Where to Eat in Panglao: Restaurants by Area and Budget

Panglao’s municipal tourism office calls Alona the island’s center for restaurants and nightlife, with food from seafood grills and Filipino comfort food to Italian, Korean and Mediterranean kitchens. That concentration makes a first night easy. It also means a short stay can pass without a meal in Danao, the resort dining rooms of Bolod and Doljo, the town market in Poblacion or the Dauis side of the island, which is a separate municipality with its own farm restaurant and hilltop café (how the island is divided).

This is an editorial selection drawn from restaurants’ own menus, websites and social pages and from established food reporting, checked on 28 September 2026; no tested meals are implied. Prices and hours are the owners’ where they publish them. Both change, so check before you set out.

Start with the area, not a ranking

Panglao has no official restaurant ranking, and this guide does not invent one. A more useful question is where you will be at mealtime. Alona and the rest of Barangay Tawala hold most of the choice. Danao, next door, adds a few destination dining rooms. Bolod and Doljo are resort coasts where the hotel restaurant is often the main option, and Poblacion, the town center, has the public market. Bohol Bee Farm and Zara’s Café are across the municipal line in Dauis.

Distances below are approximate road distances from Alona Beach; tricycle fares are the municipality’s per-person rates.

Widest choice: Alona Beach and the surrounding Tawala roads
Danao dining rooms: About 1–3 km from Alona; the official tricycle fare to Balili, Danao is ₱35 per person (Municipality of Panglao)
Panglao town market: 5.0 km from Rona’s Corner at Alona; ₱40 per person by tricycle (same fare table)
Doljo (Moadto, The Bellevue): About 7 km by road from Alona
Bohol Bee Farm, Dauis: About 9 km by road from Alona
Delivery: GrabFood launched in Panglao and Dauis in December 2024 (IKOT.PH)

Alona and Tawala: the widest choice

Many of Panglao’s restaurants sit on or near the road down to Alona Beach, along Ester A. Lim Drive and on the circumferential road through Tawala. The places below are the ones with a clear job: Filipino cooking, seafood, a proper dinner or a meat-free menu. Our Alona Beach guide covers the beachfront bars and resort restaurants on the sand itself.

Filipino cooking and seafood

JOSÉ PanglaoThe straightforward Filipino grill near Alona. Grilled seafood is the specialty, alongside sisig, kinilaw, goat dishes and pancit, and it works as a paluto kitchen: you choose the seafood and how it is cooked (King Tolentino). Good for a casual group dinner at budget-to-mid-range prices; it works mainly on walk-ins, so arrive early at busy times (Khae Santiago).
Sisa BistroA Filipino specialty kitchen that began as a kiosk in the Alona area and now sits in Buona Vita Plaza on the New Airport Road (Will Fly For Food). The Filipino core of the menu includes Adonis, its pork adobo; Chichay, crisp pork mesentery with a vinegar dip; and Corazon, banana blossom with shrimp or tofu in coconut milk. Mains on its online menu cost ₱295–₱355, and a seafood pasta ₱455 (checked 28 September 2026). Everything is cooked to order, and the kitchen asks for 20 to 30 minutes.
SeakuA seafood grill in Tawala that opened in September 2025. Philippine Primer listed its kinilaw of tuna and shrimp with coconut milk at ₱450 and a grilled tuna jaw (panga) of 700 grams to a kilo at ₱1,400 in November 2025. Its own profile now describes a seafood and meat grill with a new menu, open daily from 11:30am to 10pm with last orders at 9pm, so check current prices. Choose it for a grilled seafood dinner.
M.Marinera at AmoritaAmorita describes the menu as a reinterpretation of classic Filipino cuisine and coastal favorites. The occasion choice in Tawala, at a clifftop resort above Alona; Amorita also runs a Saturday grill buffet and a Sunday-afternoon grill on its Cliff Deck. Its online menu gives no food prices, so ask when you book.

Other kitchens worth the walk

Oasis Restaurant & Beach ClubThe easy meal on the sand: a breakfast buffet with an omelet station from 7am to 10am, then an international and Filipino menu with catch of the day, nasi goreng and a sesame-crusted tuna steak; the resort lists the restaurant as open 7am to 11pm. Choose it when you do not want to leave the beach. Its online menu lists the nasi goreng at ₱455 and Filipino mains such as adobo at ₱520, plus a 7% service charge (checked 29 September 2026).
Garlic ’n Lemon BistroA small bistro on Ester A. Lim Drive with Chef Mike in the kitchen and a mixed menu that runs from garlic butter shrimp and beef rendang to chicken parmigiana (Homes.ph). Khae Santiago put it at ₱300–₱500 a head in November 2025. Homes.ph reported in May 2026 that it mainly takes cash or GCash rather than international cards.
Giuseppe Pizzeria & Sicilian RoastSicilian chef Giuseppe Genco opened it in 2009 (Philippine Primer), and its menu still centers on wood-fired pizza, pasta and Sicilian roasts. The choice when the group wants pizza; it is on the main road through Tawala rather than the beach.
Lekker GardenA garden restaurant in Purok 4, Tawala whose menu mixes vegan, vegetarian, Middle Eastern, African and Asian dishes. Girl on a Zebra picked out the Lebanese chicken skewers and falafel sandwich in 2025. Good for a table where some eat meat and some do not; ask directly about cross-contact if your diet is strict.

