Our holiday getaway consisted of a week by the sea and stuffing ourselves with good food. Last December, we stayed at the White House Beach Boracay to attend the wedding of two dear friends. We decided to make a trip of it and explore the island tourist traps and gastronomy.

Hotel Breakfast

The White House Beach offers a deluxe room for two with a quaint balcony. Rates range from Php 4,400 to Php 11,500 per night – closer to the high end on long weekends and holidays. We love that the hotel is right in front of the beach. It’s a short walk to the water, and every morning, we got to enjoy breakfast while watching the waves.

There are a couple of different options for breakfast, but all of them are filling. We planned for a lot of activities, so the energy boost early in the day was a necessity.

Their silog breakfasts include tapsilog and longsilog. Both come with a hefty serving of rice, some vegetables, and atsara.

If you’re not up for a rice meal, they also have shakshouka. It’s a Tounisian dish with poached eggs in a savory sauce of crushed tomatoes, peppers, aromatics, and spices. I had some on my first morning there and enjoyed dipping the bread into the mix.

Another non-rice option is their buttermilk pancakes. Sadly, they weren’t available when we first arrived, but we lucked out on the third day and got a stack of three smothered in blueberry sauce. I love that there were also actual blueberries on the side.

The White House Beach Resort is located in Station 1. Learn more on their website and Facebook page.

Spice Bird

I had visited Boracay a few years back, pre-pandemic, and there was one particular restaurant I was sure I’d want to come back to. Spice Bird in the D’Mall Plaza serves a variety of flavorful meals, but they’re probably best known for their peri-peri (sometimes called “piri-piri”) chicken.

I ordered exactly that and am happy to report that it was as good as I remembered. A quarter chicken goes for Php 390, a half chicken for Php 650. Both come with a bed of rice, a side salad, some corn, and one of their amazing milky rolls. The rolls come with most of the meals. If you end up loving them as much as I do, you can buy yourself just the bread and take some home.

We also got a grilled piri-piri pork chop for Php 450. Craving pork belly instead? You can get it for Php 590. The pork meals come with the same sides as the chicken, and are cooked in the same savory, spicy sauce.

For an appetizer, we shared an order of piri-piri chicken skin. Spice Bird makes theirs super crispy.

Spice Bird is part of The Sunny Side Cafe Group – more info here. You can also check them out on Facebook and Instagram, and see their full menu before you go over here.

I Love Backyard BBQ

Also situated in D’Mall (We spent a lot of time at D’Mall) is I Love Backyard BBQ, which serves – you guessed it – a lot of barbecue. When in Boracay, you’ve got to chow down on some seafood. We split a steamers platter and some fish and chips.

The steamers platter is Php 605. You get some skewered shrimps, grilled fish, and a generous serving of mussels. Everything is cooked in herbs and has that wonderful smoky fresh-off-the-grill flavor.

The fish and chips was Php 275. We got it as a side dish, but it’s really a meal on its own. I liked that the batter was not too thick. Traditionally you would dip the fried fish in vinegar. Instead, they serve it with a sort of creamy tartar sauce, which was nice for both the fish and the fries.

We washed everything down with watermelon shakes. They were Php 115 apiece and pretty refreshing in the Boracay heat.

For more photos, visit I Love Backyard BBQ on Facebook.

Street Food

As you’re walking along the beach in the late afternoon, you might come across some street food carts. One of the offerings you might not find at other street food joints is the chorizo sticks and burgers.

We saw this cart at Station 2 and spent about Php 100 for a handful of sticks. Aside from chorizo, we also bought some pork barbecue and chicken isaw.

Valhalla

This is yet another D’Mall find. For our last hurrah before leaving the island, we splurged on a big dinner at this Viking-inspired restaurant.

We shared a chicken and potato salad (Php 295) as a starter. It was quite filling and, interestingly, there were some pineapple chunks among the potatoes, chicken, and egg.

The main course was a rib eye bone-in – a huge slab of meat with mashed potatoes on the side. (Didn’t even realize while ordering that we had doubled up on potatoes! No regrets, though.) There was a great little section of fat on one side. You can tell that a great deal of attention was given in preparing the steak, from the tenderness of the meat to the perfect grill marks. At Php 2,300, that attention didn’t come cheap, but it was a fabulous way to wrap up our stay at Boracay.

We highly recommend Valhalla! Learn more on Facebook and Instagram.

Halo Mango

My other must-have anytime I’m on a beach, aside from seafood, is fruits. In fact, I had a different kind of fruit shake every day we were there. When we first passed by Halo Mango, we were drawn to their bright, colorful display, where over half of their menu items included mangoes or mango-flavored soft serve.

We stopped by and got a small mangoholic for Php 120. It’s a cup of mango soft serve topped with some ripe cubed mango. The large version sells for Php 180. It’s an intense sugar rush! If you like mango-on-mango, too, you have a couple of options. Halo Mango also serves mango shakes, mango (crushed) ice cups, and straight-up mango cups.

Not in the mood for mangoes? Sounds fake, but okay. Kidding aside, they have other desserts and drinks sans mango – coconut shakes, pineapple shakes, and calamansi shakes, to name a few.

Check out Halo Mango on Facebook for more.

Tres Amigos Mexican Cantina

I’m a big fan of anything doused in vinegar or lime juice, so I had to have ceviche while we were so close to the ocean. (You can read more about my love of ceviche in my 9 Things I Miss from Past Travels to 9 Cities blog.) So we got a wonderfully tangy and spicy bowl of Mexican ceviche at Tres Amigos Mexican Cantina. It set us back Php 410.

We also wanted to try their bestselling chimichangas. We got the beef chimichanga for Php 310. It was cut into three and served with a dollop of sour cream on top and a bit of cilantro for garnish. The pretty plating didn’t last long, though. It got messy really fast – as many Mexican dishes are supposed to.

See more photos and updates on their Facebook page.

Coco Mama

One of the more memorable desserts we had came from Coco Mama at the D’Mall Palengke.

Coco Mama offers coconut ice cream served right in a coconut husk. Their ice cream is vegan-friendly and lactose-free, making it safe for anyone with those dietary restrictions. They also make coco pandan ice cream. We got a bowl with a mix of both. It was Php 150.

You might have noticed a trend of “Some things, we need to come back for”. Coco Mama has definitely made that list.

They have another branch at Seaworthy hotel, as well as one in Luzon at the Great Northwest Philippines Travel Stop and View Deck in San Juan, La Union. Follow them on Facebook and Instagram for more.