Alavar Seafood Restaurant

Alavar Seafood Restaurant is one of Zamboanga’s most famous food spots, so we made sure to try it for lunch. Since there were only two of us, we went for their combo meals—Combo Meal #4 (shrimp rebosado, pork ribs, pork chop with rice) and Combo Meal #6 (chicken BBQ, grilled belly, buttered shrimps, rice, and green mango with bagoong). Both meals were flavorful, generous in portions. The restaurant has that classic Zamboanga charm and the staff were friendly and accommodating. We weren’t able to try their house specialty Curacha (deep-sea crabs) this time since one large order (3 pcs) is ₱2,800 and an XL (2 pcs) is ₱3,000—but definitely saving that for our next visit when the budget allows. Overall, a satisfying meal and a must-try stop when in Zamboanga City.

The food is not delicious and its pricey. The staff is not accommodating and friendly. I celebrated my birthday there and not even one staff greeted me or sang me a happy birthday obviously i had a cake on my table and it took 1hour before we got our food definitely will not be back.

Absolutely horrible experience!!! We ordered two platters (supposedly good for two each), but what came out was cold, tasteless, and honestly felt like leftovers thrown together. The Alavar sauce? Don’t even get me started. It’s not Alavar anymore — it’s just coconut milk soup pretending to be one. The real flavor that made it famous? Completely gone. And as if that wasn’t enough, even their payment process was a total disaster! I paid through QR Ph, got charged immediately, yet they kept insisting they didn’t receive it. Seriously?! That’s not just annoying — it’s unacceptable. This place is a disgrace to what Zamboanga cuisine used to stand for. An insult to the legacy they’re supposed to honor. Never coming back, and I hope others think twice before wasting their money here.

We ate here for dinner. The place has a really rustic, spanish influence kind of vibe as with most of the sights in Zamboanga. The food was good. The seafood was expectedly fresh. The star of the show was definitely the Alavar sauce. So much so, that we ended up buying the sauce (yes they sell packs of it). The wait time for the food was a bit long tho.

I ordered Set No. 8 but unfortunately, our experience did not match the recommendations we heard about this place. The waiting time was quite long, and when the food finally arrived, the rice was cold and hard. The blue marlin was tough and tasted almost raw. When I mentioned it to the server, the response was that it wasn’t undercooked but “old” — which was quite confusing. Even the replacement dish they brought out was still cold. The only saving grace was the Alavar sauce, which was flavorful, but sadly it wasn’t enough to make the meal worth ₱850. Overall, it felt like we were paying more for the ambiance (a Spanish-inspired old house setting) rather than the quality of the food. Based on our experience, it wasn’t worth the hype.

I don't know what happened but our overall experience compared with our visit last 2023 was not good. Even entering the restaurant we noticed the smell of urine and toilet cleaner seemingly emanating from the comfort room. I noticed how mouldy their air conditioning is when I got a whiff passing by their pasalubong cupboards. What's more depressing is the quality of the food (given the current exorbitant prices) which somehow isn't the same anymore. We ordered a seafood platter, and despite the 30-40 minute wait to allow for cooking time, the food arrived at room temperature. The rice was lacking, the squid was chewy, the fish was dry, and the curacha lacked the sweetness of its meat which we were accustomed to. The seaweed salad smelled and tasted more of an unclean fish tank, which even generous amounts of vinegar and ginger could not hide. We're not sure if we were served remnants of previous Christmas celebrations but we were quite disappointed. Service was a bit slow - even asking for tissue took more than 10 minutes. Shakes arrived melted. The staff however was courteous and kind and we were happy with the warmth they presented. We usually go here looking forward to their seafood offerings, especially their famous curacha and Alavar sauce. But, given the price, the worsening traffic, the heat, the commute where tricycle drivers can only think in multiples of 50, and the current quality of the food, I'm not sure if it's still worth going out of our way to visit the restaurant again or if it's best to just buy their sauce elsewhere. I hope they improve because it has always been Alavar when I think of Zamboanga food, and it's the one restaurant I had been recommending when people want to visit.

Celebrated my aunts birthday here. It was a very nice restaurant. They specialise in sea food but they do have other options in their menu.

The food was super great! The curacha, paired with the rich and flavorful Alavar sauce, was truly a BIEN SABROSO experience—definitely something I’d come back for! Yes na yes! The place also has an amazing ambience, perfect for enjoying a hearty meal. The food never failed our expectation, knowing it is one of the go to restaurants in Zamboanga City. However, the service fell short of expectations. We had to remind the servers several times before our requests were attended to, which slightly dampened the overall experience. Still, the quality of the food, especially the curacha, made the visit worthwhile.

Yelp 100 Challenge 2018 - #36/100 The Alavar name/brand has been around for quite sometime. I have fond memories of spending time with my family eating their signature dish curacha (spanner crab) with Alavar sauce. Curacha is a type of crab but its meat tastes like lobster. Those were good times. Fast forward 15 something years and I had the opportunity to go back to my birthplace and visit one of my most loved places. Sad to say I was underwhelmed. The Alavar sauce that I was craving was overly sweet now. We ordered a seafood platter and felt that the grilled cuttlefish/squid wasn't fresh as it was emanating a strong fishy odor so we notified the server, they offered to replace the offending squid, not the whole platter. Mind you everything was touching each other on the platter. I couldn't eat anything off of that platter so I just ate the pancit (noodles) that we ordered as well. Parking is limited and the restroom? For a "higher scale restaurant" it sure needs a lot of revamping is all I'm going to say. Service wasn't bad, wasn't good either.

For some tasty saucy Seafood , The Curacha crab is awesome. Got to go there every time I'm in Zamboanga

Good food. Famous for serving famous Zamboanga dishes. Try their curacha. Will visit again soon.