Coffee and an early start

Dive boats and island-hopping trips leave early, so breakfast often has to be quick. Oasis starts its breakfast buffet at 7am, according to the resort. For coffee first, three places in Tawala have a clear case.

Coffee and breakfast

Overgrown Café & BarCoffee, smoothie bowls, toasties and pastries on Ester A. Lim Drive; Khae Santiago notes it opens early (its own Instagram lists 6am to 10pm at Alona), and it turns to cocktails later in the day. Girl on a Zebra singled out its almond croissant and jalapeño cream cheese toastie. A café breakfast rather than a Filipino one.
Common Crew Coffee Roasters & BrewersA roastery and coffee bar on Tawala Road that also rents out workspace. Its own profile lists 10am to 6pm, closed on Wednesdays, so it suits a mid-morning coffee or a working day rather than a pre-boat start. Khae Santiago notes it is a little far from Alona.
ShakaA smoothie-bowl café on the circumferential road, part of a chain also found in Siargao, Siquijor and Moalboal. It began as a plant-based café, but HappyCow reviewers reported in December 2025 and January 2026 that it had started serving meat and trimmed its vegan menu; vegan options remain. Most bowls and mains cost ₱270–₱350 in Khae Santiago’s November 2025 guide. Walk-in only, with a short wait at busy times.

Danao: dinner a short ride from Alona

Danao, Alona’s western neighbor, holds two restaurants set back from the coast that sell their setting as much as their food. Both are a short tricycle ride from the beach.

Danao

MIST Cafe and RestaurantA plant-filled, rainforest-style dining room in Daorong, about a kilometer by road from Alona Beach. The set piece is the “Pyro chicken”, the dish Khae Santiago’s November 2025 guide says it is famous for; she places it mid-to-high on price and recommends booking. Choose it when the room matters as much as the menu.
Kri RestaurantA seafood and barbecue restaurant among trees in Balili, Danao; its page leads with shrimp platters and lists daily hours of 11am to 9pm. Its own Facebook post offers free pick-up and drop-off within Panglao, which removes the transport question. Confirm the pick-up when you book, as the post is undated.

Bolod and Doljo: resort dining rooms and a strip mall

Bolod, east of Alona, is a beach-first coast, and Doljo on the western side is quieter still. Our where-to-stay guide treats both as resort-led areas where dinner elsewhere means transport. The choice here is mostly resort restaurants, which rarely publish prices online, so book and ask for a menu first.

Bolod

Oceanica Seafood RestaurantLive seafood and an à la carte menu at Oceanica Resort in Bolod. The resort says fruit, vegetables and herbs come from South Farm, the group’s 9-hectare organic property on Panglao. Good for a seafood lunch on a Bolod beach day; ask the price before choosing a live fish or crab.

Doljo

Lamian at The BellevueThe Bellevue’s modern Filipino restaurant, which the resort describes as “Modern Filipino flavors with warmth and restraint.” Tatler Asia lists bacon kare-kare, an ube stew with freshwater prawns and sisig tacos, and marks it $$$$ for price. The splurge on the west coast; reserve.
Moadto StripAn open-air strip mall in Tumoy Leisure Village, next to Modala Beach Resort. Its tenant list includes The Lechon Mann, Imperial Dragon, Onami Japanese Restaurant, a chocolate shop, bars, and a pasalubong and coffee shop. The municipal tourism office suggests ending an island tour there for dinner. Tenants change, so check the list first.

Panglao town: Ubeco and the public market

Poblacion is Panglao’s town center, where the church and its watchtower stand. It sits about 5 km from Alona, and it has two food stops worth combining with that visit.

Poblacion

UbecoA restaurant and small design store in Purok 6 with an English and Korean menu of salads, pastas, rice bowls and seafood plates: coconut mango curry, seafood ceviche, Spanish-style garlic shrimp and squid, and a Cajun seafood boil for two. Open 11am to 10pm with last orders at 9pm, according to its site. Khae Santiago put it at ₱500–₱1,000 a head in November 2025; it takes walk-ins and bookings.
Panglao Public MarketThe town market, on the Dauis–Panglao road in Poblacion. The municipality’s fare table lists it 5.0 km from Rona’s Corner at Alona, ₱40 per person by tricycle. No official opening hours are published; go in daylight, and ask stallholders what they cook on site before expecting a sit-down meal.

