Badjao Seafront Restaurant — Restaurant in Puerto Princesa

Wonderful view. That's about it. Everything else is horrible.

Let's start with the only good thing about the place. When you enter the restaurant, you'll be greeted with a beautiful walk way surrounded by mangroves. The restaurant is also surrounded by mangroves that they've beautifully designed by adding capiz (windowpane oyster) covered lights. It really adds a romantic atmosphere. Now for the service.

We called to make a reservation to make sure we get in but were told that nobody wrote down our reservation. So we had to wait a while to be seated. Good thing we were early, otherwise the waiting time would be longer. The experience is off to a bad start. After getting seated, the waiter rushed us to make our order because the orders would take a while. Now I understand that it would take a while for orders to be served but that's not a good reason for rushing customers. Also, he wasn't kidding when he said that the orders would take a while. It took them almost an hour to serve the food. The service was extremely slow and the staff are inattentive. From observing the diners, it's not uncommon to raise your hand for 5 minutes before somebody notices you. We asked for the bill twice and it still took them at least 30 minutes to bring it. Besides, you know it's bad when the wait staff himself complains about it. He blames management which he said doesn't even bother talking to them. We were told that he's been working there for a year and they haven't had any meeting to discuss improvements or customer feedback. I guess they really don't care about customers. How about the food?

The food is ok. Our order was slightly undercooked making the meat a little tough while our vegetable order was way overcooked making it soft and soggy. It is not at all worth the price.

My recommendation? Don't bother eating here. Not worth your time. If you're a tourist, don't ruin your vacation...

An amazing place for locals and even tourists. If your goal is seafood, this is absolutely a must stop.

Word of caution. Avoid the cocktails. My group and I our cocktail connoisseurs, but we understand and set the bar really low and we were still disappointed. Do not let that stop you from being adventurous and disappointed, but take my advice and grab a cold beer.

The prawns are a must-have. They sell the prawns by the gram, 500 g got us about seven to eight prawns. They were worth every gram.

Sinuglaw is like a fish ceviche that is slightly grilled for texture and has added pieces of pork in the mix. My party was reserved about it but it was amazing.

The shrimp were okay, not bad but not taking up more than one sentence in this review.

Salt and pepper squid is a must, but I am also only writing one sentence for this review... the rest is up to you to explore it's amazingness.

Oh, there is also a language barrier at this restaurant. It doesn't seem that the staff speaks much English, but it does not take away from how attentive the service is.

One final piece of warning. If you are not sure what something is, do not ask unless you are ready for someone else to grab your food and find out with their own physical hands. You think I'm playing. This action did not take away from the rating.

The minus one was for the poor cocktail experience, yes,...

Haven't been back here since the start of the pandemic but I'm happy to report that they are better than ever! Ambience is the same -- calm, serene, relaxing and the scenic panoramic views are breathtaking, especially between the golden and blue hours before nightfall. They appear to have renovated a bit as the place looks new and refreshed. Service staff is plentiful, and all are friendly and attentive. They are sharply attired and well-groomed. Most importantly, they have a sense of urgency while not appearing harried or rushed. Lastly, the food -- chef's kiss the seafood was fresh and cooked to perfection. The stuffed squid was tender, not chewy. The shrimp and crab meat were juicy yet firm, and the fish tasted sweet and clean. The kinilaw could have been better, but, not a deal-breaker. The lato more than made up for any shortfall. One would think that for a seafood restaurant, the meat dishes would be a mere afterthought. But their grilled liempo was excellent! Not too fatty, meat was tender, well-seasoned and perfectly grilled -- even the skin was crunchy so nothing is wasted. Highly recommended! Arrive early (or late) for lunch or dinner to avoid the...