Nena's Bibingka

Canerbasus

4.0

Ever since I was a kid, me and my grandmother eats here ordering their "Special Bibingka and Palabok"... A simple resto for kid's born in the 70's. You're "Bibingka" is still the best! God Bless... :-)

Pauline Belarmino

3.0

Nena's Bibingka is known for their rice cakes and Filipino meals. The logo shows that it has been in existence since 1954. I heard this place from the older generation, and my mom, who is a big fan of rice cakes, craves for this particular offering.It's one of the unlikeliest place you'd like to visit. It's adjacent to the Cubao expo which is abundant with those public utility vehicles called jeepneys. It's also not the cleanest area in town but the background information got me curious, so I headed there.The place is dingy and a little bit run down from outside. The lights were dim, and the interiors were decorated with old furniture. It has that old Filipino vibe to it. The walls seem to be coated with layers of dust that may have accumulated overtime. Some of the paint chipped off and somehow shows a gloomy atmosphere if you stare at it too long.It wasn't quite dinner time yet when I visited, and one thing that I noticed from outside was a tarpaulin that they had a 95 peso merienda buffet. I just had to check what they were offering, then if all seem good, l'd proceed.I saw bite size rice cakes, locally known as "kakanin" or "bibingka". Variants of the local sweets were all displayed on the long table. They also had lumpiang sariwa, which consists of fresh vegetables such as bamboo shoots, carrots etc. This is topped with crushed peanuts and the usual sweet sauce. There were also 2 types of soup dishes. One is "lomi" which is a soup with thick noodle strands and some vegetables and the other one is "lugaw" which is the local congee but a bit more garlicky. This was placed in 2 black cauldrons near the wall. There was also crunchy okoy, but no shrimps just bean sprout fritters. Last... and unfortunately the least is the "pancit". Well, it's sauteed vermicelli with some vegetables. No meat. The noodles were not long strands but was overcooked and cut. Some of it stuck together like a big chunk of cubed noodles.The buffet obviously scrimped on the meat, so you won't see much. Basically, it's carb overload. I think it's the same style of other well known merienda buffets which are carb-heavy meals and nothing more.But honestly for 95 pesos. It's not bad. I was pretty full and I didn't even go for a second round. One was enough. The food wasn't so bad as well. I like the rice cake with a brown top which tasted like toasted coconut and sugar. The lugaw was ok, but I enjoyed the lumpia the most.My only comment is the place, it's quite drab. The service, is ok though. The staff were courteous but the ambiance feels grim. Also, I'm not sure if the airconditioner was working. It wasn't hot though, and they had fans in the place, so it did the job cooling the restaurant. The temperature wasn't uncomfortable but I seated near a swivel fan, so I'm not sure if the other areas were hot.For the clientele... hmmm... well you'll get the noisy and rowdy ones or some who removes their flip flops and seat in a way that you could see the sole of their foot. Yes, it was an eyesore and definitely nauseating but it is something that you expect in areas like this. So you can't be snooty here.