Kubo opens Hatch on Filipino street food flavours

Originally from the Philippines, Nallaine is the founder of Kubo, another enterprising business born during the recent pandemic lockdown. She launched the unique food operation at the Hatch on Thursday and will continue serving deliciously exotic snacks until 6pm on Sunday evening. It’s proving a great success with people keen to experience richly flavoured food that’s deliciously exotic.

“While we specialise in authentic Filipino food we’re best known for Northern Ireland’s first Filipino Kamayan Kit/Box or Boodle Fight,” she explains.

“Kamayan translates as ‘to eat with your hands’ and is a cultural and social way of dining throughout the Philippines, where long tables are lined with banana leaves and dressed with amazing Filipino food. We’ve condensed this into a takeaway box for an unusual experience at home,” adds the effervescent Nallaine.

She set up Kubo in May 2020 at the start of the prolonged coronavirus pandemic and on the back of a successful stint planning Filipino Kamayan food events for local people and organisations here. Kubo, she continues, was an opportunity “to keep developing Filipino food alive in Belfast. ”

The Kamayan menu includes Filipino foods like chicken adobo, aubergine and banana hearts along with Filipino spicy vinegar and calamansi soy sauce.

“Along with our Kamayan Kits, we run a full event catering menu of authentic Filipino dishes,” she adds.

Nallaine, who grew up in Toronto, where her parents moved to from Manila, the capital of the Philippines, when she was two, currently provides Filipino food and platters to events at the Duncairn Arts Centre in north Belfast and other caters for supper clubs here.

She describes Kubo as “a one woman show.” “I do recruit my chef friends for any supper clubs or events we do here and also get amazing help with our website from friends in Toronto. Other than that, Kubo is my baby and most of the cooking, menu development and implementation is undertaken by me,” she explains.

Her aim is to progress the small venture by “baby steps”. She continues: “I would never want to just set up a restaurant and call it a day. I believe the journey is more important than the destination. We’ll continue networking, doing Kubo supper clubs, pop ups at outlets like the Hatch and events for now while we continue to meet and connect with amazing people here.”

She’s quick to acknowledge the opportunity provided by the Hatch to meet a wider audience. “I absolutely admire everything Ema O’Kane and Ryan Crown of Crown Creative have built at the Hatch in Hill Street,” she says. “We strongly believe in their concept and their vision for hospitality. It has so much imagination which is why we were drawn to take part in the Hatch.  And it’s proving to be a very encouraging experience that’s providing loads of positive feedback.”

“We are taking a redefined street food approach to Filipino dishes at the Hatch. We are serving up Filipino BBQ and Filipino finger food or ‘Pulutan’ along with some yummy sweets. Our homemade spicy vinegar and pandan sugar syrup are also be available.”

Nallaine’s ultimate goal is “to have Filipino food reach as many people as possible”.

She continues: “We want to showcase the best of Filipino food and culture. It’s definitely a new cuisine in Belfast and in the country and we want Filipino food to eventually become as mainstream as a local Thai restaurant. The Filipino food movement is in full force in Northern Ireland!” 

Nallaine comes from a family “who love to eat and cook”. “I’ve learned everything I know from my parents and my grandparents,” she says. She’s been in the hospitality industry now for 12 years.

She describes herself as a Filipino Canadian, working initially with her parents in keeping their Filipino culture alive through language and food in Toronto, the country’s biggest city. She studied culinary arts and gained initial restaurant experience there.

A love of travel led to her to fly to the UK five years ago. ”I’d always wanted to visit the UK and experience the food and culture,” she says. “I settled for a time in London and worked at The Watch House restaurant chain as their head of food.”

Nallaine has been in Belfast for almost three years. “I moved to Belfast for love - having met my boyfriend while travelling. He persuaded me to come here to experience the city, its culture and Northern Ireland cuisine,” she adds.

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