Alma Siargao

Alma is where you go when you want to feel like an adult for one night instead of eating rice bowls off a plastic table. Spanish-leaning menu, paella as the headline act, water views, and a service team that actually remembers you told them it’s your anniversary and writes it on the plate. This is date-night territory, not a quick lunch between surf sessions. Order the squid ink paella, get the croquetas while you wait, and don’t skip dessert – the cheesecake and the slow-cooked pork both get mentioned in the same breath as ‘best on the island.’ A Negroni comes with a free appetizer, which is the kind of small touch that makes the bill sting less. Prices run high for Siargao, and the rice in the paella can land slightly underdone, but nobody’s sending it back. Get there before 8pm or reserve ahead, they cut off last orders around 8:30 and will turn you away at the door if it’s full. The road in is unpaved with dogs asleep in the middle of it, so take a tricycle rather than walking it in your nice shoes. It’s trying to be the fanciest table in General Luna and mostly pulls it off, though if you want cheap and fast this isn’t your spot. Ask for Christina, Jang, or Carla if they’re on shift – they’ll take care of you properly.