04 Jan2017
Best vegetarian and vegan in Malapascua Philippines
If you’ve been following my blog, then you know that in November 2016 I spent 17 days on Malapascua island. Because the island is so small you can walk it across maybe in one hour, it’s not so easy to be vegan in Malapascua. The easiest thing is to get fruit and young coconuts at the market, from a seller who is walking around the island, or at restaurants.
What is more difficult is to get salty vegetable (not sweet) meals at restaurants. I eat those meals only for dinner. So during my stay I dined out at some restaurants myself, and also took photos of my friend’s meals.
*Some photos were taken with my phone with not enough light, so the quality is a bit worse compared to those with DSLR camera.
Best vegetarian and vegan in Malapascua Philippines
Vegan in Malapascua
1. Fried banana at Slam’s Garden Resort
As I was staying at the Slam’s Garden, sometimes I did not feel like going anywhere else for dinner and got some travel blogging work done right there. One of my very few ”cheat meals” was fried banana. So tasty that I could eat it every single day. Thankfully, I each day there I swam 1.6 km in the swimming pool to burn all those calories.
*You can pay in cash or by card (with 5% extra card fees). This was in November 2016.
fired banana and glass noodles at Slam’s Garden
2. Mixed vegetable curry with rice at Slam’s Garden
I fell in love with curry so much in the past few years! When I found out they make vegetable curry at my hotel, I knew what to get every time when it rained like crazy so I couldn’t walk to another restaurant. Little spicy veggie curry was a way to go for me. Oh, please someone bring me a bowl of it now to Slovakia. Yum! Aw, and minestrone soup is also great!
*You can pay in cash or by card (with 5% extra card fees).
vegetable curry at Slam’s Garden
Minestrone soup at Slam’s Garden
3. Eggplant and other buffet meals at La Isla Bonita
I’m not sure if Madonna named her song after this local restaurant or they used her song’s name. Or most probably none of these is true. But it doesn’t change the fact that La Isla Bonita is a very famous restaurant in Malapascua. I read the reviews of the food already before getting to the island so one day when with my friend we walked by the restaurant, I recognized the name and asked him to try dinner there.
We were very surprised at the very affordable prices and some ready-to-eat buffet meals, vegan and vegetarian options included. My favorite one was eggplant cooked in 2 different ways. It’s possible to also order menu meals which might take longer to prepare.
The only thing I didn’t like at La Isla Bonita was they use too much oil and some meals were a bit too salty for me. I am not used to oil at all any more and don’t use much salt so I always ended up with swollen belly. However, I can still recommend this restaurant.
*You can pay in cash only.
Eggplant with other veggies at La Isla Bonita
4. Glass noodles and tomato salad at Mabuhay restaurant
Mabuhay is located on the beach and on a nice night I had a romantic candle-lit dinner there. Me and myself, and a couple of local kids singing to me by my table. I still remember that evening when I ordered vegetable glass noodles and a tomato salad. Glass noodles are the best. It was the first time I tasted glass noodles ever, so tasty! Just wish they would add even more vegetables.
*You can pay in cash only.
glass noodleas at Mabuhay
5. Breakfast at Buena Vida Resort & Spa
One of the mornings I decided to change my habits and went for a morning yoga at the Buena Vida Resort & Spa followed by vegan breakfast. Other mornings on Malapascua I did not eat anything, was trying to do 16-hour intermittent fasting and then get fruit/coconuts at lunch time. Still, I am so glad I tried Buena Vida delicious breakfast. I think I spent one hour eating which is very unusual for me.
But hey, I could get things, such as mango vegan yoghurt (I never eat yoghurts), vegan pancake with mango or banana, fresh smoothies and juices, fresh fruit, and even gluten-free bread with local jams. Most of the ingredients they use are organic, some also from their own garden. Thumbs up! The little buffet breakfast also offers non-vegan options (vegetarian, meat).
*You can pay in cash or by card (I am not sure if they charge extra %).
vegan breakfast at Buena Vida Resort & Spa
6. Mung soup at Villa Sandra
Villa Sandra is a very cool hostel situated in the village, maybe a 5-minute walk from Slam’s Garden. Just before my stay in October 2016 they opened there a vegetarian/vegan restaurant as well. I was extremely happy to notice a restaurant sign on the street one day; but not so glad I hadn’t known about it earlier than 3 days before my leave.
They have awesome mung beans soup, vegetable coconut soup and vegan burger with bread fruit chips (there is vegetarian mayonnaise but if you tell them you want it vegan, it’s possible without it). But burger bread has gluten. I can also recommend you to try home-made organic vegan vegetable noodles, and vegetable spring rolls. In my humble opinion, Villa Sandra has the tastiest vegan meals in Malapascua.
*You can pay in cash only.
mung soup at Villa Sandra
home-made vegan noodles at Villa Sandra
vegan burger at Villa Sandra
Vegetarian in Malapascua
If you still think you cannot live without eggs and dairy, at all the restaurants mentioned above they also offer vegetarian meals, not just vegan. Besides those, you might also consider the following:
1. Vegetable Pancit canton at Slam’s Garden
I made a mistake one evening when asking about noodles at Slam’s Garden. The waiter said the noodles contain no animal products, and only come with vegetables. So I orderd and only after eating them I found out the traditional Filipino pancit noodles are usually gluten-free rice noodles but with eggs. However, be careful when ordering, because pancit canton is traditionally a meat meal, not a vegetarian one.
*You can pay in cash or by card (with 5% extra card fees).
2. Pizza and ice cream at Angelo pizzeria
The Italian pizzeria Angelo is one of the expensive restaurants in Malapascua. But if you are craving something different, they have a really tasty mango ice/chocolate cream and vegetarian pizza. Very Italian, so not Filipino. Yet worth it if you enjoy an occassional less healthy meal.
*You can pay in cash or by card (If I remember right, they also charge % fees).
vegetarian pizza at Angelo
ice cream at Angelo
TIP 1: If you decide to visit Malapascua, here are 13 important things to know about Malapascua island.
TIP 2: Malapascua is a paradise, but there are also some things I do not like in the Philippines. And you should know about them before your visit. So please also read 7 cons of traveling to Philippines.
