What happens when you’re in Cubao and red-faced drunk passed midnight with a hungry appetite? Chances are, most restaurants are already closed. Don’t worry, Lola Nena is here for you. If you want a quick satisfying meal after partying, come to Lola Nena’s.
Along Aurora boulevard near Isetann, is a specialty house of delicious pichi-pichi called Lola Nena’s. Other than that, they also serve toasted siopao, pancit, and other bakery goods.
When you come here at night, it’s like a microcosm of Cubao. There’s loud noises of jeeps and vehicles, prostitutes yelling for your attention, and homeless people waiting for you to give them some spare change. But these shouldn’t be a problem. Lola Nena’s by far offers the most affordable value-for-money midnight meal there is past anyone’s bed-time. And especially when you’ve already spent all of your money on all those bars, this place is heaven sent.
At P60, they give you a hot meal of pancit and two toasted siopaos. The panicit doesn’t have any meat in it but it has good amounts of veggies on the top. So I guess it qualifies as something vegetarians can eat. It’s just easy to shove in your mouth and subdue that alcohol.
The toasted siopao has spicy sisig and egg for its filling. The dough of the siopao comes out chewy on the top with a bit of crunch at the bottom. That’s how you know it’s baked right. If you want more of it, it only costs P10 each. Affordable and worth it!
If that’s not enough, you can try some of their baked goods and pastries. I recommend you try the egg pie.
I hope this place becomes iconic or puts up more branches elsewhere. P60 for a meal like this is really great not just for regular customers, but also for those who are less fortunate like those homeless people who sleep on the pavements of Cubao. Today, there are more and more fast food chains that are becoming 24 hours with their operations. Although I see nothing wrong with that, it is apparent that they are winning the competition while their big names are increasing property and rental prices around them, choking out their competition like those Mom-and-pop local businesses.
It’s important for us to support these local businesses as they bring about better varieties and value-for-money of products and services. Plus, it’s those mom-and-pop businesses that makes a community special and attractive.