This article was made possible by the kind sponsorship of Dr. P.R.M, the newest member of the Bacolod Food hunters.
The island of Negros is blessed with abundant natural resources and surrounded by clean blue sea. It is not surprising then that seafood restaurants are popular in Bacolod. Tourists and locals alike enjoy the delicious bounty that the waters around Negros offer.
18th street PalaPala is one of those popular “al fresco” seafood restaurants. Tucked away along quiet 18th street Bacolod city, the restaurant attracts a lot of people.
The Bacolod Food hunters were invited to dinner by Dr. P.R.M. It was a dark and stormy night, but that didn’t dampen anyone’s enthusiasm in the least.
The inside of Palapala was well lit. Whimsical boat lamps hung from the ceiling while lamps inside huge shells adorned the walls. The seafood selection area was well lit with fluorescent lamps, enabling the diner to see with clarity the food that he orders.
We headed to the selection area to make our orders. During the day, there are a lot of flies hovering about the fish and the crabs which is quite a turn-off for the squeamish. At night, there are fewer flies and it is a bit “cleaner”.
Dr. P.R.M generously ordered a lot of food, enough to feed an army! I only wanted one thing, 18th street Palapala’s Kinilaw.
It is so delicious! Tangigue chunks mixed with white onions, salted egg, coconut milk, black beans and vinegar and then left to marinate so the citric acid cooks the fish before being served at your table. This is the dish that 18th street Palapala is famous for. The finest sushi in Bacolod does not even come close to the sheer magnificence of this dish !
Dr. P.R.M’s ordered food began to arrive and everything looked and smelled wonderful! It seemed that we had ordered too much food at first.
If you ever want to try seafood try 18th street Palapala! We highly recommend their Kinilaw.
Thank you Dr. P.R.M for the wonderful evening!
Dr. P.R.M likes Pao Tsin’s fried sharksfin siomai but he only eats it at Harrison’s plaza with plenty of chili soy sauce and washed down with buko juice and for his after meal exercise, a round or two at the stuffed toy crane game.
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The Bacolod Food Hunters 
Martin,
I think this was a fair and objective evaluation of 18th Street Palapala. You’re right about the flies. Twice my wife and I went there and the flies were so thick we had to leave. This restaurant has a branch over by Loupes East. The Loupes facility appears to be much cleaner than the downtown facility and it doesn’t seem to have as bad a fly problem.
Jim,
I really think the flies are a problem too. The flies are a BIG problem during the day. No tangigue kinilaw for me during the DAY, I’m quite sure the bacteria carried by the flies are quite capable of surviving the vinegar and the calamansi juice.
Martin,
Thank-you for your kind response. I wish 18th St. Palapala would install some large fans over the food to keep the fly’s away. There are a number of outdoor type restaurants in Bacolod, but none of them seem to have the fly problem that 18th Street has.
Oooh… the pictures make me hungry! …especially the kinilaw and sinigang. I’ve eaten at 18th Palapala restaurant before, but I think I haven’t tasted their kinilaw yet. Thanks for the recommendation. I definitely should try their kinilaw when I get back to Bacolod.
The kinilaw in 18th St Pala Pala is TOP NOTCH!!! It is BEST IN SHOW!
I think they got the secret of good kinilaw which is the vinegar and salted egg + very fresh fish. The vinegar used is tuba. Or natural coconut vinegar. Kinilaw in the battery acid of datu puti is just bad.
The salted egg also helps to neutralize the sourness of the vinegar and gives the ceviche a nice deep and wonderful flavor.
When you go to Pala Pala, you should get it. I love it so much I order it for take outs then have an inuman session at home.
