Clean Beach: A Cafe in San Juan (La Union) with An Advocacy to Help Locals Clean Its Beach

When my wife and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary, we did a semi-spontaneous trip to San Juan, the surfing town of La Union, a province in northern Philippines. But we didn’t expect for the accommodations there to be outside of our budget, and that many establishments don’t accept credit cards. So we ended up staying for only a night and travelled all the way up north to Vigan City, Ilocos Sur (check out my article here).

I told myself that I’ll definitely go back to San Juan someday and explore its food scene. And I recently returned, albeit for a quick side trip, and visited Clean Beach.

Clean Beach started as a humble kiosk in 2017. Now, it’s a beachside cafe slash restaurant with a commitment to serve quality coffee. But more than that, it advocates, as its name suggests, for cleaning the beach and helping the locals preserve their place. (If I’m not mistaken, you can get a free drink when you help clean the beach. But do check with the staff first.)

Being a beachside cafe, Clean Beach has a chill vibe.

They also have a store, where you can buy clothing and souvenirs:

Since they’re known for their coffee, I tried one of their specialties—the Breakfast Latte. It’s a good coffee with the right sweetness. It also has a creamy foam with crunchy cereals on top.

To whet our appetites, we got their Nacho Karlo, which is named after its head chef. It has a bagnet (Ilocano crispy pork belly) bits, homemade tortilla chips, and other usual nacho ingredients.

If you want your nachos to be traditional, then ask for beef instead.

We also got their Party Fries, which is a mix of crisp potato and kamote (sweet potato) fries. Its dip (I think its ranch) brings it to the next level.

If you want to eat healthily, then you can try one of their salads. We tried their Caesar Salad, which has crisp veggies and a nice dressing.

For mains, I tried their Ohana Burger, which is a favorite among surfers. It has pineapple, which is naturally sweet and tart, and bubs that are sweet and buttery. But the patty could be juicier, and cheddar sharper.

Ohana Burger (Solo: PHP250; Meal: PHP380)

Another dish we tried is the Bagnet-Sea-Log, which has bagnet, red rice, 2 sunny side-up eggs, and atchara (pickled papaya). As expected, the bagnet lacks seasoning (this is how they serve it in the north).

My favorite dish would be the I Want Spam Buns. It’s composed of salty spam and creamy eggs sandwiched between sweet buns! It’s really satisfying!

I Want Spam Buns (Solo: PHP250; Meal: PHP380)

When I was drafting the article, I found out that they’re known for their Kaya (coconut custard) Toast. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to try it. So I guess we now have a reason to return. LOL.

Although I honestly think there’s nothing spectacular with the food, Clean Beach should still be in your San Juan eatinerary. They have good coffee, chill vibes, and, most importantly, a nice advocacy. I recommend it to you!

Address: 134 Beachfront, MacArthur Hwy., Brgy. Urbiztondo, San Juan, La Union, Philippines | Operating Hours: Sunday-Thursday, 7AM-9PM; Friday & Saturday, 7AM-10PM | Facebook | Instagram