Chicken Inasal in Bacolod

You've never been to Bacolod if you haven't tasted its famous Chicken Inasal. So it was (and should be) included in our recent Bacolod trip. Prior to our trip, I researched about the best place to taste and experience Chicken Inasal. There were many restaurants that offered Chicken Inasal but we still chose to eat at Manokan Country.

3rd restaurant of Nena's Beth

During our stay in Bacolod, we asked some locals the exact location of the said place. One of them said that it's located in the Downtown area while my conversation with the other guy went on like this;

me: "San po ba ang Manokan Country dito?"
guy: "Huh?" (perplexed)
me: (yari, Ilonggo ata 'to)
       "Yung may Chicken Inasal po?" 
       (sabay acting ko sa pagkain ng inasal)
guy: "Ah! ayun oh!"
me: (sabay tingin)
        "Saan po?"
guy: "Ayun dun, Mang Inasal"
me: (Tumingin at nakita ang Mang Inasal sabay ngiti na papalapit na sa tawa)
        "Hindi po 'yun kuya, marami na pong ganun sa Manila 'yung Manokan Country po"
guy: (Kamot ulo) 
        "Pasensya na, 'di ko alam eh."
me: "Ok lang po, Thank you po"

So we went on and asked more people, one of them told us that it's near SM Bacolod. Nice, 'coz I'm looking for Island Souvenirs' t-shirt for my bro. We went to SM and with no luck, there's no Islands Souvenirs there (buti pa sa Guimaras meron). We then went to the famous Manokan Country which is beside SM Bacolod.

That's Nena on the photo

Larsian of Cebu is similar to Manokan Country; it's a market-like structure with different restaurants lined up. And we chose, of course, Nena's Beth. We ended up in Nena's Beth 3. I dunno if how many stalls were there but almost all of it were full of hungry customers on a Friday night. You can also easily distinguish locals from tourists because of the language they speak and of course, tourists tend to take photos of every little thing or detail of their trip so it's obvious. It was a very busy Friday night for the Bacolod's famous Chicken Inasal.

We immediately saw a photo hanging on the cashier area and asked the person there if whose photo was that. He then told us that it's Nena. And how about Beth? It is Nena's daughter, thus the name "Nena's Beth".

so many choices

First Step is to choose the Chicken parts you want them to grill for you. Then, you check out the menu for some additional orders like soup and rice. We chose 1 order of pa-a (1 pc. chicken thigh), 1 order of pak-pak (3 pcs. of chicken wings), 1 order of pecho (1 pc. chicken breast), 1 order of atay (4 pcs. chicken liver) and 2 orders of tinae (chicken intestines).  We also ordered 1.5 liters of soda and 3 cups of rice. We were really hungry that time.

condiments galore

Every table was given its own set of condiments which included; toyo (soy sauce), calamansi (some-kind-of-a-lemon), chili, toasted garlic and the "chicken oil" (which is actually oil+chicken cubes+atsuete). We didn't wait too long for our orders to be served. We asked a lady server for some utensils (maybe a spoon and a fork) for she only gave us 2 plates and glasses. The server then told us that people often use their bare hands to eat. Me and my friend looked at each other (giddy) and asked for their wash room. We mixed our own version of sauces and then we ate. We were really hungry that time and excited to finally taste the famous Bacolod Chicken Inasal.

grilled or toasted?

yummy!

After all the carcinogens, we asked for the bill and the total damage was 248 pesos. Not bad right? We checked the bill and saw an item named "tinae", so we figured out that it's the "isaw". We asked our very attentive server to satisfy our curiosity;

me: "Ate, ano po 'yung tinae?"

lady server: (pointing to the intestines)

me: (we can't stop laughing)

       "Eh ano naman 'yung dumi ng tao sa inyo?"

lady server: "Tae"

me: (laughter again)

        "Ok lang ba na tae ang tawag sa pagkain?"

(laughter from me, my friend and the server)

The lady server was so attentive and she is always ready when we need her (even if we don't). We asked for more ice for the soda, asked her to take photo of us and asked for more tissue napkins. She happily assisted and attended to our every need. She even wiped our table when she saw the moisture from the ice bucket. I really love the (her) service. I personally gave her my tip (baka kasi centralized tipping sila dun).

the lady server/photographer is the best!

So what's the verdict? Hmmm... The ambience was great. No smoke coming from the grilling area. The Chicken Inasal is way cheaper in Bacolod. When it comes to taste, it is comparable to what we have here in Manila. I dunno if it's just me but they kinda taste the same. Their "chicken oil" is much better though. Their atay has this "lansa" feel to it. But the isaw is a different story. I haven't tasted anything better compared to their version of isaw. It's the best and if I come back to Bacolod, I would order tinae again! 

walang gana?!

Check Bacolod City accommodations here