Tucked away in Calbiga, Samar is a restaurant called Angelina's Eatery which serves the best chicken tinola in Region 8. In fact, it serves only chicken tinola and pairs it with a special variety of rice called kalinayan.
The tinola in Angelina's Eatery is unique because it is cooked using native chicken. Yes, the kind you used to see in your backyard.
Kalinayan, on the other hand, is a special variety of rice known for its nutritive, aromatic quality. It is different because it is grown upland (or in hills) rather than on plains. It's grains are not white but have a reddish color. It costs about P50-P60 pesos per kilo.
How to get there: Calbiga is a 4th class municipality in the province of Samar. It is about 62 kilometers from Tacloban City in Leyte, or about an hour's drive on the newly asphalted National Highway. Driving there is a breeze. Travellers going to Samar from Leyte (and vice versa) are familiar with Calbiga because it is among the usual stopovers for the numerous buses and FX vehicles plying the route. As a bonus, and if you need more inducement, you get to pass through the majestic San Juanico Bridge to get there.
You also get to buy maybe the best gabi (taro) in the region, which Warays like to eat with lechon (or with anything actually), and binato, a type of banana which looks like the senorita bananas except binato needs to boiled before eating.
All in all, a trip worth making.
(P.S. I know, if there ever was a blog post that needed pictures, this is it. However, in my defense, the battery of my digital camera - which is 7 years old at least - conks out so often I've resorted to leaving it at home. In fact, that camera is so old I'm not even sure if it can be called a "digital" camera, its 2 mega pixel lens notwithstanding.)
The tinola in Angelina's Eatery is unique because it is cooked using native chicken. Yes, the kind you used to see in your backyard.
Kalinayan, on the other hand, is a special variety of rice known for its nutritive, aromatic quality. It is different because it is grown upland (or in hills) rather than on plains. It's grains are not white but have a reddish color. It costs about P50-P60 pesos per kilo.
How to get there: Calbiga is a 4th class municipality in the province of Samar. It is about 62 kilometers from Tacloban City in Leyte, or about an hour's drive on the newly asphalted National Highway. Driving there is a breeze. Travellers going to Samar from Leyte (and vice versa) are familiar with Calbiga because it is among the usual stopovers for the numerous buses and FX vehicles plying the route. As a bonus, and if you need more inducement, you get to pass through the majestic San Juanico Bridge to get there.
You also get to buy maybe the best gabi (taro) in the region, which Warays like to eat with lechon (or with anything actually), and binato, a type of banana which looks like the senorita bananas except binato needs to boiled before eating.
All in all, a trip worth making.
(P.S. I know, if there ever was a blog post that needed pictures, this is it. However, in my defense, the battery of my digital camera - which is 7 years old at least - conks out so often I've resorted to leaving it at home. In fact, that camera is so old I'm not even sure if it can be called a "digital" camera, its 2 mega pixel lens notwithstanding.)
1 comment:
The rice is called 'baysilanon' in Calbiga. Its color is red and the grains are smaller.
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