Kinabuchs may be tourists' favorite hub whether for dining or drinking in Puerto Princesa. The establishment has a touch of a sports bar and grill, especially with the huge projector screen of a game on the parking lot and the numerous flat screen TVs placed around the restaurant.

Kinabuchs is sprawling and maybe had two major areas for dining: near the bar and near the parking area. Customers can enjoy the live coverage projected on a huge screen near the parking area or relax near the bar and watch on the LCD TV screens. We picked the latter when we visited the place.

When we were there, the restaurant was projecting a live coverage of Federer's match during the early stages of Wimbledon. Somewhat cool to stay updated with the game while resting and having a drink.




Looking around the room, there were plenty of foreigners having a drink and even a Filipina and caucasian couple having dinner. There were even solo diners sitting on a table or on the bar, enjoying their meal with a beer.

The bar's specialty is tamilok or mangrove worms. It is an exotic dish of Puerto Princesa found in its islands. They offer kilawing tamilok, which past visitors swear that it tastes just like oyster. We passed the opportunity to try this dish... just because.

Thinking that the fish would be cheaper in Puerto Princesa, we ordered sweet and sour lapu lapu and pinakbet to balance the meal. The price was not cheap at all and it seemed like we were dining in Manila.

The lapu lapu arrived at last but to our disappointment, it was not crispy.



The pinakbet was just okay too. It had the taste of a home cooked meal, which is good enough for me.

The best part of the meal was the beer, which was served cold.



Glancing over the inner part of the bar, I saw some billiard tables where patrons can while away the time playing.

As with any bar and grill establishments, you probably pay for the ambience, the drinks, and tolerate the food. Fast service is another advantage in this bar, where waiters in tropical island polos would eagerly take your order and answer your questions.

Although the food is not great (maybe because we didn't try the tamilok), every tourist should go to Kinabuchs even for one night for a meal and a couple of drinks. For sports fanatics, the huge-ass projector screen is a definite plus.