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Siargao

Jeeves De Veyra

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1765078275805Cover01 - MARY DIZON.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>Siargao’s next wave is all about food. Mary Dizon</div>SIARGAO -- Siargao isn’t just about sun and surf. As the Siargao Food and Wine Festival showed visitors, it has also become a destination for great eats.The Siargao Food and Wine Festival (SFWF) proved that there’s much more to this island destination than sun, sand, and surf. All that fun gets you hungry, and with the festival, it proves that the island is on its way to becoming a food-forward tourism hub.<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1765078418516Andrew Malarky and Jove Schrottman of the SFWF.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>Andrew Malarky and Jove Schrottman. Jeeves de Veyra</div>Andrew Malarky, organizer of the SFWF, participated in the 2023 Cebu Food and Wine Festival as a guest chef and even hosted a satellite foraging event in Bohol. He and business partner, Jove Schrottman, are veterans of the island resort scene having been in Boracay as it rose to prominence. As such, they have witnessed the peaks and pitfalls of being an island destination.<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/176507844709600 - PAL - DART9 at IAO 2.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>Philippine Airlines&#x27; DART 9 at Sakay Airport. Jeeves de Veyra As a tourist destination, Siargao has become much more accessible through the years with the opening of Sakay Airport (IAO). Though only turboprops can land because of the short runway, it beats the old way of flying to Butuan, taking the two-hour bus ride to Surigao Port, and finally crossing over to Dapa Port via ferry.</div>Much has been said about the costly plane fares to destinations serviced by turboprops.  Siargao is no exception. There are direct flights from Manila which admittedly are generally more expensive with a slightly cheaper option to transit with a 2-hour stopover through Mactan, Cebu.An option for travelers on a budget is taking off from Clark International Airport (CRK) in Pampanga with fares a fraction of those from Manila. CRK is a blessing for travelers from Northern Luzon and Northern Metro Manila with much more reasonable overnight parking rates (P280/day) for those who’d want to leave their cars at the airport during their trip or with P2P buses from TriNoma, NAIA3, and Baguio for travelers using public transportation.For this first year, the festival was focused on General Luna on the eastern side of the island. For new visitors, it’s recommended to use a service like Guide to The Philippines to arrange accommodation, transfers to and from the airport, and transportation.Siargao does feel like Bali with its tropical vibes and beachside resorts. The best way to get around is by renting a motorcycle or an e-bike if you don’t want to spend P30 to P50 per trip using the local tuktuks and tricycles.The food scene is a refreshing change of scenery. There are currently no big brand fast food restaurants, save for an Andok’s. Everything of interest is local with some restaurants like The Spotted Pig, Kermit, and Big Belly Burgers making their way to Manila.<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1765078516120FOOD AND WINE MAPS.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>Food crawl maps. Jeeves de Veyra</div>To fully experience Siargao, Malarky advises visitors to get involved and explore the island’s many offerings. During the festival, fold-out food crawl maps with the calendar of activities were available for free upon arrival at the airport counter and at strategic spots around the town. The well-designed handouts showed the inclusiveness of this food festival, highlighting the DIY Suroy-Suroy sa Carinderia crawl and an island café list side by side with dinners and offers from the chef-driven restaurants and resorts.<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1765078631382KURVADA - Exterior.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>Kurvada. Jeeves de Veyra</div>The Siargao F&amp;B community has a deep reverence for the carinderias as they were here before all the resorts were built. The carinderias have evolved with time to cater to the many foreigners who come. A great example of this is Kurvada (@kurvadasiargao) where taking a picture of your food isn’t just for the ‘gram but also how they compute the bill. Having someone note down what you ordered is inefficient and slow. Kurvada gets around this by having guests take a pic with their phone after they order and then show it to the cashier after eating to compute the bill. The selection of food is also geared towards tourists too with English translations of Filipino food and western menu items like chicken a la Kiev and pesto pasta.<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1765078818467JORENES HALO HALO and ICE CREAM.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>Jorene&#x27;s halo-halo. Jeeves de Veyra</div>The passport encouraged visitors to go to Siargao’s small business owners. Named after the owner’s daughter, Jorene’s Ice Cream (@jorenessiargao) in the town proper is a local institution. When they started out, their ice cream was P15 a scoop but had to increase prices to a still reasonable P40 per scoop. Recommended is their halo-halo that for P150, already comes with a scoop of their homemade ice cream.<div>All that fun in the sun demands loads of caffeine. Besides the humble carinderia, the festival map featured a café crawl that brought coffeeholics to spots around and beyond General Luna.<img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1765078854708COFFEE - COFFEE STROLL.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/></div><div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1765078896471COFFEE - Saint Thomas.