Cafés in Puerto Princesa: where the wifi works
Three answers, depending on what you need. Gold Cup Specialty Coffee Roasters, on Rizal Avenue with a second branch on Abad Santos Street, is the digital-nomad headquarters — real specialty roasting, fast wifi, drinks ₱200–295, and the current answer to working from a café here. Itoy's Coffee Haus on Rizal Avenue, often called the city's first coffee shop, is the heritage breakfast before an Underground River day — check its Maps listing for the current opening time; ₱180–300 and the sizzling bulalo is the house speciality. Eightynine Cafe on Roxas Street is the Instagram one at about ₱250 a combo. And the city's wifi is materially better than El Nido's — do your admin here.
This scene did not exist five years ago
Puerto Princesa's specialty coffee scene is a genuinely recent development — post-2023 — which is why so many guides to this city have nothing useful to say about it.
For years the answer to coffee here was Itoy's Coffee Haus, which bills itself as the first coffee shop in Puerto Princesa and was once nicknamed the Starbucks of Palawan on TripAdvisor. It is still open, still charming, and the coffee itself draws the occasional overly bitter complaint. It is a nostalgic institution rather than a dazzling one, and a reliable place for a proper breakfast before a tour day.
What changed is a small cluster of proper roasters and brunch rooms opening from 2023 onwards: Gold Cup, Eightynine, Mayad, NomNom, plus the cashew-coffee bar at Isla Casoy de Palawan. None of them is trying to be a third-wave shrine and all of them do the two things a traveller actually needs — a working table and a drink under ₱300.
The wider point matters more than the coffee. Puerto Princesa has materially better wifi than El Nido, and the standing advice from bloggers who work from Palawan is to do your admin, your uploads and your calls here before you go north. If you have a working day to spend in this province, spend it in this city.
Six cafés, and what each is actually for
Sorted by what you need rather than by rank. Prices are 2026 bands at ₱58 ≈ $1, and all of these are in or near the city centre.
| Café | What it is for | Price | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gold Cup Specialty Coffee Roasters 293 Rizal Ave (Chiu Building) · branch at 41 Abad Santos St | Working. Fast wifi, real specialty roasting, food, and the current number one answer to "where can I open a laptop" | ₱200–295 | WORTH IT |
| Itoy's Coffee Haus Rizal Avenue · +63 48 433 5182 | A proper breakfast before a tour day. Sizzling bulalo is the house dish; also breakfasts, cheesecake and signature drinks | ₱180–300 | WORTH IT |
| Eightynine Cafe Roxas Street, city centre | Photographs. Latte art, novelty drinks, combo sets. Trending since 2025 and busiest at weekends | ~₱250 a combo | WORTH IT |
| Isla Casoy de Palawan Mercado de San Miguel | Cashew-infused coffee plus a pasalubong counter — wifi, power outlets and, unusually, no crowd | ₱150–300 | WORTH IT |
| Mayad Cafe Freedom Park, San Pedro | Cake. Small room, good desserts, run by two people who are most of the reviews | ₱150–300 | WORTH IT |
| NomNom Comfort Food city centre | Brunch and remote work — burgers, coffee, a table you can sit at for two hours | ₱150–300 | WORTH IT |
If your tour van comes at 06:30, check each café's live Google Maps listing for the current opening time the night before — or ask your hotel for an early breakfast, which most will do.
Rather book it?NomNom Comfort Food — ₱150–300 per head on TripAdvisor ↗
Itoy's Coffee Haus, in practice
Gold Cup Specialty Coffee Roasters
Do your work here, not in El Nido
This is the single most useful thing on this page for anyone travelling with a laptop, and almost nobody says it.
Puerto Princesa has the best connectivity in Palawan, the province's only real hospitals, and a functioning city around both. El Nido is better at what you came to Palawan for and worse at everything that involves a screen. If there is a working day, a visa form, a big upload or a call that matters somewhere in your trip, do it in a Rizal Avenue café before you get on the van.
That applies double in the wet season, when August and September afternoons are the ones you will spend indoors anyway. A ₱250 coffee buys a table for two hours in air-conditioning with wifi, which is a better use of a rainy afternoon than the mall food court.
One caveat that is nothing to do with the cafés: Palawan's grid is isolated and rotational brownouts recur, including a province-wide outage of around 13 hours in May 2026. Charge when you can, and do not leave a deadline until your last afternoon here.
Before you settle in with a laptop
Cafés here do not take bookings. What is worth sorting in advance is your own connection, because café wifi in Palawan is good by local standards rather than good.
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Café questions, answered
Where can I work from a café in Puerto Princesa?
Gold Cup Specialty Coffee Roasters on Rizal Avenue, with a second branch on Abad Santos Street, is the answer — fast wifi, real roasting and food, with drinks at ₱200–295. NomNom Comfort Food is the runner-up at ₱150–300, and Isla Casoy de Palawan has outlets and no crowd.
Is the wifi good in Puerto Princesa?
Better than anywhere else in Palawan, and materially better than El Nido — the standing advice from people who work from the province is to do uploads, calls and admin here before heading north. Note that the island grid has recurring brownouts, including a roughly 13-hour province-wide outage in May 2026.
Where is the best coffee in Puerto Princesa?
Gold Cup, on specialty terms — it is the only place in the city actually roasting to that standard, at ₱200–295 a drink. Itoy's is the heritage pick and gets occasional "overly bitter" complaints. Eightynine at about ₱250 a combo is more about how the drink looks than how it tastes.
Is there anywhere to eat before an early tour pickup?
Ask your hotel first: most will do an early breakfast if you ask the night before. Itoy's Coffee Haus on Rizal Avenue serves sizzling bulalo and full breakfasts at ₱180–300 — check its Google Maps listing for the current opening time against your 06:30–08:30 pickup.
What is cashew coffee and where do you get it?
Coffee infused with Palawan cashew, sold at Isla Casoy de Palawan at Mercado de San Miguel, which is also a pasalubong shop with wifi and power outlets. Cashew brittle and roasted packs there run ₱100–300 — the same goods are cheaper at the public market if you haggle.
Are Puerto Princesa cafés expensive?
By local standards, yes — ₱200–295 for a specialty drink is two carinderia meals or three chaolong bowls. By any other standard, no. Budget ₱150–300 for a coffee and something to eat at anywhere on this list except Gold Cup, which sits at the top.