₱100 meals in Puerto Princesa, mapped
A full turo-turo plate at a carinderia costs about ₱100 (~$1.70) — rice, a meat or fish dish, vegetables — and they are everywhere in the centre and around the jeepney stops. Above that sit a chaolong bowl at ₱60–120 and Haim Chicken Inato at ₱150–300, which is the best cheap sit-down meal in the city: charcoal-grilled chicken with garlic rice and pickled papaya, daily 09:00–22:30 at 294 Manalo Street Extension. Below that there is ₱15 pork barbecue at the Baywalk. You can eat well here all day for ₱400–600.
What cheap actually means here
Puerto Princesa is not an expensive city and the low end of it is where the food gets most interesting. These are 2026 prices at ₱58 ≈ $1.
Turo-turo is the honest local answer
Turo-turo means point-point: you walk up to a counter of pots, point at two or three things, and they go on rice. That is lunch for most of this city, most days.
A carinderia plate is about ₱100 (~$1.70) and they cluster in the centre and around the jeepney stops. What is in the pots depends on the morning — adobo, menudo, tinola, a fried fish, some vegetables in coconut milk, occasionally something you will need to ask about. Point at what looks busiest. Nothing here has been sitting since yesterday because nothing here lasts until yesterday.
There is no address to give you, which is the point: this is a category, not a restaurant. If you want a specific cheap meal with a specific door to walk through, that is a chaolong house at ₱60–120 or Haim at ₱150–300. If you want the cheapest possible calorie, that is a ₱15 pork barbecue stick on the seafront.
The gap between this and the famous restaurants is smaller than you would expect. KaLui's ₱795 set feeds two, so the city's best-known dinner is about ₱400 a head. Eating cheaply in Puerto Princesa saves you money; it does not save you a great deal of money, and it should be done because the food is good rather than because you have to.
Every cheap option, priced and timed
Ordered by price. Everything on this list is cash, and everything below ₱300 is somewhere locals eat more often than visitors do.
| Where | What you get | Price | Hours | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baywalk barbecue stalls on the seafront, 10 min by tricycle | Pork BBQ sticks ₱15, chicken inasal from ₱50, lumpia ₱30, leche flan and puto ₱20, grilled squid ₱100–200 | ₱15–200 | From about 17:00 to midnight | WORTH IT |
| Carinderias / turo-turo all over the centre and by the jeepney stops | Point at two or three pots, get rice. The real local baseline | ~₱100 | Roughly 06:00 until the pots empty | WORTH IT |
| Chaolong houses Bona's on Manalo, Rene's on Rizal, Noki Nocs | Beef-stew noodle soup and a garlic-cheese baguette. The city's own dish | ₱60–120 | Bona's to about 21:00; Noki Nocs about 10:00–20:30 | WORTH IT |
| Haim Chicken Inato 294 Manalo Street Extension | Charcoal-grilled chicken, garlic rice, pickled papaya; also pancit bihon, chopsuey, grilled tuna | ₱150–300 | Daily 09:00–22:30 | WORTH IT |
| Ka Inato, main branch National Highway · the rival chain | The same idea, bigger rooms, better for groups. Open per a June 2026 guide | ₱150–300 | UNVERIFIED | DEPENDS |
| Balinsasayaw / HAPAG by Balinsasayaw Rizal Avenue area · rebrand UNVERIFIED | Grilled chicken and standard Filipino, dishes under ₱200. A family of five historically ate for ₱800 with drinks | ₱150–300 | UNVERIFIED | DEPENDS |
| Robinsons Place Palawan food court National Highway · the handier mall for visitors | Jollibee, Mang Inasal, Chowking, Greenwich. Air-conditioning, wifi and an ATM — that is the whole appeal | ₱150–300 | Mall hours | DEPENDS |
| SM City Puerto Princesa food court Malvar Street area | The same chains in a different building. Useful on a wet afternoon, unremarkable otherwise | ₱150–300 | Mall hours | DEPENDS |
| NCCC Mall | Status UNVERIFIED — no confirmation the Puerto Princesa branch still operates. Do not plan around it | — | — | SKIP |
Cash everywhere except the malls. The two malls are also the reliable answer for an ATM and air-conditioning on a wet afternoon, which is most of what they are for.
What 'inato' means, and why there are two of them
Chicken inato is Palawan's version of inasal: chicken marinated sweet and tangy, grilled over coals, served with garlic rice and pickled green papaya. The name is the local joke.
Inato is the dialect twist on inasal and it reads roughly as that's ours — a small piece of provincial pride baked into a chicken shop's signage. It is one of the few genuinely regional things on a menu in this city that is not seafood, and at ₱150–300 with rice it is the best-value sit-down meal in Puerto Princesa.
