As lots of restaurants in Naga are sprouting, it would be threatening to eateries and cafeterias to continue business. But still, many are confidently staying in the market and continue flourishing.
In one corner of Dayangdang’s main road lies one of the best kinalas in Naga,the Kinalas Twin. It is one of the few eateries specializing in the dishes. One can easily spot the Kinalas Twin not because of its sign but by the traffic it causes. Outside the main road, movement was slowed down by motorcycles, jeeps, and cars parked hurriedly by eager customers. One look at the hectic place and no invitation is needed.Inside the Kinalas Twin, Edwin Rey, the owner, serves the orders after assembling them into an appetizing manner.
Edwin said that sales have been brisk since he opened Kinalas Twin in 1991. "Each day, I buy 70-75 kilos of fresh noodles, 40 kilos pork head, and five kilos lean meat. All these are consumed before we close every 6:30 p.m., nothing is left, even during the Holy Week," he says.
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| chili/vinegar concoction waiting to be added in kinalas |
Edwin reveals his trade secrets lie in the sauce and in freshness: "I make a very flavorful sauce and I make sure that every ingredient I use is fresh."
One would be trully satisfied for eating kinalas, prices at Kinalas Twin range only from P11 to P26. And you can ask for additional sauce and broth, even noodles!
In another corner in Dayangdang, there is a hut with walls made of alternating sawali and galvanized iron. The place had no sign, but like Kinalas Twin, droves of vehicles were parked alongside.
The hut is owned and run by Aurelio or "Manoy Elio" Amelano and his wife Helen. In this seemingly run-down place, they serve kinalas and log-log cooked in a charcoal stove along with baduya (plantain fritters), chakoy (fried chewy bread rolled in sugar), and balisoso (sweetened ground rice wrapped in banana leaves). While these native snacks are reason enough to search for Manoy Elio’s hut, his kinalas and log-log are those which attract a loyal following.
Tya Kamot serves another best kinalas/luglog in town. The carienderia is on the ground floor of this dilapidated house and bears no name. It's a local secret and people flock to taste her one of a kind noodle from breakfast to merienda. She's been serving kinalas for the longest time and there's a story that the building beside the eatery is hers, but has been unfinished for years now ( because all 5 of her sons who are addicted to drugs steal from the eatery's earnings ). Now, she has helpers to do the serving and she just computes and handles the money. |
| Helper of Tya Kamot |
There are many restaurants that serve this Kinalas in Naga, but there is this restaurant located along Elias Angeles downtown Naga that serves this great.
It is Bolofers. The restaurant is open 24hours a day, 7 days a week. When in Naga, don’t forget to have this dish. It is a simple yet a very delectable noodle dish very much different from the popular noodles at popular noodle houses. Maybe because Kinalas is an original Bicol dish and that made the difference. Trully, everyone should taste the "masiramon na kakanon na yaon lang sa Naga"(delectable dishes only found best in Naga)!!
