Regional highlights
Tamilok
Palawan's most notorious dish — woodworm (actually a saltwater clam, Bactronophorus thoracites) extracted from rotting mangrove wood. The long, pale, gelatinous creature is eaten raw or lightly marinated in vinegar, calamansi juice, onion and chili, turning it into a kinilaw. The flavour is mild, briny and oyster-like; the texture is the challenge. A genuine local specialty found almost exclusively in Puerto Princesa; street food vendors near the waterfront offer it as a delicacy and a dare. Not available elsewhere in the Philippines at this scale.
Kinilaw (Palawan-style)
Raw fish 'cooked' by the acidity of calamansi juice and native vinegar — on Palawan, the preferred fish is blue marlin, tuna or fresh lapu-lapu (grouper), cut into cubes and dressed with ginger, onion, fresh chili, coconut milk and calamansi. The Palawan version often incorporates coconut milk to soften the acidity and add richness, distinguishing it from the plainer Visayan kinilaw. Served immediately after preparation at waterfront restaurants and at the Puerto Princesa central market. The blue marlin version is considered the best.
Grilled blue marlin
Blue marlin caught from the deep waters of the Sulu Sea is the prestige fish of Palawan — meaty, firm and rich, grilled over charcoal with a simple marinade of garlic, calamansi juice, soy sauce and black pepper. Served in steaks or butterflied portions alongside rice and a dipping sauce of vinegar and chili. The Puerto Princesa fish market is where the boats unload daily; the freshest marlin is available at the market's adjacent grill stalls from early morning. Significantly cheaper and fresher than in Manila or tourist areas of Cebu.
Crocodile sisig
A signature Puerto Princesa innovation — crocodile meat (from the Palawan Wildlife Rescue and Conservation Centre's legally farmed saltwater crocodiles) prepared sisig-style: the meat is boiled until tender, then chopped finely, mixed with onion, fresh chili, calamansi juice and soy sauce, and served sizzling on a hot cast-iron plate. The flavour is similar to chicken and pork — mildly gamey, with the acidic punch of the sisig seasoning. Found at restaurants around Puerto Princesa that market Palawan's wildlife connection; a genuine conversation piece.
Chicken inasal
Charcoal-grilled chicken marinated in lemongrass, calamansi, vinegar, ginger and annatto (achuete), which gives it a distinctive orange-red colour and a slightly smoky, tangy-sweet flavour. Palawan's version of the Visayan staple is available at every carinderia and grill restaurant in Puerto Princesa and El Nido; the marinade varies by cook but the annatto colour is universal. Eaten with garlic rice, a small saucer of soy-calamansi dipping sauce and bagoong (shrimp paste) on the side. One of the most affordable satisfying meals on the island.
El Nido island-hopping seafood
The defining meal of an El Nido visit — fresh catch from the Bacuit Bay fishing boats grilled, steamed or baked on the beach during island-hopping tours. Tour operators buy directly from the morning market; typical catch includes lapu-lapu (grouper), talakitok (trevally), squid, prawns and sometimes lobster. Cooked simply — garlic butter, calamansi and soy sauce — on portable grills at Shimizu Island, Snake Island or Helicopter Island. The combination of extraordinary scenery and ultra-fresh seafood makes these beach lunches genuinely memorable.
Pancit canton (carinderia-style)
Stir-fried wheat noodles with vegetables, shrimp, squid and pork, seasoned with soy sauce, oyster sauce and calamansi. The carinderia (small local cafeteria) version of this Filipino staple is Palawan's everyday comfort food — available at every street corner in Puerto Princesa from 06:00 onward. Palawan's version often includes fresh local seafood in place of the commercial shrimp used in Manila. Cheap, filling, and always piled high with sliced cabbage and carrots. The calamansi on the side is non-negotiable.
Sinigang na isda
Sour tamarind-based fish soup — the Philippine national soup, made in Palawan with the freshest local fish: red snapper, grouper or the abundant small reef fish of the Sulu Sea. The broth is soured with sampalok (tamarind), sometimes with batuan (native souring fruit) or green mango, and loaded with water spinach, radish, eggplant, tomato and long beans. Rich, hot and deeply savoury with a clean acid finish. Served at lunch at carinderia-style restaurants throughout Puerto Princesa; El Nido versions often use lapu-lapu caught that morning.
Halo-halo
The Philippines' signature dessert — crushed ice piled in a tall glass over layers of sweetened kidney beans, chickpeas, jackfruit, nata de coco, kaong (palm fruit), sweetened bananas and purple yam (ube) halaya, topped with a scoop of ube or mango ice cream and leche flan. In Puerto Princesa's intense summer heat, halo-halo is consumed at a rate that makes it effectively a daily staple. Local stalls near the city plaza use freshly grated coconut and the local sweet purple ube, which gives Palawan's version a more vivid colour than mainland versions.