There are two chains and locals will tell you which one is correct with some conviction. Haim, at 294 Manalo Street Extension, daily 09:00–22:30, is the pick here — it is open the longest, its listing was current in March 2026, and a viral Filipino food show called it legendary, which in this category counts for something. Ka Inato's main branch on the National Highway is bigger, better for groups, confirmed open per a June 2026 guide, and its hours are unverified.
Order the quarter chicken with garlic rice and take the pickled papaya seriously — it is what makes the plate work. Beyond the chicken, both do pancit bihon, chopsuey and grilled tuna at similar prices.
Haim or Ka Inato?
Haim Chicken Inato
294 Manalo Street Extension, daily 09:00–22:30, ₱150–300 a head, listing current as of March 2026. Longest opening hours of any cheap sit-down in the city and the name people outside Palawan have heard. Full verdict →
See reviews ↗Ka Inato
Main branch on the National Highway, ₱150–300, open per a June 2026 guide with hours unverified. Bigger rooms and easier with six people, further out for anyone staying on Rizal Avenue. Full verdict →
Check it is open ↗Haim Chicken Inato, in practice
The three cheap sit-downs worth confirming
None of these takes bookings and none has a website worth the click. What is worth checking is that they are open — one of the three has an unverified rebrand and another has unverified hours.
Cheap eats questions, answered
How much is a cheap meal in Puerto Princesa?
About ₱100 (~$1.70) for a full turo-turo plate at a carinderia — rice with two or three dishes pointed at from a counter of pots. A chaolong bowl is ₱60–120 and a sit-down chicken inato meal is ₱150–300. Three meals a day comes to ₱400–600 per person.
What is chicken inato?
Palawan's take on chicken inasal: marinated sweet and tangy, grilled over coals, served with garlic rice and pickled green papaya, at ₱150–300 a head. "Inato" is the local dialect twist on "inasal" and means roughly "that's ours". Haim on Manalo Street Extension is the pick.
Haim or Ka Inato — which is better?
Haim, on balance. It is open daily 09:00–22:30 at 294 Manalo Street Extension, its listing was current in March 2026, and it has the bigger name. Ka Inato's main branch on the National Highway is better for groups but its hours are unverified. Both charge ₱150–300.
Where do locals eat in Puerto Princesa?
Carinderias at about ₱100 a plate, chaolong houses at ₱60–120 a bowl, and the inato chains at ₱150–300. In the evening, the Baywalk stalls, where pork barbecue is ₱15 a stick and chicken inasal starts at ₱50. Almost nobody local is eating a ₱1,150 seafood platter.
Are there Jollibee and other chains in Puerto Princesa?
Yes — Jollibee, Mang Inasal, Chowking and Greenwich all appear in the food courts at Robinsons Place Palawan on the National Highway and SM City. Meals run ₱150–300. Robinsons is the handier of the two for visitors, and both are the reliable air-conditioning, wifi and ATM fallback.
Is street food safe in Puerto Princesa?
Generally, with the standard rule: pick the stall with turnover where the food is cooked to order in front of you. The Baywalk stalls run from about 17:00 to midnight and a January 2025 review notes the area could be cleaner, which is fair rather than alarming.
Can you eat well in Puerto Princesa on a budget?
Easily. ₱400–600 a day covers a chaolong breakfast, a ₱100 carinderia lunch, an inato dinner and a ₱15 barbecue stick on the seafront. The city's most famous dinner, KaLui's ₱795 set, feeds two — so even the blowout is about ₱400 a head.
Is NCCC Mall in Puerto Princesa still open?
Unverified, and this site will not publish it as open. NCCC is a Davao chain and no source we checked confirms the Puerto Princesa branch still operates. Use Robinsons Place Palawan or SM City instead — both have food courts in the ₱150–300 band and working ATMs.
Half the budget recommendations online are stale
Puerto Princesa's restaurant scene turns over fast and most guides do not keep up. Gypsy's Lair and La Terrasse are closed, and KaLui's old official domain now resolves to a gambling site — competing guides still link it. Where a place could not be confirmed open from a 2024–2026 source, this site says so instead of guessing.
In this category specifically: Balinsasayaw appears to have relaunched as HAPAG by Balinsasayaw and neither the date nor the current setup could be confirmed. Neva's Place on Taft Street is probably still there on 09:00–22:00 hours from older data, and is unverified for 2026. NCCC Mall has no confirmation at all. Where this page says unverified, it means a phone call is cheaper than a wasted tricycle fare.
The names that are solid — Haim, Bona's, the carinderias, the Baywalk stalls, the two mall food courts — are solid because they were confirmed from 2025–2026 sources. Everything else on the master status table carries its own date.