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>Coffee Stroll (top) and Saint Thomas. Jeeves de Veyra</div>The cafes do come in all shapes and sizes. Coffee Stroll (@coffeestroll.siargao) is a manual coffee bar originally from Iloilo. Without an automatic espresso machine in sight, the manual brews and the Flair-pulled espressos are the cups to order. They had a special drink for the festival that was discounted for those with festival passports.Meanwhile, Saint Thomas (@saintthomascoffee) claims to be a café that is in the middle of nowhere. But even then, it has all the bells and whistles of a real specialty coffee shop. Recommended are their espressos and their fruity pour overs made with premium beans from all over.<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1765078933972BRIDGE.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>Catangnan-Cabitoonan Bridge. Jeeves de Veyra</div>Eating in Siargao need not be expensive. Take in the sunset at the Catangnan-Cabitoonan Bridge for the chill vibe and cheap eats. Food hopping from stall to stall while with buskers playing music as the sun goes down is a must to fully appreciate General Luna.With that, the depth and breadth of Siargao’s food scene is surprising. Malarky boasted that Siargao is a low-key destination for cooks, chefs, and professionals from the F&amp;B industry -- and he’s right!The more upscale restaurants on the island are usually attached to many resort-hotels that serve as their all-day dining and breakfast outlets. Many are chef-driven with well curated menus and wine pairings.<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17650796698082-Composite 44.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>Lyma&#x27;s Chef Marc Silvestre Carbó and his Catch of the Day. Jeeves de Veyra</div>An example of this is Lyma by Chef Marc (@lymsiargao) inside the Kaza Boutique Hotel that opened during the festival. Behind the restaurant is Chef Marc Silvestre Carbó who started out in the Philippines as a chef in one of Siargao’s ultra-premium resorts. Since then, he has done consultancies in upscale wine bars and restaurants in Manila.The menu is a mix of continental fare and some specialties of Island cuisine such as seafood dishes and ceviche. Carbó’s Catch of the Day uses the chef&#x27;s choice of fish in a zesty sauce of wild garlic, brown butter, lemon with capers, leeks, potatoes, and seaweed is an example of just how Siargao based chefs put their own spin to make the local ingredients shine.<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1765079417450LAMARI - restaurant.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>Lamari. Jeeves de Veyra</div>The resort-restaurants tend to show some sophistication probably because of Western tourists. A varied wine selection and pairings are hallmarks of the menus. The festival had offers like this one from Lamari (@lamarisiargao). Guests can have two glasses of red or white wine paired with bites of raspberry with longganisa, potato with truffle potato, and kinilaw crostini made by island chefs.<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1765079446911ROOTS EXPERIENCE.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>Roots Siargao at the General Luna beachside market. Jeeves de Veyra</div>Of all the activities I was lucky enough to go to, I thought that the Roots Experience was the best representative of Siargao and its fledgling food and wine festival. Roots Siargao (@roots.siargao) brought guests to the General Luna beachside market. The restaurant’s European multi-disciplinary team led the group around showing off the seafood available around the market. There was an east rapport between the adopted sons of Siargao as they talked and joked with the market’s fishmongers.They bought fresh fish, co-opting a stall to cut it to prepare a strong and punchy ceviche for the visitors complete with rare chilies they brought over from Peru.Considering that Siargao is 44 times bigger than Boracay, the first-year focus of the festival seemed rather limited just constraining it to General Luna. Malarky confides that they have a five-year plan to widen the festival’s coverage and make it even more inclusive.A key objective of this festival was to address the impact of tourism on the island. On the F&amp;B side, they focused on the sustainability aspect by putting the spotlight on local farmers and fishermen to lessen Siargao’s dependence on outside produce and ingredients.<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1765079519210WILD SIARGAO - Crab Curry.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>Wild Siargao&#x27;s Vermicelli and Green Curry. Jeeves de Veyra</div>At Malarky’s own restaurant, Wild Siargao (@wild.siargao), he gave a taste of what was beyond General Luna. The huge meaty crabs that held the restaurant’s Vermicelli and Green Curry were from farms on the Island’s northern shoreline. The organizers hope to bring future festival goers to places like Pilar for sport fishing and San Isidro for exposure to the island’s farms.The festival will further focus on the tourism aspects of the island with the aspiration to open on the Cloud 9 boardwalk.In a brief stay, I experienced how Siargao caresses its guests with its sunny skies, welcome waters, and gnarly surf breaks with its charm feeding the soul and whetting the appetite. The Siargao Food and Wine Festival was off to a great start with just a small taste of what this island paradise has to offer.<div> </div><div>This Siargao trip for the Siargao Food and Wine Festival was arranged through the courtesy of Philippine Airlines and Guide to The Philippines. PAL flies direct to Siargao from Manila and Clark every day. Please check out www.philippineairlines.com for flight schedules, information, pricing, and reservations.</div>

Siargao may be famous for its world-class waves, but this year’s Siargao Food and Wine Festival proved there’s much more stirring on the island than surf.

Siargao may be famous for its world-class waves, but this year’s Siargao Food and Wine Festival proved there’s much more stirring on the island than surf.

Siargao rides a new wave of food and flavor

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Siargao rides a new wave of food and flavor

Jeeves De Veyra

Published Dec 07, 2025 12:04 PM PHT

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