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Friday, August 14, 2015

KaLui: Food-tripping in Puerto Princesa (Part 1)

Puerto Princesa in Palawan is among the popular tourist destinations in the Philippines. But this “city in a forest” is not just about the Underground River or Dos Palmas, Puerto Princesa is also a must-visit for food adventurers. And about seven months ago (this is a super late post!), my friends and I were able to try some of the restaurants that make Puerto Princesa City a gastronomic tourist destination. First stop for this series: KaLui.

The top-of-mind restaurant in Puerto Princesa City is KaLui, located along Rizal Avenue in Puerto Princesa City’s town proper.  Although KaLui accepts walk-in customers, reservation is highly encouraged as this restaurant always gets filled up fast.

Staff will greet you at the entrance, then lead you towards a big, native "house". But first you will be asked to remove your footwear before entering the restaurant, just like the traditional Filipino custom when visiting a house. Don't worry because your footwear will be placed in shoe lockers. It gave me a strange feeling to be walking barefoot in a restaurant, but hey, it adds to the experience. Plus, their wooden floor is well-polished, so no problem!



The dim lighting and table set-up make KaLui a perfect venue for a romantic dinner date. The place is decorated with various paintings, artwork and indigenous materials. KaLui also has a sort of mini art gallery at the far end of the restaurant. Another amazing thing is that KaLui’s restrooms are just like the hotel lounge restrooms with a native artistic twist!

KaLui has only limited items on the menu. Just look at the photo below, that’s the entire food and beverage they offer.


We ordered their bestseller, Tubbataha Salad. This is composed of fresh tuna strips, cashew nuts (which is aplenty in Palawan), lato seaweed, bits of fruits in season (this time, ripe mangoes, pomelo, papaya) in Palawan dressing (sweet vinegar-lime). I’m not a fan of sashimi and lato so I just tasted a little but my friends liked it.

We also got Choice Catch Fish Cordon Bleu meal. It is served with veggies of the day, lato and rice. The KaLui Veggie Plate meanwhile, consists of vegetables in season. It had okra, squash, string beans with lato , fried bananas, and mashed sweet potato. I’m not a veggie-eater but I loved the fried saba and the mashed kamote (better than mashed potato!).




For the drinks we had Bukoconut (coconut water served in coconut fruit) and fresh fruit shakes. KaLui also gives complimentary soup and fruit platter. The fresh fruit cuts (pineapple, watermelon, etc) was nicely presented in a halved coconut and sprinkled with muscovado sugar.

The food wasn’t that extraordinary but the price is affordable and the serving size, decent. Service was also okay. But I guess what really makes KaLui popular is because of the total experience one will get when dining here.

For more information, visit:

Soon to be posted as part of this Food-tripping in Puerto Princesa series are reviews on Kinabuchs, Balinsasayaw, The Gypsy’s Lair Art Cafe and K’na Boyet sa Baywalk.

For the meantime, read previous posts on my Puerto Princesa adventure:
Coming soon: Puerto Princesa Underground River Tour and Ysabelle Mansion Review

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