merienda all you can at Nena’s

I love eating kakanin. One of my fondest childhood memories was waking up to the sound of a kakanin peddler selling kutsinta. I love the feel of eating fresh kutsinta and puto in the morning with fresh coconut meat gratings.

This love for kakanin was the reason why I love eating at Nena’s Special Bibingka and Restaurant. For only 75 pesos (tax included, no leftover price) per person, I get to indulge on the following (thanks to Ivan about town for the Philippine street food dictionary):

1. kutsinta – steamed boiled rice with lye and brown sugar; has a gelatinous consistency. Their kutsinta has just the right consistency and it’s not too sweet.
2. puto – stemead rice cake. This is great with their dinuguan.
   
3. maja blanca
   
4. ube cake
5. nilupak – mashed banana with brown sugar and served with butter or margarine
6. cassava cake
7. bukayo ricecake
8. sapin – sapin – layered glutinous rice and coconut milk cake usually topped with grated coconut and latik [residue from coconut oil extraction]; different flavor per layer such as ube (purple yam), macapuno (young coconut), kutsinta and langka (jackfruit)
9. biko – glutinous rice cake with grated coconut topping
10. kalamay – glutinous rice cake
11. suman - glutinous rice snack steamed in banana or coconut leaves
12. and of course their special bibingka - glutinous rice flour pancakes grilled with charcoal above and below in a special clay pot

Aside from these, they also have pancit, lumpiang sariwa (fresh spring rolls), tokwa’t baboy and okoy regulary. Some dishes which are not offered all time are dinuguan (pork meat and intestines cook in pork’s blood and coconut milk), La Paz Batchoy (miki noodle soup garnished with pork innards, chicken breast, vegetables and topped with a raw egg), Goto (rice porridge or congee cooked with beef tripe)and Lomi (noodle soup made with thick fresh egg noodles).

My favorites are kutsinta, puto at dinuguan, La Paz batchoy, and the nilupak.

Aside from the food, what I like about eating at Nena’s is the place. It has a very relaxed atmosphere and you can enjoy your food. The place is located near Araneta Center Cubao, Quezon City beside Puregold Cubao. You won’t miss it since they have their eat-all-you-can banner unrolled at 2 pm but the merienda buffet is open from 3pm to 6pm.