December 2022
El Nido, set on the west of Palawan, towards the north, is popular amongst tourists for island hopping and picturesque beaches. El Nido town is bustling with streets full of bars, cafes and souvenir shops. We had come here for island hopping but were unfortunate enough to have bad weather until the final day. We did some exploring around the town and its surroundings.
As we were here for just 3 days, the following is not meant as an exhaustive list of what is on offer, there were some other vegan cafes listed in the town and surroundings too.
Seed Dreams El Nido
Ocean Vista Bldg, Serena St, Barangay Buena Suerte, El Nido, 5313 Palawan, Philippines
Seed Dreams El Nido is a fully vegetarian café offering many vegan options. Located on the 3rd floor on the main street, there are great views looking out on to El Nido bay.
We visited a couple of times and some items on the menu weren’t available. The first time we went we tried the vegetable spring rolls and the sizzling tofu with rice. The second visit we shared the curry croquets, Oliver had the spaghetti bolognese and I had the ultimate vegan burger. The spaghetti bolognese was interesting, the bolognese was made of tofu instead of tvp soy mince type substance, which was different, I enjoyed my sneaky tastes of it. The burger was lovely, fresh and made of wholefoods rather than meat substitute, I enjoyed it. The prices were okay, a little more expensive than other places in the town, ranging from around 340 – 420 pesos for a main course (€6-7 at the time of writing).
The view was great and it is fantastic to find somewere that is fully vegetarian, but with some items lacking availability and some of the dishes we had were a bit bland, there is a bit of room for improvement. Seed Dreams opens at 11:30am, whic opening was a bit too late for us to try the breakfast options. So although there was a bit of disappointment, it’s definitey still worth a visit.
Café Athena
487, Serena St, Barangay Buena Suerte, El Nido, 5313 Palawan, Philippines
We were drawn to this café as we were looking for somewhere to sit down and regroup after realising the island hopping tour we booked on was cancelled. It became our favourite place and went here for breakfast 3 times in a row.
We had avocado on toast, which wouldn’t normally be Oliver’s type of choice, but we both agreed it was delicious. Fresh, lovely bread, avocado sat on a bed of houmous and lettuce with paprika dressing. The fresh coffee and freshly squeezed orange juice were the perfect accompaniment. The view out on to the bay with the boats and the stunning karst cliffs was the best way to start each day.
Kyla’s Cocina
Nacpan Beach, El Nido, Palawan, Philippines
Nacpan Beach, reachable in about 40 minutes on a moped from El Nido, or there is also a minivan shuttle. It is a beautiful beach, very popular, very pristine. We went by moped, there is free parking, though once you come off the main road and follow the smaller roads it can be very muddy and slippy.
We tried pancit bihon (180 pesos around €3), lumpiang gulay (150 pesos around €2.50) and garlic rice (70 pesos around €1.20). It was a very popular restaurant and easy to see why, portions were generous and I had a refreshing calamansi juice too. It was all delicious and one of my favourite meals that I had whilst staying in El Nido.
Local street food
by El Nido Municipal Hall, G. Del Pilar St
Some of the food that Oliver had been telling me about before we went was turon, banana cue, and kamote cue. We were surprised to not see much of it about. However, we did find this lovely stall by the Municipal Hall selling turon and banana cue on one evening and camote cue the following. The turon was my favourite, but it was all tasty and if you are in the Philippines and vegan, you definitely need to seek out this accidentally vegan street food.
Turon is a spring roll, filled with thinly sliced bananas dusted in sugar and fried until the wrapper is crispy. Banana cue are bananas fried with brown sugar and skewered on a stick, kamote cue, transversely is sweet potatoes with brown sugar, fried, and on a stick. So tasty!
Gusto Gelato
C. Hama, Barangay Buena Suerte, El Nido, 5313 Palawan, Philippines
I got this coconut milk ice cream from Gusto Gelato, they had a few other flavours too, there was a lemon sorbet type when I was there, but availability varies. This ice cream was so dense and creamy, it was great.
Maremegmeg Beach Club
Sitio Maremegmeg, El Nido, 5313 Palawan, Philippines
Maremegmeg beach is another beautiful beach, this time 10 minutes moped ride just south of the main bay of El Nido. The beach is named after a 100 year old tree in the middle of the beach.
We settled ourselves on some sun loungers that were provided (for a small fee) by Maremegmeg Beach Club and they came out with a drinks menu. I was delighted to discover they had soya milk for their iced coffees, so I treated myself to the most refreshing iced coffee. Very relaxing and nice spot with nice views too. The food menu also has some vegan options.
There was also a café I noticed on the way down serving vegan options too we didn’t try it, but it was nice to see other places – Hayahay Café El Nido – which is on the main pedestrianised walk to the beach.
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The Greedy Herbivore 