Roxas Seafood Capital

Roxas City calls itself the seafood capital of the Philippines, and the basis for the claim is the shallow, nutrient-rich water of the Sibuyan Sea and the Panay river mouths, which supports large-scale oyster and mussel farming, blue swimming crab, prawns, squid and a general abundance that keeps the port busy. The eating happens at Baybay, a strip of open-sided restaurants along the beach a short ride from the centre, where the arrangement is the familiar one - choose from the ice, pay by weight, agree the cooking fee, and it arrives grilled, steamed or in soup. Oysters, talaba, are the specialty, served raw with vinegar or grilled in the shell, and the blue crabs are the other thing to order. Prices are low by the standards of anywhere with a comparable catch. Capiz province is also known nationally for the aswang folklore attached to it, which residents regard with a mixture of exasperation and commercial resignation.

What you actually see

• The Baybay strip - open-sided restaurants along the beach.
• The oysters - talaba raw with vinegar or grilled in the shell.
• The blue crabs - the port's other specialty.
• The fish port - the catch coming ashore in the morning.

When to go

Year-round; oysters are best in the cooler months from around November to February. Evenings at Baybay, when the strip fills.

Honest expectations

Agree the price by weight and the cooking fee before anything is cooked. Raw oysters carry the usual risks - judge the establishment. Roxas is two and a half hours from Iloilo on ordinary roads.

Nearby

Santa Monica Church and its great bell are fifteen minutes away at Panay; the Capiz coast runs north and west.