There are 122 listed restaurants on Siquijor. Eleven are genuinely worth the trip. Here they are, in order.
Why our list does not look like the others. The rankings you will find elsewhere are built on platform scores. That is convenient, and on a small island it is structurally wrong: a place run by people who do not deal with social media has no reviews, therefore no score, therefore no place in the ranking. Three of the eleven tables below are in exactly that position. Conversely, several addresses the travel blogs repeat on a loop are fine without being good — and we leave them out.
This list was built on the ground, by people who eat in these restaurants all year round. When we quote a score or a price, we say where it comes from. When we do not know, we write that.
1. Hidden Valley — the island's best table
Hidden Valley, up in the hills of Lazi, one minute from the Old Enchanted Balete Tree. Chef Meg runs an Asian and European menu of unusual range: Singapore laksa, beef rendang, gado-gado, Indian curry, pad thai. A terrace with a panoramic view all the way to Apo Island. 4.9 out of 5 across nearly 500 reviews — the highest score on the island, and it is deserved.
Know before you go: open seven days a week December to May; out of season closing days appear and the Google hours become misleading. Come for lunch rather than dinner — the circumferential road has no street lighting.
2. NGAON TA'S Lingin — the most discreet, and the most surprising
NGAON TA'S Lingin, up in the hills a few minutes by scooter from San Juan. The chef is Filipino, he speaks French, and he worked in France. This is not a French restaurant: it is island cooking, made with island produce, onto which he has grafted a technique learned in France. You taste the difference in the sauces, the cooking times, the plating — not in the menu. We know of no other kitchen on Siquijor that works this way.
Know before you go: absent from TripAdvisor, from the aggregators, from the guides, and even from the provincial tourism office's list of accredited restaurants. Small operation, not open continuously: drop by or call rather than riding up blind.
3. Dolce Amore — the best Italian cooking, and the best pizza
Dolce Amore, in Barangay Paliton, San Juan. An Italian restaurant run by Italians, with part of the ingredients imported from Italy. Neapolitan pizza in the strict sense, house-made pasta, gelato and panna cotta. 4.9 out of 5 from close to 700 TripAdvisor reviews, 3rd of the island's 122 restaurants.
Know before you go: no reservations, 30 to 45 minutes' wait at dinner in high season, parmesan is charged extra, and bring cash. Open daily 8am to 9pm. Around 2,000 ₱ for two with drinks.
4. Roadside Diners — the best value by a wide margin
Roadside Diners, in San Juan. A family-run roadside canteen, everyday Filipino cooking with a real Thai branch. 4.8 out of 5 from more than 400 Google reviews. Chicken inasal with rice and salad is 135 ₱ — the price of a single dish elsewhere.
Know before you go: open daily until 11pm, one of the few places on the island where you can still have dinner at 10pm. Often full between 7pm and 8.30pm.
5. Mr Sumo — the sushi, and nothing else first
Mr Sumo, in Solangon, San Juan. 4.5 out of 5 from 467 Google reviews, and 8th of the island's 122 restaurants on TripAdvisor. Nobody expects good sushi on a small island in the Visayas: that is the arc nearly every review follows. The tuna sashimi draws the most enthusiastic ones. Around 320 to 350 ₱ for 8 pieces.
Know before you go, and this matters: the ramen is the weak point — served lukewarm, at a price guests find unjustified. Come for the raw fish, not the broth. Air-conditioned room, rare here. Cash only.
6. Miss Mambo — eat, then swim
Miss Mambo, the restaurant of the Sea and You Resort at Campo Uno, Timbaon — the south-eastern corner of San Juan. Seafront, careful cooking, and one argument nobody else on this side of the island has: the swimming pool is free for restaurant guests. The calamares is the dish named most often.
Know before you go: one of the three addresses on this list the platforms almost entirely ignore. Timbaon sits halfway between San Juan and Lazi, which makes it a logical lunch stop on the island loop.
7. Nakabalo — the French-speaking table, above the sea
Nakabalo, up in Cang-obao, Maite. 4.5 out of 5 from nearly 300 Google reviews, and 2nd of San Juan's 33 guesthouses on TripAdvisor. The infinity pool opens onto 180 degrees of sea: one of the best sunset spots on the west coast, and you can use it without staying the night.
The detail that matters if you speak French: the reception speaks it too. Along with NGAON TA'S Lingin, it is one of only two addresses on the island where that is the case. And the French wine list exists nowhere else on Siquijor.
What to order: the menu is mostly Italian. House-made gnocchi is the dish guests name most, with the pizzas and the pasta. On the local side, the kinilaw. There is also a blue cheese burger.
