How the pandemic changed Coron's food scene

It's not a secret that the pandemic has taken a heavy toll on Coron, one of Palawan's most popular tourist destinations. Among the many affected businesses are hotels, spas, dive shops, souvenir shops, tour operators, and restaurants. While the pandemic has impacted the island's resorts operations and tour operators, thankfully, the food and beverage sector fared better. In fact, a few months after the pandemic started, several restaurants reopened to serve foreign and local tourists who chose to stay in Coron.

Fast forward to present day, local artisans are stepping up to the plate to ensure the local food scene continues to thrive. During my recent Coron trip, I visited Real Street which was a typical residential area until the restaurant Get Real opened in 2016. Then three years later, a property in the area evolved into a mini food park called the B Complex.

B Complex is a one-stop destination that features a bar, mini food stalls, a brewery, and a hostel. The entire B complex houses Bam Bar, a hostel, Chowline, Calle Cinco, The Brewhouse Coron, and "follow your taste."

From left: Chowline, Calle Cinco, and The Brewhouse Coron (Photo by Melo Villareal)

Together with my fellow travel and lifestyle writers, we tried one of the restaurants in the complex called Chowline. The restaurant is owned by American chef Eric Hermes and Nestlie, his Filipina wife. They both used to live and work in Bahrain for Ritz Carlton Hotel where Chef Eric previously worked as an executive sous chef, while Nestlie worked as a freelance artist.

After exploring Sibuyan Island, Dumaguete, and Siquijor, they finally found their home in Coron. In 2019, they moved to the island during the rainy season and decided to live and start a small business. They started by supplying freshly baked bread while providing Food and Beverage consultancy services to local restaurants and hotels before deciding to open their small restaurant on November 15, 2019.

As a chef who specializes in Italian cuisine, Chef Eric was able to develop his own recipe. Since the availability of ingredients is a bit challenging in Coron, he developed his pizza recipe using ingredients readily available on the island. Chef Eric also started producing his own fermented chili sauce, using local he grows in his backyard.

Chef Eric Hermes and his wife Nestlie (Photo by Melo Villareal)

Chowline offers pizza, pasta, and freshly baked bread. His version of margherita pizza is made with semi-fermented basil, while his pepperoni pizza uses locally sourced pepperoni proudly made in Coron by a local butchery called Papa's Meat and Deli.

The fried ravioli, margherita, pepperoni pizza, temptation peanut butter cookies, and Banana Muffins are just a few of the must-try dishes at the to-go restaurant. If you love your pizza spicy, try their delicious fermented chili. To continuously offer new food concepts, they started to serve chicken burgers and their version of Boracay's Chori burger.

Although the restaurant mainly offers to-go and food delivery, it also has a small space for those who want to eat in the food hub while enjoying meals and drinks from other establishments, just like in other food markets. If you happen to be in town on a Wednesday, drop by to experience their Mexican night, where they serve taco pizza and other Mexican specialties.

Chowline's pizza margherita (left) and pepperoni pizza (Photo by Melo Villareal)

Chowline usually closes on Mondays to prepare pizza dough and other consumables. Everything is freshly prepared, except for the bread, cakes, and cookies. While waiting for your food, you may sit in front and watch Chef Eric and Nestlie prepare the food in their open kitchen.

Now that tourism is starting to pick up, Chef Eric and Nestlie are both excited to showcase their food to more tourists soon.

We also sampled some of the popular cocktails offered at BamBar. I met Henessy, the manager of BamBar, who later introduced us to their very own mixologist. I highly recommend that you try their East Side, Calamansi Spice, and cocktails.

Bam Bar's cocktails made by their own mixologist (Photo by Melo Villareal)

If you are an avid beer drinker, local craft beer is available at The BrewHouse . Some of the highly recommended flavors are smoked and Aki Wheat beer. They also serve appetizers such as wiener schnitzels, cordon bleu, and bratwurst hotdog.

The Brewhouse Coron sells local craft beer (Photo by Melo Villareal)

The shop owners work hand in hand to showcase their own products. Nestlie even recommended other good restaurants located along Real Street since their goal is to promote the vicinity as an ultimate food hub, similar to Maginhawa Street in Quezon City.

Restaurants in Coron are reopening for indoor dining, but safety protocols are still observed. Vaccination cards should be presented when visiting establishments in most places.

Real Street is definitely Coron's own version of Maginhawa. These new food establishments not only provide a variety of food options for the locals and tourists, but they also inspire other local artisans to start their own business by doing what they love while enjoying the island life.

Hopefully, the local artisans' resiliency, creativity, and bayanihan spirit will inspire other small business owners to put up more resto, pop-up bars, and other food concepts. That's one more reason to come back to Coron!

How to get to Coron

Philippine Airlines offers daily flights to Coron from Manila. Flights from Cebu to Coron are only available every Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

Travel Requirements

Fully vaccinated individuals are no longer required to submit an RT-PCR test. Visitors are only required to get an approved S-Pass before arriving in Coron.