'Curse is real': Hidden dining spots, beachfront bars to visit in Siargao
MANILA, Philippines — The Siargao curse is real for those who have visited the island in Surigao de Norte.
As one of the popular islands in the Philippines, boutique airline Sunlight Air gives travelers an easy way to go to Siargao.
The airline offers daily flights from Clark International Airport. Flights from Cebu also offer daily flights.
Philstar.com recently visited the island and listed down restaurants and boutique hotels for those planning their summer getaway in Mindanao's surfing haven.
More like home
Katig was designed with room to rest and space to party. With tourists now heavily flocking to the island, Charles Tiu, one of the five co-founders of Katig, said that Siargao needs more accommodations.
"With the number of flights coming in, it just was not matching, so I think we need to play with the needs of the island. More affordable accommodations that are beachfront is needed because some even reaches up to P14,000 per night. The beach is really our winning key," Tiu said.
"Siargao is best known for the surf culture and everybody here is nice. Nightlife is also a big part of that, but we like to cater to people who are here for the surf lifestyle — being right up on the beach, waking up to the sun, going surfing right away, coming back resting, and maybe party up after that," he added.
"When you live in Siargao, the weather is extreme, so from Day 1, this is my eighth year here in Siargao. I can really see all the buildings, and the moment you finish construction, mother nature starts to work on it. So we designed Katig as something that would age gracefully. It's going to grow old but still look good," co-founder Kim Honasan said.
"Katig is like a big house. Eleven rooms but you'll see everything, you know everyone, it's more like a home," he added.
'Kanin Baboy'
The Filipino restaurant is just few feet away from Katig. It offers spicy lechon belly and classic Filipino food.
Owner Kim said that it was inspired from Bali, Indonesia. It was first incubated in a restaurant in Boracay.
"Nagkataon kasi na naadik ako sa pagkain na 'yon sa Bali. 'Pag balik namin ng Pilipinas, na-miss ko masyado. Since may restaurant na kami noon na Hoy Panga, nilagay namin sa loob ng restaurant 'yung concept," Kim said.
"Dahil ang produkto naming ay kanin at baboy tinawag naming Kanin Baboy, may kasama na ring patawa para makuha ang atensyon," he added.
New beachfront bar
Loka is the new bar in the beachfront of Cloud 9. The bar recently launched a collaboration with surf-skate lifestyle brand Gwapitos.
"Gwapitos is a long-time and homegrown brand here so we approached them because of the quality, their creatives as well and the whole community of Gwapitos — it's surf, it's skate," said Angela Lopez of Loka.
"When they approached us, we thought instead of putting our merch here, why not we put some stuff together to put the two brands in one solidified merch. So, you have the merch, the caps, the towels. Whenever we do partnerships, we always want to make it unique per brand and per location," added Seona Anthony of Gwapitos.
Hidden Spanish-Mediterranean dining spot
Alma Siargao offers a Spanish-Mediterranean cuisine.
"The food is very traditional Spanish cuisine. I chose this place because it's a hidden place. No one is expected to see this place. That's one thing I wanted to do," Chef Luis Martinez said.
"The second one is that this is a very casual place but a little bit elegant. I wanted to make this place to give the people a chance to have dates here, to dress a little bit more," he added.
Boodle fight
Well-known local food expert Miguel Angel Barcenas Jr., also known as Chef Choipao, is known for famed spelling out letters from fresh food in the boodle fight table in Dako.
Expect Kinilaw, fresh mangoes, Adobong Pusit, Ensaladang Talong, Inihaw na Baboy, and many more fresh seafood on your table with artistically written text for an Instagram-worthy content.
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