Cafés in Puerto Princesa: where the wifi works
Three answers, depending on what you need. Gold Cup Specialty Coffee Roasters, at Rizal Avenue and Abad Santos, 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 opens at 06:00 and runs to 23:00, which makes it the pre-Underground River breakfast; ₱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 it has one unbeatable feature: it opens at 06:00.
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.
Seven 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 | Hours | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold Cup Specialty Coffee Roasters Rizal Ave and Abad Santos | Working. Fast wifi, real specialty roasting, food, and the current number one answer to "where can I open a laptop" | ₱200–295 | Café hours | WORTH IT |
| Itoy's Coffee Haus Rizal Avenue · +63 48 433 5182 | Breakfast before a 06:30 tour pickup. Sizzling bulalo is the house dish; also breakfasts, cheesecake and signature drinks | ₱180–300 | 06:00–23:00 | 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 | Café hours | 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 | Shop hours | 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 | Opens 08:00 | WORTH IT |
| NomNom Comfort Food city centre | Brunch and remote work — burgers, coffee, a table you can sit at for two hours | ₱150–300 | Café hours | WORTH IT |
| White Fence Café 296 Manalo Extension, at Purple Courtyard Inn | European-countryside decor and liempo or sisig breakfasts. UNVERIFIED for 2026 — check before you go | ₱150–300 | 06:00–21:00 on older data | DEPENDS |
Two of these open before 07:00 — Itoy's and, on unverified older hours, White Fence. That matters more than anything else on this table if your tour van comes at 06:30.
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.
Café questions, answered
Where can I work from a café in Puerto Princesa?
Gold Cup Specialty Coffee Roasters at Rizal Avenue and Abad Santos 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.
What time do cafés open in Puerto Princesa?
Most from 08:00. The exception that matters is Itoy's Coffee Haus on Rizal Avenue, open 06:00–23:00, which is why it is the standard breakfast before a 06:30–08:30 tour pickup. White Fence Café is listed 06:00–21:00 on older, unverified data.
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 a 6am tour pickup?
Itoy's Coffee Haus, open from 06:00 on Rizal Avenue, which serves sizzling bulalo and full breakfasts at ₱180–300. Most hotels will also do an early breakfast if you ask the night before. Tour pickups run 06:30–08:30, so 06:00 gives you a genuine sit-down.
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.