18th St. We Salute You. Don’t you dare change your recipe.
wll i am pleased i was not the only one put of by the FLYS—FLYS—FLYS,,,hell we walked in around 5pm early meal we thought,,,not to be the fish was alive with blue bottles and flys of all denominations,,with no covering on the fish not even a fan to make it hard for them,,,just a simple net contraption on a frame would do the trick,,,, it is obviouse that the late diners have not seen the situation,,,they are eating highly contaminated food,,,a health inspector would close them down,,,here is one who wilnever darken there door again bob
I really want to try this but hate the flies. Don’t they have screen windows and doors? Siguro ma-take out na lang ko. Is this possible? Just wondering. I haven’t been to this place but heard that food is really great here.
Maria,
This place has the *worst* fly problem of any restaurant I’ve ever been in. The flies are worse at 18th Street Palapala than they are at the local wet market. It’s a shame because the problem could easily be fixed with a few well placed fans blowing on the fish.
A friend of mine said I should go there after dark when the flies are gone. I thought, “Oh, great!! I can now eat a piece of fish that was black with flies just an hour or so before.” No thanks!!
There are a lot of good restaurants in Bacolod. 18 Street Palapala is one of the places I absolutely avoid.
the chicken pandan’s great too… as long as you eat it warm =)
Your review on the food is enticing but the fly issue is a big turn off. Someone has to tell the owners about this. Aren’t they planning to do do something?
Flies are really a big problem. Owner Nonoy Lopez won’t spent any money to improved this 18th pala pala. And suppliers won’t give him any credit since they already know his operation. Give him credit (pa-utang) for the materials and nonoy lopez will find a way not to pay you back.
Eddie Boy,
I think you’re right about the owner of this restaurant. For your info, it’s not just with his restaurant that his doing this kind of operation. He also does it with his other sideline businesses that he already victimized a lot of people from Bacolod. Shame on you Mr. Lopez….
Mary of homesite, toto and eddie boy, you are all fakes. You are just one person using a single computer. Your comments are not credible at all. I will now ban you from posting further comments.
It seems like flies is really a big issue and honestly, I have also experienced it while eating at 18th pala-pala. Bob is really right that those foods are contaminated. I have eaten there once and it would be my last time to eat there. In fact, some of the food that we ordered have a smell. Seems like it was cooked already and they just froze it. It really turned me off….
what a useless review, so is it the flies youre eating and youre making a review about them?
If you truly are a food reviewer then you’ll have to go through the odds of eating anything, and give your honest opinion. You cannot even talk about the food, and here you are telling everyone about the flies. Are trying to do a sabotage? such an ass you are.
Hello everyone! Im from the north and I went all the way just to have a taste of this famous 18th street Pala Pala. The food was just above my expectations.. I love the lapu lapu, and their kilawen. It was superbly done! I do not normally eat seafood but I just could not resist them when it was infront of me served in 18th street Pala Pala. I strongly recommend this place, and please, do not leave Bacolod without having a visit. I also noticed how warm the people were. They were very accommodating towards me and my dad. It would be a great time for you to bring your family with you and enjoy the home cooked seafood meals. About the place — Ive been reading the earlier posts and I don’t believe in the fly problem. Prolly posted by people who would like to compete, then theyve got to do better. Did not notice anything flying around, it was an open area and the mood was just relaxed,
This is a great find and you will get all your money’s worth.
Just a thought, maybe the fly issue were referring to is at the OLD PALA-PALA.
no they’re just one guy commenting over and over. I did some internet sleuthing and found that the comments were made from only one computer. Just one guy using different user names.
Come on people lets move on.. hehe let’s talk about more pleasant stuff like food!
I had the chance to eat lunch yesterday with my friends and i was so embarrased to see those flies flying all over the area. Do you think it’s healthy to eat with those flies on top of your foods? Now i’m convince that there’s a lot of seafood restaurants way off better and cheaper than 18th pala pala that can’t even fix their fly problrms…
So far, I haven’t encountered the same fly problem when my family and I visited 18th st. palala. I actually love the place and the food. I even wrote a review about the restaurant here: http://www.myfoodtrips.info/2011/02/family-time-bacolods-18th-st-palapala.html#more