Ineng’s Special BBQ: Best Tasting BBQ In Town

It’s the 111th day of quarantine period in our region and despite of the growing number of cases in the Philippines, I’m glad that they reopened some establishments and let customers dine in to restaurants. And I’m even happier when I knew that I can finally have a savor of the best tasting BBQ in town again as I saw Ineng’s Special BBQ, located at Nuciti Calapan, went back to operations. 

I first discovered Ineng’s Special BBQ when my parents introduced and brought me to their branches in Manila. I was surprised that they know the story of this restaurant. They even remember the times when they were dropping by the weekend market at Market! Market! to buy Ineng’s barbecue to complete their meals. I think, they were going there to date. But now, we are going to their restaurant as a family. As our family grew, Ineng’s Special BBQ also expanded and built multiple branches nationwide now.

Look how successful it is now. And that is because of their luscious food.

Pork BBQ

When they tell us that they have the best-tasting BBQ in town, they really serve what they say because, I agree, it’s one of the best! It’s big. It’s compact. It’s worth your money. And we love it more because of the accompanying peanut sauce, that would just make you crave for more barbecue. We discovered this in Lipa and Manila. Sadly, they don’t have it in their Nuciti Calapan branch. When we asked for it, they say that their peanut sauce is only for their rolls.

Liempo BBQ

With Ineng’s Liempo BBQ, I must say that this restaurant is absolutely great at making barbecue dishes. The grilled pork belly is just full of flavors, which suits the sweet BBQ sauce. And for a person like me, this dish is only good for one hungry tummy. Besides, half of the meat consists of fats. But the fats were flavorful, too, so they’re edible and tolerable, especially when you pair them with their Java Rice. Therefore, I find no problem with that. 

Tuna Belly

One time, I ordered Tuna Belly and rice for take-out and in fairness, the neat packaging got me. The tuna meat is pinkish in the middle which indicates that it is cooked the way I wanted it to be. It’s not that tender though. The texture is like the ones in pork or beef meats but this is juicy. I love the flavor the grilling gives. The accompanying soy sauce give more flavors but the tuna can already do well alone.

Liempo Dinuguan

I was thinking of Kanin Clubs’s Crispy Dinuguan when I heard Ineng’s Liempo Dinuguan. But a usual dinuguan was laid on our table. Since they are emphasizing that they’re using Liempo on their Dinuguan, I hope they give it an Ineng’s twist so it would be distinct, perhaps, by adding Liempo BBQ or any other twists. After all, they are famous for their barbecue dishes and their Liempo is really good. I actually like the sauce. It has a hint of spiciness.

Ineng’s Ensalada 

Ok! We were served with an old and almost rotten salted egg. It’s a good think that they are quick to change when I told the waitress about the issue. The only problem was the egg but they changed the whole thing and gave us a steamy hot eggplant. I commend them for that. But I don’t have to say anything about Ineng’s Ensalada as it’s just the same to what we serve at home. I’m just thankful that the rest of the veggies were fresh.

Banana Sundae

How you think this tastes, based on the photo, is actually how it tastes. So, I think, my criticism will just depend on their choice of ice cream and banana. I appreciate that the flavor of strawberry ice cream was close to natural. The chocolate ice cream has rich and dark flavor while the vanilla has creamy smack. I like that the banana is sweetened. I asked my mom about her Halo-Halo and she said that it’s delish but it has too much ice cream.

Turon de Langka

You may be wondering why we have a banana dish on our table again. But it makes sense because this is a Filipino restaurant and it shows that we have an abundant number of bananas. Anyway, the Turon de Langka is delish as always. But it’s a level higher compared to other fried banana rolls because of the amazing pineapple jam with matching chuncks in it. I’m surprised that it blends to the other fruits. The jackfruit was just asmall strand but it’s flavorful.

Mango Crepe / Ripe Mango Shake

I love the shake. It’s smooth siya yet thick and creamy. When it comes to taste, it’s milky but the mango flavor is still recognizable. It’s evident from the taste that they used natural mango fruit for this. It’s obvious that we’re obsessed with mangoes as we also chose this fruit for the crepe. The mango was sweet while the crepe was bland and had rough texture. The vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup were good additions to complete the dish.