Food tripping around Panglao Island in Bohol
Spending your entire Panglao Island vacation within sight of the beach does a disservice to the delights you'll find a little further inland.
Related video: Go beyond the beach and watch the Funbassadors from different parts of Asia explore Bohol’s natural wonders. You’ll want to see the Chocolate Hills for yourself!
It won't take long for Alona Beach visitors to find them: just a few minutes' walk up from the coast takes them to the part of the national road that runs parallel to the shore—the place christened "Rona's Corner".
Rona's Corner has become Alona Beach's de facto high street, with a high concentration of watering holes, restaurants and budget resorts congregating down its length. Ordinary enough, but for this: a number of European expat foodies, attracted by the laid-back life, have settled in these parts and contributed to the local preponderance of European eats.
As a result, resto-hopping down Rona's Corner has grown to resemble a Grand Tour of European delicacies—ravenous travelers can make short work of the French aperitif, Italian antipasti, Spanish tapas, and German desserts all lined up on or near the street.
Start with French bistro Les Rendez-Vous, the in-house café for the L'Elephant Bleu garden resort. Les Rendez-Vous offers a few tables out in the open, just off the main highway: none too romantic, but the excellent spread more than compensates for the rough finish.
Les Rendez-Vous offers an excellent and surprisingly inexpensive wine list—your correspondent enjoyed a semi-sweet La Croix du Pin 2010 Muscat for only P120 a glass. The affordable wines—consumed alongside the establishment's ample selection of cheeses and cured meats, served on a wooden slab—tempt visitors into excess, which would be a mistake as this is only the first stop.
Address: Rona's Corner, Tawala, Panglao Island
Site: www.facebook.com/lerendezvousbohol
Phone: +63 917 324 2399
Giuseppe Pizzeria should be next on your list; it’s a two-storey Italian restaurant a short tricycle ride away from the beachfront. The interior is spartan but inviting; the menu serves up a series of authentically Italian favourites, with a focus on Sicilian seafood and grilled meats.
We order a selection of Sicilian antipasti—assorted cold cuts and cheese, coctail di gamberi (prawns cocktail with brandy sauce), and a delectable formaggio al forno made with local carabao cheese. Giuseppe's grub goes down particularly well with a cold bottle of the local beer.
Address: Rona's Corner, Tawala, Panglao Island
Site: www.giuseppe-bohol.com
Phone: +63 38 502 4255
Next, proceed to Jugali's Bistro, an open-air establishment run by a boisterous German expat.
Georg Linke settled in Panglao after long years of service in a restaurant on the Spanish Canary Islands. Talking to Mr. Linke is the best part of the Jugali's experience; the second-best part is Jugali's hearty paella, topped with prawns and meant to be shared.
Address: Rona's Corner, Tawala, Panglao Island
Site: www.jugalisbistro.com
Phone: +63 929 410 31 89
For dessert, head to an inner road approaching the beach, where CU Restaurant & Delicatessen stands on the ground floor of the Tip Top Hotel along Ester Lim Drive. CU is a German/Swiss beer garden with an extensive dessert and sweets selection.
The deli bakes its own rolls, baguettes, and croissants—but it's the dessert selection that really draws the crowds. CU's mango cheesecakes, apple pie a la mode, and mousses are constantly in demand—your writer polished off one or three of the latter each, before calling it a night.
Address: Ester Lim Drive, Tawala, Panglao
Phone: +63 38 502 8308