The Dauis side: farm tables and a hilltop café

The eastern part of Panglao Island belongs to Dauis municipality, not Panglao. Two food stops there are worth planning around, and both fit best into a day that already heads that way, towards Tagbilaran and the bridges to the Bohol mainland (Tagbilaran to Panglao).

Dauis

Bohol Bee FarmA farm, resort and restaurant in Barangay Dao, about 9 km by road from Alona. The menu is built on what the farm calls farm-to-table organic cooking: salads with edible flowers, fresh bread with homemade spreads, its own honey, organic ice cream and seafood “the Boholano way.” Panglao’s municipal tourism office includes it on its island land tour for sea views and farm-to-table Filipino food. Open 7am to 9pm daily, according to the farm, which takes table bookings by phone and online. Prices are not published online.
Zara’s CaféA Swedish-Filipino family café on Dayo Hill in Mayacabac, with cardamom cake, cinnamon rolls, waffles with homemade blueberry jam and gelato, and a hilltop view (Homes.ph). It is about 15 km by road from Alona, so fit it into a Dauis or Tagbilaran day, and check its page for opening days.

What to order

A handful of names will help on most menus above. Our guide to Filipino and Boholano dishes covers them in more depth.

Kinilaw: raw fish cured in vinegar, usually coconut or cane vinegar (background); Seaku and JOSÉ Panglao have both listed it.
Paluto: not a dish but a way of ordering. Pick the seafood, then choose how the kitchen cooks it.
Sinigang: a sour soup with meat or seafood; JOSÉ Panglao serves it.
Ube kinampay: one of the purple yam varieties grown in Bohol. The province holds an annual Ubi Festival, and ubi is the only root crop named in the provincial hymn (GMA Regional TV).
Calamay: a sticky sweet of glutinous rice, coconut milk and sugar, sold in a halved coconut shell sealed with red paper (Market Manila). Jagna, on Bohol’s south coast, is famous for it (background).

Prices, booking and getting to dinner

Few Panglao restaurants publish prices online, so the figures in this guide are dated markers, not a price list: the menus Sisa Bistro and Oasis publish (checked September 2026) and, elsewhere, food writers’ reports from November 2025. On those figures, a main course costs about ₱300–₱350 at Sisa Bistro and ₱430–₱520 for most Asian and Filipino mains at Oasis, and a sit-down meal at the independent restaurants in this guide runs roughly ₱300–₱1,000 a head (Khae Santiago). Resort restaurants, including Lamian, M.Marinera and Oceanica, do not publish food prices; ask when you book.

Carry pesos. Homes.ph reported in May 2026 that Garlic ’n Lemon mainly takes cash or GCash rather than international cards, so ask before ordering anywhere if you plan to pay by card. Bohol Bee Farm takes table bookings by phone and online, and Khae Santiago advises booking MIST; JOSÉ Panglao and Shaka work mainly on walk-ins.

Getting to dinner is part of the plan outside Alona. The municipality sets tricycle fares at ₱20 for the first kilometer and ₱5 for each additional kilometer, per person (Municipality of Panglao); agree the price before you ride. Grab launched GrabCar and GrabFood delivery in Tagbilaran, Dauis and Panglao in December 2024 (IKOT.PH), and Kri offers its own pick-up. If you are still choosing a base, the where-to-stay guide weighs dining distance by area.

Common questions

What is the best restaurant in Panglao?

There is no official or tested ranking, and the right answer depends on the meal. For Filipino grilled seafood near Alona, look at JOSÉ Panglao or Seaku; for a modern Filipino dinner, Lamian at The Bellevue in Doljo; for a farm lunch, Bohol Bee Farm in Dauis.

Where can I eat Filipino food in Panglao without paying resort prices?

JOSÉ Panglao, a walk-in Filipino grill in Tawala, and Sisa Bistro on the New Airport Road, where mains on its online menu cost ₱295–₱355 (checked 28 September 2026). The public market in Poblacion is the other place to look.

Is Bohol Bee Farm in Panglao?

It is on Panglao Island but in Dauis municipality, in Barangay Dao, about 9 km by road from Alona. The farm lists its restaurant as open 7am to 9pm daily and takes table bookings by phone and online.

Are there vegetarian and vegan restaurants in Panglao?

Yes, with a caveat. Lekker Garden in Tawala has vegan and vegetarian dishes alongside meat. Shaka on the circumferential road began as a plant-based café and still offers vegan options, but reviewers reported in December 2025 that it had started serving meat. Ask directly about cross-contact if your diet is strict.

Eat on Alona’s doorstep when the day is short, and plan one meal across the island when it is not.