The best restaurants Mindanao

Housed in a large, high-rise house featuring natural materials, Casa Roca offers, in addition to three inexpensive, comfortable guest rooms, a restaurant with an extensive menu combining Asian dishes and Western classics. The menu changes regularly according to the catch and the seasons. During the day, the view is splendid, and in the evening, the atmosphere becomes warm with candles and red tablecloths. In this establishment run by a Canadian couple, the wine selection is quite extensive and the mango margaritas are top-notch!

Renowned for its authentic Filipino cuisine, this address offers delicious specialties such as Kagay Anon, a seafood and grilled meat platter. Dishes are beautifully presented in banana leaves, and there are a few options for vegetarians. The service is excellent, and the waiters are smiling and attentive. Don't miss the scallops or the prawns with garlic butter. A very good restaurant, appreciated by locals and visitors alike.

Located on the main road, this traditional stilt hut offers excellent ramen, among other dishes! In the kitchen, a Japanese chef, of course, makes gourmet ramen to suit all tastes, using pork or fake vegetable meat. The miso broth is rich in flavor, the traditional Ajitama pickled egg makes all the difference, and the chef also makes excellent homemade fried gyozas. A good change from the usual Filipino or European dishes, with fast service and a pleasant atmosphere.

This Chinese-inspired restaurant focuses on seafood. Here, everything is fresh, from curacha (a type of crab endemic to the region, in a delicious garlic sauce) to latu salad (a type of seaweed), lapu-lapu (grouper) and lobster. There's no set menu here: waiters present the day's fish according to the catch and arrivals. You choose your fish and it's prepared directly for you in the kitchen. All fresh and tasty, this is a good address.

This is one of Camiguin's healthy addresses! In this cosy little café with a relaxed atmosphere, the emphasis is on healthy, vegetarian and even vegan cuisine, with a few fish dishes as well. Alongside the must-try smoothies, homemade granola, matcha tea and the use of superfoods (oats, chia seeds...), there are Israeli and Mediterranean options full of flavor and indulgence. Everything is good, beautifully presented and hearty. To start or continue your day with plenty of energy!

A little piece of Spain in Camiguin? That's what Peninsulare Kape Art has been offering its customers for some years now. The menu features cuisine from the Iberian Peninsula, with classics such as succulent tapas and tasty paellas to share. And it's a success. Set in a large garden by the sea, the place, run by a team of women, exudes a kind of positive energy that is reinforced by the friendly music playing. You leave with a full belly and a gentle joie de vivre.

One of our favorites! In the heart of a rice paddy with a view of the sea, we arrive at this restaurant with its carefully crafted aesthetic and eclectic decor blending colonial influences, Spanish tiles, Vietnamese lanterns and a vast open kitchen where you can admire the chefs in action. On the slate, an ultra-fresh menu that adapts to the day's catch and produce grown on the farm next door. The chef, Carmel, trained at the prestigious Le Cordon Bleu cooking school in Bangkok, and brilliantly reinvents Southeast Asian gastronomy.

This is the Harana Resort restaurant. In a large, airy nippa hut, you dine on low tables to the sound of the waves. This is the place to go to discover Philippine gastronomy, and more specifically that of Mindanao. The menu is extensive, so you can try a variety of dishes all concocted with precision and beautifully presented on banana leaves. The colorful plates are as pretty as they are tasty. The waiters are extremely hospitable and there are many vegetarian and even vegan options available. Cosy, relaxing atmosphere.

In Siargao, Shaka Café is located directly on Cloud 9. It's housed in a beach bungalow, with that extra touch of coolness we love so much. We recommend going there especially in the morning for their breakfast of champions, beautiful and good. On the menu: fresh fruit juices, smoothies, granola bowls with yoghurt and exotic fruits. At lunchtime, fabulous 100% vegetarian and ultra-gourmet burgers await you. The place is very chill. It's healthy, appetizing and, as is often the case in the Philippines, inexpensive.

Perched at the top of a hill, the High Ridge is renowned above all for its large panoramic terrace offering spectacular views over the whole of Cagayan de Oro. In the evening, the atmosphere is very charming, with garlands of lights responding to the lights of the town. And the good news is that the food at High Ridge is excellent too! International dishes (burgers, pizzas, pastas) as well as all the classics of Filipino cuisine, with a Mexican twist. A shuttle service is available to reach the venue.

In a romantic white-fronted colonial house, you're served in a cozy Spanish-influenced interior decorated with old antiques reminiscent of grandparents' homes. On the palate, it's traditional regional cuisine reinterpreted with a modern twist. Don't miss Cagayan's specialty, Sinuglaw (a dish combining beef and fish ceviche) or Surol de Caminguin (chicken soup with coconut milk). A fine sample of Northern Mindanao gastronomy.