Capiz Food and Cultural Travel Begins in the Highlands
There is more to Roxas City than just being the Seafood Capital. Capiz food and cultural travel isn’t just about eating—it’s about reconnecting. When we arrived at the highland village of the Panay Bukidnon, the drizzle softened the sky, and the mountains seemed to welcome us in whispers. The journey had just begun, but already, we were deep in memory.
This Indigenous group—among the last in the Visayas—greeted us with sugidanon, ancient chants passed down for generations. Their songs weren’t performances; they were living history. Embroidered garments told stories in thread, while dishes like inubaran (chicken in banana pith and coconut), linagpang (grilled fish in smoky broth), and binakol(native chicken stewed in bamboo) told them in flavor.
Want to cook these heritage dishes at home? Explore Simpol’s heirloom recipe collection.
Roxas City’s Seafood Legacy: Where Culture Meets Coast
From the mountains, our Capiz food and cultural travel brought us to the sea. Roxas City—often called the Seafood Capital of the Philippines—isn’t just a place for fresh catch; it’s a community built on care, tide after tide.
We rode a pump boat out to a floating fish farm, where bamboo rafts bobbed gently over underwater cages of lapu-lapu, abalone, and oysters. The fisherfolk who tend them live on-site, sometimes for months, nurturing their harvest for Manila’s top restaurants.
Later, at Baybay Beach, we waded ashore with pants rolled up and hearts wide open. The shore smelled of smoke and salt, the buffet gleamed with grilled squid, refilled fish, and oysters shucked to order. The standout? A dessert called inday-inday—a chewy, toasted ground rice delicacy with coconut and sugar. Sweet, earthy, and deeply Filipino.
Learn more about the seafood dishes featured in this episode on our Simpol seafood recipe hub.
Watch the full Episode: Flavorful Escapes – Roxas City, Capiz (Part 1)
Join Chef Tatung as he embarks on a culinary journey in the first installment of this four-part travel and food series. Flavorful Escapes dives deep into the heart of Roxas City, Capiz—where every bite tells a story and every dish is a taste of home.
Catch the full episode now on the Simpol.PH YouTube channel and savor the flavors that connect us, one destination at a time.
River Rituals and Folklore Along the Palina River
Cultural travel in Capiz isn’t complete without a river journey. At Palina Greenbelt Ecopark, we glided on a bamboo raft surrounded by mangroves, egrets, and the soft hush of nature.
Lunch was served onboard: diwal, bakasi (grilled eel), and more talaba (oysters), freshly caught. But the real richness came in conversation—with Capiznon writers and artists who spoke of aswang, gayuma, and barang. These aren’t just ghost stories—they’re cultural markers. From 2004 to 2006, Capiz even hosted an Aswang Festival, reclaiming the mythology that once brought fear and turning it into pride.
Heritage Sites and Echoes of Faith in Panay Town
Our Capiz food and cultural travel took a sacred turn in Panay town, home to the 19th-century Santa Monica Church. Here stands the Dakong Lingganay, Asia’s largest Catholic bell, forged from coins donated by villagers in 1878. Its deep toll still echoes across the sugarcane fields.
Nearby, the Ang Panublion Museum preserves local history—capiz shells glimmer beside religious artifacts and old photographs. Each piece a window into the past, each moment a quiet reminder of how faith and food shape Filipino life.
Explore more destinations steeped in faith and heritage in Simpol’s Filipino architecture stories.
A Garden Feast to End the Journey: Dinner at Espacio Verde
We ended our Capiz food and cultural travel at Espacio Verde, a garden resort and restaurant tucked just outside Roxas. As night fell, soft lights blinked on and long tables filled with kare-kare, wood-fired pizza, and perfectly grilled fish.
The setting was relaxed, the conversation warm, the food honest. And that’s what Capiz offers—dining not just as pleasure, but as memory. Meals are never rushed. Every bite feels personal.
Capiz: A Living Archive of Filipino Flavor
Capiz food and cultural travel reveals more than what’s on the plate—it reveals who we are. Here, food isn’t a trend. It’s an inheritance. The rhythm of the tides, the chants of the mountains, the legends of the rivers—all are served in every meal.
And in each dish, Capiz reminds us: culture doesn’t have to be curated to be powerful. Sometimes, it just has to be lived.
Don’t miss the full journey—watch Chef Tatung’s Flavorful Escapes series now on Simpol.ph.
