If you have been reading my previous blogs you probably know by now where Tacloban City is and why I keep talking about this wonderful place.
Tacloban City is located in Eastern Visayas region in the Philippines.
It is considered to be the capital of Leyte province.
And my absolute favorite City, second is Buffalo (Go Bills!!!)
Filipinos are known to be food lovers and you need to be in an actual Filipino gathering for you to see how much food we prepare or how many different dishes we can make in a meal.
You all know that if you are not from Tacloban, I am hoping by now that you are already considering of taking a trip to Leyte to see our beautiful beach resorts and wonderful islands.
In this post, I would be discussing about the best restaurant options in Tacloban City.
What is Filipino cuisine?
As crazy as it may sound, Filipino dish has many varieties and the making or cooking of food has evolved over time.
This is due to the hundreds of ethnolinguistic groups in the country.
Almost every region has their own version of cooking a certain dish.
Throughout the years we have had a lot of influences from various ethnicities and culture.
Famous Filipino dishes are – lechon (roasted pig), adobo (chicken and pork marinade in soy sauce and vinegar with garlic), tapa (cured beef), kaldereta (tomato sauce and liver paste based meat stewed), kare-kare (oxtail and vegetables in peanut sauce), sinigang (seafood or meat in sour broth, pancit (philippine noodle version), pinakbet (sautéed mix vegetable with shrimp paste), lumpia (fresh or fried, vegetable or meat spring rolls).
Restaurants in Tacloban City
Ocho Seafood and Grill
Address: Senator Enage St, Downtown, Tacloban City, Philippines
If you are not familiar with Filipino restaurants or dishes it is very common that they have family bundles or packages in their menu.
This is because Filipinos normally go out to eat with the whole family.
Ocho Seafood and Grill is the place to be.
This restaurant will literally cook your food the way you want it.
If I remember correctly they have a section of fresh seafood in their restaurant and you pick which one you want and you can tell them right then and there how you want it cook.
It’s a pretty clever idea because now the guests have their choice of ordering and eating food their way – plus it’s a home cooked friendly restaurant which most of us would prefer.
This has been my favorite restaurant in Tacloban City and I have dined here numerous times and never get disappointed.
Delicious food. Great prices. Amazing ambiance. Only in Tacloban.
To check their complete menu and inquiries, click here.
Chew Love
Address: P Gomez St, Downtown, Tacloban City, Philippines
Chew Love has been dubbed as every girl’s dream come true café since its opening in 2014.
Everyone that dines in this restaurant fall in love with it.
It’s very charming, colorful and captivating.
Their cute and quirky menu includes a variety of modern Filipino and American dishes.
They also offer group orders and private events.
Remember that in life all we need is Love, Love and Chew Love.
For more information, check out their official Facebook page.
Q Kitchen
Address: 9 P Zamora St, Downtown, Tacloban City, Philippines
The Q Kitchen restaurant is located inside the Hotel XYZ in Tacloban City.
They are offering six different cuisines including Filipino, Thai, Japanese, American, Chinese and Italian.
This vibrant and diverse restaurant is an all-day dining to give you a delectable experience.
They have pizza, rice and noodles, donburi, sushi bar, seafood dishes, korean ice cream and literally any food you could think of on Earth.
To check their full menu, click here.
For more information about Hotel XYZ you can visit their official website.
Sunzibar Cafe
Address: 138 Gomez St, Downtown, Tacloban City, Philippines
Sunzibar Cafe is a locally proud Taclobanon restaurant.
This is a Mexican inspired place known for their home made Mexican dishes.
I highly recommend trying their famous and very delicious nachos.
Sunzibar Cafe is one of my Mom’s favorite restaurant in Tacloban, and she is actually the person who introduced me to this great restaurant.
To check their complete menu and inquiries, click here.
Stephanie Smoke Haus
Address: Real Street, Avenida Veteranos, Tacloban City, Philippines
Are you really a Filipino if you haven’t been to an Eat All You Can restaurant?
In all seriousness, almost every Filipino that I know loves a buffet place.
Stephanie Smoke Haus is a family owned business in Tacloban City.
They offer main courses such as lechon, kaldereta, baby back ribs, beef steak and fried chicken.
They have seafood, noodles, soup, vegetables and unlimited dessert with drinks included in the price.
All these for only Php 425 per person or around $8 and half the price for kids.
According to their Facebook page they also cater functions and private events.
For more information about their package rates, check out their official page.
Conclusion
Every person I know loves food and enjoys to eat, that’s why I have been very interested and excited to put up a blog about the best restaurants you can try in Tacloban City.
These are my suggestions based on my personal preference and of course the power of my amazing taste buds.
I have been to all of these restaurants except in Q Kitchen, I believe they just open a few years ago and I haven’t been home in the last 4 years.
You would also have different options for fast food places around the City in case you wanted to have a more affordable meals.
The world renowned Jollibee will always be around the corner, Greenwich, Mang Inasal and Chowking just to name a few of my recommendations.
We are all aware of how bad the effect of the pandemic to small and local businesses.
So, I hope we keep patronizing their product and help them get back to business.
And when you finally decide to go to Tacloban City, don’t forget to check out the beautiful Epifania Beach located in Marabut, Samar which is just about an hour and a half away from the City.
Also, I am not sure where you are in the world right now, but one thing is for sure when it comes to food we would all agree on this – there’s no homemade food like Mom.
