Best Restaurants in Boracay

Boracay is a small, narrow 10-kilometre island in the central Philippines whose dining culture is defined by the four-kilometre White Beach that runs along the western shore. The island closed for a full six-month rehabilitation in 2018 under President Duterte's administration; when it reopened the beach frontage had been reorganised, smoking and eating on the sand banned, and many of the older beachfront restaurants re-sited to the second-row D'Mall area. The result is a dining scene that is cleaner, more regulated, and split between the high-end resort restaurants (Discovery Shores, Shangri-La Boracay, Crimson) and the long-established beach-frontage institutions in Station 1 and Station 2 (Aria, Cyma, Dos Mestizos, Nagisa). Filipino food is underrepresented relative to Italian, Greek, and Spanish. A function of the island's original 1980s expat founding generation. But a new wave of kitchens is bringing Cebuano and Ilonggo cooking onto the beachfront.

Beyond the starred and signature kitchens, Boracay rewards visitors who wander. Neighbourhood restaurants that have been family-run for generations, chef-driven rooms opened in the past five years, and seasonal menus that shift with the local produce calendar. We have ranked the first 5 restaurants here; additional editorial coverage is added each month.

The city's dining geography is structured across several distinct districts. Each with its own character. The spine of the guide below follows those divisions, and reflects where a visiting eater spends time depending on the occasion and the length of stay.

For a deeper editorial read, see our ongoing Editorial coverage. Including pieces on the Best Restaurants for Every Occasion, and our Impress Clients and First Date occasion guides.