prequel
before reading this entry i'd suggest you check "lomi cuarenta y cinco!" , an entry i wrote back in 2009 (wow! that's about 12 years ago!), to give you a bit of a background. either way, whether or not you'd spend time to read it, this entry can stand on its own.
lomi cuarenta y cinco
it was in new china restaurant when i talked about their lomi and how the place and their has become a part of naga city's history, still being part of what we are today and the consistency of that taste. you might want to try it, but i have to say it has changed, probably a different cook or a different recipe (not just their lomi but also chopsuey rice and their pancit)
lomi ciento cinco
earlier this afternoon, like in the past months, i found a "new" place where i can get this comfort food, the place isn't famous for its lomi, it's recognized for its toasted siopao and mami. about a year ago, at the height of the pandemic, i frequently went to the place to order lomi, and it tasted the same with the cuarenta y cinco only it was ciento cinco (and if am right, the original cuarenta y cinco price in new china is around noventa this time). i'm not surprised, that's 12 years worth of inflation, time only pushes price upwards. naga garden's the name of the place, it's along panganiban drive. it may not be as old as new china but it's also a go-to place for people doing business in centro naga. when i was still in high school, we'd pass by the restaurant whenever we visit the Naga's Public Library found at the 2nd floor of the building at the corner, just across Plaza Rizal. sometimes my father would order pancit and siopao for merienda. it was filling.
except for the health protocols like wearing one's face mask and going through the thermal scan and spraying of hand sanitizer, the taste of their food remains the same. the place still gives that air of that time when we didn't have this pandemic. the city were i grew up. the city i have always loved. there's a certain degree of excitement in that moment when one would have to remove his/her mask to enjoy the food, to dine. to converse with their companions. clarity perhaps. gives that sense of security that everything shall be well, we just don't know when. thanks to places like this one, thanks to the consolation it brings amid chaos and uncontrollable forces.
