Philippines Food Costs 2026: From Street Food to Fine Dining
The Philippines is one of Southeast Asia most generous destinations for food value. You can eat spectacularly well on PHP 300-400 per day eating local. Here is the complete 2026 price guide.
Street Food: PHP 10-50
- Fishball: PHP 1 per ball (5-7 balls for PHP 5-7). Dipped in sweet, spicy, or vinegar sauce at street carts.
- Isaw (grilled chicken or pork intestines on skewers): PHP 5-10 per stick. Better than they sound.
- Kwek-kwek (deep-fried quail egg in orange batter): PHP 5-10 per piece.
- Banana cue (caramelised banana on a stick): PHP 10-15.
- Taho (warm silken tofu with sago and arnibal syrup): PHP 10-20, sold by ambulant vendors in the morning.
- Balut (fertilised duck egg, 16-18 days incubated): PHP 15-25. An experience if nothing else.
- Siomai (steamed pork or shrimp dumplings): PHP 10-15 per piece at street stalls.
Carinderias: Local Canteens (PHP 50-150 per meal)
Carinderias are turo-turo (point-point) canteen-style restaurants -- you point at the dishes you want and they are served with rice. A meal with rice, viand, and soup typically costs PHP 60-120. Dishes: adobo (vinegar-braised chicken or pork), sinigang (tamarind soup), kare-kare (oxtail peanut stew), pinakbet (Ilocano vegetable stew with shrimp paste).
Mid-Range Filipino Restaurants (PHP 200-600 per meal)
- Grilled whole fish (lapu-lapu or bangus): PHP 300-600
- Kare-kare (oxtail in peanut sauce): PHP 350-500
- Crispy pata (deep-fried pork leg): PHP 450-700
- Seafood sinigang for two: PHP 300-500
- Lechon Cebu by the kilo: PHP 500-700 per kg
Tourist Area Restaurant Pricing
In El Nido, Boracay, and Siargao, tourist-oriented restaurant prices run 30-50% higher than Cebu City or Manila equivalents. Pasta or burger at beachside restaurant: PHP 280-450. Grilled seafood platter for two: PHP 600-1200. Beer (San Miguel or Red Horse 500ml): PHP 60-90 in most areas, PHP 100-150 at beachfront bars.
