Restaurants on Mactan Island, Cebu, Philippines

As the beautiful Mactan Island, Cebu, does not have an awful lot to offer visitors to do and the resorts themselves are quite well contained with the hotels happy if you never leave their establishments, we decided to let you know of some of the different restaurants available to you on the Island.

Mactan Island is an idyllic island and as such you may not want to go into the city of Cebu, as most people will be in Mactan to get away from one city or another, for this reason we have concentrated on the restaurants on Mactan Island itself in a hope to encourage you to get out just a little and see some of this small island.

Having said that most of the restaurants are in other hotels, so you may be travelling from one resort to another but at least you get out, and also get to see some of the island, not to forget see some of the other resorts. It must be said that a lot of the resorts do have theme dinners , and special dinners from time to time but this is constantly changing so you would need to check with them. 

Travelling from one resort to another is not a simple as you may believe, we advise you to call ahead and make a reservation and also to ask them to inform security that you are coming along so you will be allowed into the resort in the first place.

We have only selected a handful of restaurants, those that stand out for one reason or another.

Chinese - Shangri-La - One of the few Chinese restaurants on Mactan. Open lunch and dinner from 12am-2:30 pm and 6-10:30 pm respectively. Only a la carte is served. 

Italian - Shangri-La - This Italian restaurant is large and with its open air design and "fun" Italian style to it is definitely worth a visit. They have an open fire wood oven, and the chef is Italian. The restaurant is normally only open in the evenings from 6 to around 10:30 pm. Prices are not too bad with an appetizer ranging from 350/400 Pesos and a Calzone Pizza 440 Pesos.

Italian - Plantation Bay Resort - Described to us as the best Italian on Mactan, this indoor Italian restaurant has an intimate fine dining feel to it. The prices are good  with appetizers around 220/300 Pesos, a Pasta dish 340 Pesos and a and a bottle of the house wine 690 Pesos. The restaurant is only open in the evening and from 7 - 11 pm and reservations are recommended.

Seafood - Shangri-La - Known as Cowries this beautiful restaurant is a must when in Cebu no matter where you are staying. Built out on a cliff overlooking the sea below Cowries offers you a perfect venue for a romantic fresh seafood dinner. The set menu is 1,500 Pesos which includes a variety of choices. The restaurant is open from 6pm - 10pm  and the bar which is adjacent opens from around 10pm - 1am. Reservations are highly recommended. 

Seafood - Plantation Bay Resort - Called Fiji Restaurant, this small restaurant built out again over a small cliff overlooking the sea, has a very rustic and Mediterranean feel to it. They serve a mixture of seafood, and also some Japanese choices such as sashimi and sushi.

Seafood - Maribago Bluwater - Regarded by many as the best Seafood restaurant on Mactan. As with all the other seafood restaurants this one is also built out into the sea. The menu is relatively limited, with few appetizer options but the seafood is top notch and well prepared.

General - White Sands - We strongly recommend you to go along to the White Sands Resort and enjoy their lunch buffet which at only 299 Pesos is very good value. The buffet comprises of some Japanese sashimi, sushi and also some local dishes. The reason we recommend this restaurant is it is right on the beach and hence one of the few beach side restaurants we could find. Travelling so far and not eating in a beach side restaurant would be a terrible shame. Presently only open for lunch but they may even for dinner which would be great, but more as we hear of it.

General - Plantation Bay Resort - Kilmanjaro grabbed our fancy purely because it is built out into the middle of the lagoon and so looks out of this very unusual resort. The food served is Asian and International. They even have netting all around the restaurant so as to keep any unwanted insects out. This is open 24 hours a day.