Our two reservations, because they are real. The restaurant's own listing sits at 4.4 out of 5 with 12% of reviews at one or two stars: the recurring complaints are uneven output from the kitchen — a tuna steak comes up several times as too salty — and slow service. And the climb from the main road is steep: some tricycles refuse to do it. Pool access for non-residents is 1,000 ₱, part of which comes back as food and drink; the exact credit varies between sources, so have it confirmed on arrival. Open 7am-9pm, tel. +63 998 449 5533.
8. Luca Loko — the island's best breakfast
Luca Loko, roadside in Maite. In our view this is the best place on Siquijor for a breakfast smoothie bowl — clearly above what the more photogenic beach places serve. 4.5 out of 5 from more than a thousand Google reviews. The Buddha Bowl is the dish guests name most; the mango shake, no added sugar, on an oat milk base, comes up with unusual insistence.
Know before you go: there is no view. You come for the plate. It is expensive by Philippine standards, and that is the most consistent complaint. Free wifi and spotless bathrooms, useful if you stay to work.
9. Marelle's Restaurant & Bar — the lunch nobody knows about
Marelle's Restaurant & Bar, on the Circumferential Road. A misunderstood address: filed under "museum", therefore filed under sightseeing, when the cooking alone justifies the drive. An open veranda over a botanical garden, a Filipino and Mediterranean menu, generous portions, and the best vegetarian choice on the island.
The detail few people know: museum entry is free if you eat at the restaurant. Open daily 8am to 9pm.
10. Angel Wish Seafood — for anything from the sea
Angel Wish Seafood, on the circumferential road in San Juan. The principle is Filipino paluto: you pick the catch at the counter — prawns, clams, squid, crab, whole fish — then pick the cooking. 4.7 out of 5 from around 280 Google reviews.
Know before you go: open daily 8am to 10pm, cash. The display is best early in the evening; in low season it can be thinner.
11. Lovez Food House — the island's best canteen, by some distance
Lovez Food House, in San Juan. Let us be clear about what it is: no decor, no view, no terrace facing the sunset. But it is clean, and it is delicious — the only two things that matter in a canteen, and plenty of prettier places fail on both. Family Filipino cooking made fresh each day, served on a plate with rice.
Know before you go: this is the third address on this list that appears nowhere online. Its owners do not deal with social media and have no reason to. Cash, and bring small notes: you will not spend much here.
If you are after one specific thing
| What you want | Where to go |
| The best table, all things considered | Hidden Valley |
| Best view | Hidden Valley |
| A French touch on the plate | NGAON TA'S Lingin |
| To be served in French | NGAON TA'S Lingin, Nakabalo |
| Best pizza and Italian cooking | Dolce Amore |
| Best value | Roadside Diners |
| Sushi | Mr Sumo |
| Eat and swim in one outing | Miss Mambo, or Nakabalo for the infinity pool |
| Dinner facing the sunset | Nakabalo |
| A French wine list | Nakabalo, the only one on the island |
| Best breakfast / smoothie bowl | Luca Loko |
| Working quietly with wifi | Luca Loko |
| Best vegetarian choice | Marelle's Restaurant & Bar |
| Best seafood | Angel Wish Seafood |
| Best canteen at local prices | Lovez Food House |
| Dinner after 10pm | Roadside Diners |
Three things to know before booking anything on Siquijor
1. Cash. Seven of the eleven addresses above run on cash. Withdraw in San Juan or Siquijor town before heading down the south coast: ATMs are scarce and go out of service. Nakabalo is one of the few that takes cards.
2. The hours shown on Google are regularly wrong. This is not an impression: we have found clear inconsistencies on several listings, and closing days inherited from the Covid period that were never corrected. For an out-of-the-way place, a phone call saves you an hour on a scooter.
3. Dinner ends early, with exceptions. Most kitchens on the island close between 9pm and 9.30pm. Roadside Diners is one of the few serving until 11pm.
And the rest?
Siquijor has plenty of pleasant addresses that are not on this list, and we document them too — Firefly Treehouse for the waterfall and the fireflies, among others. They are good. They are not the island's best tables, and we would rather say so plainly than pad the list.
For drinking rather than eating, see our ranking of the best bars on Siquijor.
This ranking will change. Restaurants open, others change cook, some close without warning. We update it as we eat.
And the ones that are not here?
It is the question we are asked most often, and it deserves more than a line. We have written out our criteria in full — the seven reasons a place stays out, how paid recommendation works on the island, and the signs you can read for yourself before you order: why some of Siquijor's best-known places are not in this guide.