roxas city

My boyfriend is a certified seafood-lover. You would see his manly serious face turn into a gleeful 5 year old boy with a wide grin on his face if you mention his favorite orange friend, Mr. Crabs. i’m not kidding! So we vowed we should visit the Seafood Capital of the Philippines — Roxas City one of these days. So,when our schedules cleared up, we took the opportunity in visiting the lovely city one weekend.

So if you are visiting Roxas City, here are some of our recommendations for things that you can do, food places you can go to and tidbits of our Roxas adventure.

1. Have brunch or hang out at ACC Coffee and Crepe

Strawberry Smoothie P90; Italian Cappuccino P55; Mango Bliss Crepe P90: Funky Monkey P90

You can find this posh cafe in Pavia Street owned by Dr. Acepcion. They have a wide variety of coffee, hot & cold, and non-caffeinated drinks but they are best known for their crepes. Their bestseller is their Funky Monkey. They also have rice meals, burgers and pastas.

2. Take a dip in the pool in San Antonio Resort

San Antonio Resort is accessibly found in Baybay, Roxas City. They have a picturesque infinity pool and man-made lake that offers kayaks, pedal boats and local paddle boats that can be rented per hour.They also have an eight-lane bowling alley and billiard table. J and I had two rounds of bowling mini-tournament. Guess who won? Hehe, who cares? We just had so much fun. They also have budget rooms, suites and family rooms available for those interested in staying for the night. It have free buffet breakfast by the next morning. For their rates, click on their website here http://www.thesanantonioresort.com/.

3. Eat Seafoods (of course!)

We wouldn’t leave Roxas without trying their seafoods, of course. Across from San Antonio Resort is a long strip of restaurants that offer just that, fresh seafoods, yey! Some are similar to the Dampa-style in Manila where you get to choose your foods uncooked and have them cooked to what you prefer. Try Alma’s or Bhebing’s for the budget-friendly. You can also try Coco Veranda or Yuki’s.

4. Explore outside of Roxas City

Just a 20 minutes from Roxas City, you can hire a tricycle (for P200) or taxi (for P700) to go to a nearby municipality called Pan-ay. The Church of Pan-ay was declared a National Historical Landmark last 1997. Inside the church, you find it that no renovations were done to preserve its antiquity. Here you can also find the biggest church bell in the Philippines. There is a replica near the base of the church but we were lead up the bell tower to see the real deal. It was a staggering 63 steps of steel stairs (replacing the olden wooden stairs). Our legs hurt after going up and down the stairs. The bell is made up of 70 sacks of coins. There is a Latin inscription on the bell as it is translated in English as: “I am God’s voice which I shall echo and praise from one end to the other of the town of Panay so that the faithful heavenly followers of Christ may come to this house of God to receive the graces“.

We also visited Weny’s Butterfly Garden. Entrance fee are just 10pesos per person. We were greeted by Weny himself. He gave us a tour of the place. He set up this 5000sq meter of land as a butterfly garden with a mini zoo for 5 years. He gave us a lecture about the magnificent creatures called the butterfly. We realize how easy it is to have our butterfly garden of our own if we know the basic essentials: plants that caterpillars love to eat or grow like calamansi and flowers with pollens that butterfly love to suck in its nectar like gumamelas. Weny also have a pet zone. There are owls,turtles, rabbits, guinea pigs,etc. It is quite a hit on field trips of kids. I even fell in love with the grey Australian rabbit. He was just too cute for words. I want to take him home with me. They also sell butterfly keychains and cellphone accessories. They also provide butterflies for weddings and events. It cost P2,000 for a box of 100 butterflies. We are seriously considering including butterflies in our wedding. For those interested, Weny’s Garden can be found at Brgy. Bonga Panay, Capiz Cel No. 0921-4352788.

5. View the sunset at Peoples Park

At Baybay, it is nice to chill at the Peoples Park where there is this dancing fountain with lights. It is so fun to watch. Nearby is the beach and you can find some streetfoods like my favorite, fishballs & kik-iam. It is very reminiscent of Dumaguete, the nearby water and the string of streetfoods kiosk, just smaller. We even found a mobile kiosk of Buko Ilonggo for some cold buko shake.

6. Have a romantic dinner at Ysabel’s

In the evening, we had dinner near the airport in this cozy restaurant.

They serve steaks and has an eat-all-you-can Mongolian bowl. We wanted to eat Mongolian for the night. J had the eat-all-you-can bowl (P200) while I had the Fill-A-Bowl (P180) which is one time only since my tummy is not one for buffet eating.

It’s my first time eating a Mongolian cuisine so I need a bit of help from J how to do it. Hahaha! I was so confused why the meat looks uncooked when I was mixing it in my bowl. J explained that they will cook it later. Hahaha! Toink! But I was so happy with my mix. It was like a sweet sate babe with a bit of spice. J even love my mix too. Can’t wait to eat Mongolian again, hehe.

7. Indulge on your sweet tooth at Sprinkles

Now for the sugar rush, Sprinkles has a lot of different pastries for your choosing. They also serve ricemeals like baby back ribs, burgers and pasta. The back ribs was recommended by a friend.

Baby Back Ribs

Oreo Cheese Cake. I love this!

Chocolate Moist Cake. Their Bestseller

8. Grab a slice (s) of pizza at Yellow Box

If you want some pizza, head to YellowBox. They serve it perfectly in aldente thin crust. We got my all-time fave, Hawaiian Pizza. But their bestsellers are the Poncho (Pepperoni, Hungarian Sausage, Bell Pepper, Onion , Mushroom) and the Julia (Pepperoni, Ham, Bacon, Ground Beef and Parmesan).

I like that they have this teacup that conatins their hotsauce that you can just pour into your pizza. Price ranges P175-275 for thin medium size, P350-550 for thin large sizes and P400-600 for thick large sizes.

9. Try international (Thai) cuisine in Thai Kitchen

Currently, J and I are such a fan of Thai Cuisine so we didn’t miss having Thai lunch at Thai Kitchen at Crowne Heritage Hotel. And we are super satisfied. It reminded me of my Thai food adventure in Australia. I was so full and I wish I still have more space in my tummy so I can eat more, hehe.