During the wee hours of the night, I was still wide awake until I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my stomach.
Oh, that's right. I'm HUNGRY!! But I gotta stick to my "diet," so I guess I'm just gonna talk about the delicious food I got to eat back on my trip to Bantayan Island, Cebu.
When creating an itinerary for a trip, meals shouldn't be left off the list! (But in this case, I did bec I got too excited about the places we'll go. Another one of the many "tanga" qualities of mine).
Anyway, I figured why not just go to the nearest place where there's a good-looking dish whenever we're hungry, right? Fortunately, it was not so long ago that my husband visited Bantayan and he knew just where to go the moment we arrived at the island pretty famished.
MJ Square – The BEST Food Destination on Bantayan Island
MJ Square is just a few minutes away from the Bantayan pier and it's also just a few meters from most resorts in Sta. Fe, Bantayan Island.
It's my first time eating there. And boy was I sooo hungry (probably like how hungry I am now LOL). So I browsed the options but didn't get too picky. I've jumped into the first resto I saw that had UNLIMITED RICE!!
MJ Square is like a food hub where different restaurants are all lined up. There were so many choices that if I weren't that hungry, it would take me hours to decide!
Every resto seems to be serving different cuisines too. The first restaurant we ate at had barbecued meals. Others have seafood specialties and 'lechon baboy' or roasted pig which is always a Filipino favorite!
You will also see dessert shops and souvenir stores on one side. At the end of the square are bars lined up which became very popular and lively at night.
And don't get me started about what happens at night here at MJ Square...
But good ole us only had water to drink. And, of course, some soda to match all the seafood we ordered. Booze has never been that enticing for us. But still, we had fun. Drunk people are always fun to watch.
Zookeepers' Café
The Zookeepers' Cafe is located at the heart of Bantayan Proper. Its name certainly speaks for itself with its vibrant neon restaurant design.
They serve all the favorites of every Filipino. Most cuisines were all simple home-cooked meals but it definitely hit the spot 👌 Not to mention, hitting straight into our wallets. They were surprisingly pricey but I didn't regret any of it one bit.
Such a shame we were not able to take photos. But could you blame us? It was past 1 o'clock in the afternoon and we traveled through heavy rain and prickly heat for the past two hours across the island. Talk about adventure. LOL
CouCou Bar Hotel & Restaurant at Sta. Fe, Bantayan Island
The CouCou Bar Hotel & Restaurant has this cozy cabana vibes that customers would love to just eat at and hang around. But it was easily booked so we had to take one of the "ordinary" tables.
I wanted pizza. It was raining. We saw soup on the menu. So we ordered both! Quite an odd pair, isn't it?
I LOVED the pizza. I believe it was hand-tossed and freshly baked. And the lomi soup was just so full and hearty that I wished I could take out a cup back to our room.
With all the carbs we ate that night, it was a challenge to stand up and go straight to our hotel. So, we stayed for a while in the resto and waited out the rain as well.
Coffee Corner by Indai
A dainty shop at the corner with the BEST coffee ever!!
I wished I asked what those beans were. It was the most aromatic, nutty, and earthy coffee I ever had. My husband can say the same thing. And he's not even into coffee.
The place and its coffee were worth an entirely separate blog so feel free to check our visit to the Coffee Corner in Bantayan Island, Cebu.
If you're an avid coffee lover and enjoy a good cup of joe every morning, don't ever go home without savoring at least one cup of their coffee.
There are probably so many food destinations on Bantayan Island that we haven't visited yet. Sometimes, I wished we explored more and tried out small food eateries.
Speaking of I-wished-moments, another thing I wished back then was Chickenjoy from Jollibee. In a foreign place, you could never go wrong with a crispylicious, juicylicious Chickenjoy, right?
But they weren't there 💔
With that being said, let me also share the popular fast food places that were NOT there since we last visited in 2021
🔴 NO Jollibee
🔴 NO McDonald's
🔴 NO 7 Elevens
But I could be wrong. Bantayan Island is ever thriving. I wouldn't be surprised if they start having fast food chains there and even mini-malls.
That's all for now... yet I'm still hungry. This isn't working. I'll probably grab a bite or two. Or probably won't. Either way, hope you foodies enjoy this blog and check out these food destinations in Bantayan Island, Cebu the next time you visit there!
🍔🍕🌭