Tisay Kambingan is now open for business daily from 9AM-9PM
Despite the “accidental” nature of their new enterprise, Tisay Kambingan certainly doesn’t lack in taste and amenities compared to its earlier counterparts.
Located just across a concrete products maker along the Macasandig road at Buena Oro, Aluba, the place is cool, nestling under the shelter of two huge Mahogany trees.
Counter is clean and the food rests on burners which keep them piping hot..
Lino Dy and his partner Nikki Along started Tisay as a livelihood project for one of their newlywed employees. However, when they checked up on the place some two weeks after it ostensibly started construction, they found out nothing had been started and so decided to take over themselves.
Not knowing a thing about running a restaurant, the partners turned their friends as their lifelines and fortunately for them, the place is now attracting a steady clientele of salesmen and detailmen, students, government employees and quite a cross section of society who just wish to enjoy eating dishes made from goat’s meat (called chevon or mutton when the meat comes from adults and cabrito, capretto, or kid when it comes from young animals).
Kalderetang Kanding the way it should be done....home cooking style...
“Our cook for our goat’s meat dishes hails from Alubijid (Misamis Oriental), our sutokil (sugba, tola, kilaw) chef from Surigao, our lechon manok specialist we found working with a local bus company and our litsonero comes from Camiguin,” said Lino.
Because they had to outsource their cuisine preparers, they had to turn to the one aspect of running the restaurant they knew they could deliver: their taste. As long as the dishes pass their taste test, then it is fit to be served in Tisay Kambingan.
For their “Litson Manok Bisaya” for instance, they had to go as far as Iligan, Davao and Bacolod, the country’s acknowledged mecca of litson manok, but couldn’t find the taste they wanted until a friend told them about this carenderia which had been serving unbelievable litson manok Bisaya for years in relative anonymity. No longer.
“While manok Bisaya is celebrated for its taste, the toughness of its meat is also almost universally cursed,” Lino said. “But people who have tasted our litson manok Bisaya remark about the juicy and tender meat which they have never encountered before anywhere.”
Part of the secret could be in the enclosed oven cum griller that Lino fabricated after observing how juicy and tender the meat from a similar facility tasted in far-away China. “I think the smoke from the uling is concentrated by the enclosure so the fragrance of the wood smoke is embedded in the meat of the litson,” he noted.
Sinugbang Bangus
The same grill cooks the resto’s barbecue, sinugba and grilled fish, giving them a unique taste and texture.
The menu is plain and simple, which is what probably makes it a winner with its customers. All goats’ meat dishes are uniformly priced at P75 per serving: kilawin, paklay, adobo, kaldereta and sinampalokang kanding (soup).
Tola manok (soup) is P60 per serving, while sinugbang bangus (sourced from marine bangus of the Balingasag Mariculture Park) is P140. Pork barbecue is very affordable at only P6 per stick.
Lechon manok Bisaya done soft and tender....for only P220 but you can also order a half for P110....garantisado ang kalami!
The litson manok Bisaya is priced at P220 (whole) and P110 (half). “You can’t buy litson manok Bisaya at this taste and quality for less than P290 (whole) in other places like Gensan, Davao and Cebu, and do so far we’re the only ones who offer it in Cagayan de Oro.”
Native free range chickens are purchased by a comprador who exclusively buys them from backyard raisers to ensure only organically grown, free range chickens are used for this specialty.
Native Litson
Their litson baboy is P3, 000 whole but can also be ordered at P60 per serving of 100 grams. The native pigs are similarly sourced from backyard raisers, as are the goats that are purchased by a comprador who goes around the city and the province to ensure only fresh and healthy pigs and goats are used for the resto’s dishes.
There's room in the inside for ten tables seating 80-100 pax at any time...
The facilities are Spartan: ten plain tables inside which can accommodate up to 80 persons and another ten outside under the shade of the spreading trees where smokers can enjoy their poison in peace.
Want to enjoy a delicious, healthy and affordable meal? Tisay Kambingan is open every day from 9:00AM to 9:00PM.
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**Photos by Rich Neri Concepcion, Rochie Lang and Mike Baños**