've eaten since Italy. A highly recommended outing, especially considering the adventure of the location.