Plant-Based Food In The Philippines – How To Survive As A Vegan Or A Vegetarian In The Philippines
The Philippines is an amazing country in Southeast Asia, that will blow your mind with its beauty. It is a perfect destination for a budget backpacker, but it also offers luxury if that is what you are more after. You can easily roam around the Philippines for 2 weeks, a month or even longer! You will be greeted with friendly people, crystal clear waters, pristine white sand beaches and an endless amount of waterfalls. But will you find plant-based food in the Philippines?
Quite a few people told us that the Philippines is their favorite country of the whole of Southeast Asia. So you can probably see why we were more than stoked to finally actually visit this beautiful country. And we can tell you, we were not disappointed. We spent a month traveling around the Philippines and enjoyed it so much. It is cheap to travel around and its dazzling nature never stopped to amaze us. And the food! Ah yes, the food. Honestly, guys, the only disappointment in the Philippines was the food. Not that it was bad, not at all. We just ended up having a bit hard time finding cheap vegan or even vegetarian food.
We hope to make your plant-based food hunt a bit easier during your trip to the Philippines. In this post, we will tell you how to survive in the Philippines as a vegan or vegetarian. We will also share our best tips on where to find cheap plant-based food around the Philippines.
Food in the Philippines
Before coming to the Philippines, we had already heard that it can be challenging finding plant-based food. Eating plant-based is not common in Filipino culture and we had read that some of the Filipinos might not even really know what a vegan is.
What we quickly learned is that Filipinos really love their meat. We think that if we would have been eating all the meat dishes there was on offer, we would have found some pretty good flavored cuisine!
Typical foods you can find in the Philippines are for example:
- Lechon, a whole pig roasted over coals
- Adobo, chicken or pork marinated in a mix of vinegar and soya sauce
- Balut, a duck egg fertilized and developed to days 16-20
- Halo-halo, a dessert made of shaved ice, evaporated milk and various kinds of sweets such as fruit and sweet beans.
Even though meat can be found in most of the foods in the Philippines, we did find some nice plant-based options too.
Will I find plant-based food in the Philippines?
Like we told earlier, eating plant-based is not common in the Philippines. We had heard about it before traveling to the Philippines, but we still got surprised how hard it actually was to find plant-based food there. We ended up eating tofu only a few times during the month that we traveled in the Philippines.
There is quite some variation between different places on how much there are plant-based options available. The popular places among backpackers have more options. Perhaps many travelers tend to be more conscious and prefer eating plant-based. Places like El Nido and Coron had even vegan and vegetarian cafes and restaurants.
Some days it just seemed to be impossible to find anything plant-based. We have to admit that sometimes we just ended up skipping a proper meal and ended up snacking on fruit, buns, and crisps. Not a very healthy option.
But we don’t want to scare you now. If you are a vegan or vegetarian, you will find plant-based food in the Philippines. Especially if you are not on a tight budget, you will have a way easier time to find good plant-based options. A tight budget might just mean that you should be prepared to spend a bit more time finding plant-based cuisine. And the food might be pretty simple especially in eateries, mostly pumpkin and green beans in different forms. Go looking for a place to eat a bit before you are starving, as you might not find a good place straight away. Do it before the hangry you will raise its head! We learned this after a few times endless food hunting.
How much will it cost to eat plant-based food in the Philippines?
The main point, that will affect how easy you will find plant-based food is how much you are willing to spend on food. If you are not on a tight budget and you will eat in restaurants, you will always find something. If you want to save on your food costs, as we did, you will very likely be looking for street food or the eateries where the locals eat.
At the beginning of our trip, we ended up eating in restaurants. Most of the restaurants in Coron and El Nido had some plant-based options. After a while, though we started to get aware that eating in restaurants ended up costing us more than we wanted. A plant-based dish such as a vegetarian curry or fried vegetables usually cost from 150php up, often around 200php.
Especially in El Nido, cafes and restaurants were serving really good looking vegan and vegetarian food. The reason why we ended up not going to most of these places was the price. A good plant-based meal with tofu or falafel (protein, we missed you!) or a mouth-watering smoothie bowl usually made the price go up to even 300php. That just ended up being too much for us. But like we said, if you are not too fuzzed about the price, you will definitely find some good plant-based food in the Philippines!
Is there any cheap vegan food?
How about the cheap food then? About halfway our trip we discovered the eateries. They are small restaurants with multiple food options in pots, where you choose what you want and pay by a portion. This is seriously cheap eating. The prices of the portions varied between 10-40php and rice usually cost 10 or 20php. We usually took 2-5 portions to share between us, depending on what the options were and how big the servings were. Finding eateries basically cut our food cost to half, even to a third of what it was before.
Where do I find plant-based food in the Philippines?
The best plant-based options we found were definitely in El Nido. They even had a vegan cafe there! In Coron, there were quite a few restaurants that advertised themselves having vegetarian or even vegan food. Sometimes this only meant a few options, but that is better than nothing. Tofu we managed to find a few times in Coron, which was awesome. Eating the only vegetables tends to get very protein poor in the long run. We were not aware of eateries yet when we spent time in these two places, but we always found some fairly cheap options in restaurants.
