Rediscovering the (plant-based) flavors of Boracay
The last time I stood on these sands, I was still someone’s wife. Boracay had been the backdrop to our honeymoon, and then a yearly pilgrimage with our son. It felt like stepping into my own “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” montage, wandering through scenes I never asked to forget, trying to see if anything left can still be mine.
In keeping with our unplanned, newly redefined family dynamic, returning to its shores was a long-overdue, much-needed sanity break for me and the kids—and, just as unexpectedly, my folks decided to join us.
We patched a new trip together with old, fraying maps and fresh recommendations. While waiting to check in, the kids and I carefully cased each joint, while my senior parents rested in the hotel lounge.
Fourteen-year-old Jack had a taho break on the beach before we paid tribute to the first Bora-must on our list: Jonah’s. The temple of fruit shakes was perfect for the scorching heat. We honored tradition by ordering mango, strawberry, and banana shakes. Veganizing it by omitting the milk powder cost us the creamy edge, but it still tasted like summer. Still ours.
I skipped the famous banana-peanut butter combo (Jack’s peanut allergy trumps nostalgia) because we wanted to share. I watched my kids slurp theirs with the same greedy glee I remembered from easier times.
We had brunch at The Sunny Side Cafe and ordered the three vegan items on their menu. The plant-based choriburger (P450) was a nice enough nod to the island’s iconic beach snack, though it still didn’t taste like the original. The Beyond Burger (P650) came on a soy bun with caramelized onions, vegan cheddar, and sweet potato “hay,” but my 9-year-old Juno, all blunt honesty and no time for BS, took a few bites and gave it the side eye. The Beyond Sausage pasta (P450) with mushrooms, tomato, and olive oil on fettuccine, was decent; it came without guile. Some things translate while others don’t.
In the evening, my resourceful babies enjoyed figuring out how to make ramen and mi goreng from the grocery using basic hotel gear for their late-night snack over pusoy dos with Gampa.
Hitting the spot
The next day, we parked the seniors at Red Coconut while the kids hit the beach. We passed on the limp garden salad and ordered Thai spring rolls (fried vegetables in rice paper, with sweet chili and peanut sauce, P360). Deep-fried honesty.
Tres Amigos surprised me with its full line-up of hefty vegan options, served without the fanfare or inflated pricing. We had chimichangas (P440), nachos (vegan chili con carne, lettuce, cashew dressing, salsa, P380), and fruit shakes. They hit the spot, a reminder that some new flavors can be worth keeping. The service? Friendly and accommodating.
Little Taj became our home base. We returned three days in a row, because it was reliable. The food was consistent, comforting, and honest, the opposite of the gaslit years behind us.
To make it to our shuttle, I was in a rush to take out onion pakora (spiced, battered, and fried Indian fritters, P220) and vegetable samosa (potato curry pastry with tamarind dipping sauce, P250 for three pieces), and they prepped our takeout on time. After another efficient and well-received takeout experience, we had a leisurely lunch on our last day.
The plain dosa (P320) was enormous, crispy, and gluten-free with sambar and coconut chutney. Sooo good! The thali (P500) is a sampler set for two to three people. Veganized on request, it was a spread of surprises: three kinds of curry, a samosa, chutneys, and mango sorbet.
None of it was trying to recreate something lost. We’re hungry for new stories with new, authentic flavors.
Icy desserts
We enjoyed the novelty of cool vegan desserts also from the Sunny Side group: Coco Mama, Ube Mama, and Mango Mama (all variants at P320). We first encountered Coco Mama in La Union years ago, and their coconut ice cream served in the shell was memorable. Boracay is their only other location.
My son devoured Coco Mama with reverence, with its pinipig, ripe mango chunks, and buko strips. I liked Mango Mama so much, I went for round two—a blend of mango coco and black rice ice cream over warm suman, ripe mangoes, salted coconut cream, and crunchy latik. Sticky, bright, unashamed, like joy that earned its way back into your life. Ube Mama’s ube pudding, salted coconut cream, cornflakes, and palitaw (sticky rice balls) overpowered the vegan ube ice cream. Delicious, but cloying. I prefer a higher ice cream ratio.
I didn’t get to try everything vegan on the island, but I found enough reminders that you can return to the scene to grieve lost dreams and still rewrite your story. Do I miss the old flavors when I pass our old haunts and their made-up memories? Of course. But the past lies. I’m wide awake now.
I could chase the ghost of who I used to be here: the hopeful honeymooner, the dutiful wife, the tradition-keeping mother. Or I could do what Boracay itself has done: rebuild, redefine, survive. Some memories deserve to fade, and some flavors are better the second time around.