In Bohol, we only ate in eateries and always found plant-based food. We even found tofu in one place, we will tell where a bit later. Siquior was the most challenging to us, as sometimes we just simply could not find any plant-based options in eateries. Luckily we always found some fruit to buy and some noodles we could cook in our hostel.
Street food is usually only meat options. We did find some fried bananas that we got slightly addicted to!
Tips on eating plant-based food in the Philippines
We want to share our tips to make it easier for you to find good plant-based food in the Philippines!
• Use Happy Cow App – This is not an ad, we just simply love this app. We use it where ever around the world we are, as it is an easy way to find restaurants that have vegan or vegetarian options. Otherwise, just googling around will give you good tips!
• Keep snacks with you – The fruit in the Philippines is delicious! Head to public markets or small fruit stands to find some fresh fruit to have as a snack or breakfast. Remember to take your own reusable bag with you, check out our post for more! There are also loads of bakeries everywhere where you can find cheap buns (prepare to a lot of sugar!) Nuts are also good options to have with you (unless you are allergic like Elin) and you can snack on them while looking for a good place to find food.
• Eat at lunchtime – This one is a good tip especially if you mostly eat in eateries. We realized soon that most of the places have way more options, including vegetarian dishes, during lunchtime.
• Cook yourself – If you are staying in a hostel with a kitchen available to use, cut yourself some fresh veggies and cook yourself a nice meal!
• Book hostels with breakfast – This works the best if you are a vegetarian. Most hostel breakfasts are something like a pancake or toast with eggs. A strict vegan might not get anything out of a hostel breakfast. If you are staying in a hotel, you will probably get more options.
VIEW POST: How To Pack A Sustainable Travel Kit
The best places to eat plant-based food in the Philippines
We have gathered a few places we came across, so it would be a bit easier for you to find good places to eat plant-based food. All places have vegan options.
Coron
Levine’s – This restaurant has quite a few plant-based options. On their menu, you can find dishes such as vegetarian curry and tofu prepped in a few different ways. They have a lovely rooftop floor and this makes a perfect place to see the sunset. It was also quite popular, as the rooftop was always full when we went there. Prices from 160php up, located in Coron Town.
Kulay Bowls – You can create your own healthy bowl or pick a ready one. Options looked really delicious and you will definitely get a nutritional meal here. A bit pricier, bowls were around 300php, but probably worth the price. Located in Coron Town.
Le Voyage – A bit out of Coron Town, this place has a lot of vegan and vegetarian options. Here you can find foods from breakfast bowls to veggie burgers to vegetable curries. Prices from 200php up.
El Nido
Taste – The Vegan Cafe – A little vegan heaven in the Philippines. They serve special coffees, different kinds of smoothies and hot meals like lasagna. Located in El Nido town. Prices from 285php up.
Holy Smoke – We ended up going there a few times for a fairly cheap falafel when we just needed something else but rice. Simple place and simple good food falafel. Prices from 150php up, located in El Nido town.
Glow Juice Box – This cute cafe style place offers delicious looking bowls, smoothies, and juices here. Like the ones above, also located in El Nido town. Prices from 300php up.
You will probably find cheap eateries in both Coron and El Nido, just keep your eyes open and head to the less busy streets.
Bohol
Shaka – In this cafe, you will find vegan breakfast bowls, burgers and other main foods. Fresh fruit and vegetables from local farmers. Located near Alona Beach. Prices around 300php.
Luna Rosa Vegetarian – Italian cuisine served as vegetarian and vegan options. They serve main dishes and delicious looking desserts. Prices from 240php up and the location is near Alona Beach.
Andreas Mango Hauz – Head here for lunch and enjoy the vegan options they have! You will most likely find some tofu, spring rolls, pumpkin, and beans here. This one is an eatery so the prices will be cheaper too. This one is also near Alona Beach and the prices are 40php per serve.
Siquijour
Carenderia De Seanlhyan Fast Food – We went here twice as the food was so good and a lot of options! There is a la carte but we recommend taking from the buffet, the portions are 30-40php. Located in San Juan.
Luca Loko – Multiple vegan options on the menu, such as couscous. Also, all the smoothies are vegan. Prices from 220php. Also in San Juan.
Roch Cuisine – Right at the beach so will not only get good food but also a good view! Especially during sunset. Cheap prices from 50php. 3 kilometers from Paliton Beach.
Moalboal
Venz Kitchen – This restaurant serves Filipino food and has vegetarian and vegan options. Located in the area center of Basdiot. Prices from 100php up.
Shaka – If you after some superfood, Shaka is the place! Here you will find smoothie bowls, smoothies, and juices. Prices from 180php up. Also located in the center of Basdiot.
We went a few times to a small place called Street Side. We can´t find it in the Google Maps to check that the name is correct, but it is located in Panagsama Road, close to Basdiot centrum. They serve cheap and healthy plant-based options eatery style.
We hope you will enjoy your time in the Philippines and that our guide made your plant-based food hunt a bit easier for you!
