Geelong’s first seafood boil restaurant has opened in Pakington Street

Two Filipino couples have opened their dream venue in Geelong West.

Kayle Marinas is Geelong’s first seafood boil restaurant and is owned by four Filipino women. Picture: David Smith.

A group of female entrepreneurs have opened Geelong’s first seafood boil restaurant in Pakington Street.

Kayle Marinas is owned by Filipino couples Kristine Alvarez and Honey Lynne Caranguian, and Richcy Sigre and Abigail Almonte.

The restaurant opened in late September and serves an array of seafood from crabs and lobster to mussels and baby octopus.

Ms Caranguian describes the visitor experience as “messy dining”, with customers given bibs and gloves before they dig into their meal.

“They choose their own seafood and own flavour then the seafood is boiled and mixed in that flavour and can be bought straight to their table,” she said.

Kayle Marinas owners Honey Lynne Caranguian, Kristine Alvarez, Richcy Sigre, Abigail Almonte. Picture: David Smith.

The couples met through mutual friends in 2019 and both dreamt of opening their own restaurants.

They had the idea to establish Kayle Marinas in June this year.

“It’s a funny story actually … Richcy has a cleaning business as well and she was cleaning our house when the idea started,” Ms Caranguian said.

“Richcy was saying that she wanted to go back to the Philippines and open a restaurant and we said ‘why don’t you stay here and we open one together?’.”

The couples were originally looking to open their venue in Wyndam Vale but settled on Geelong as more visitors are drawn to the area.

“There are more people and more tourists in Geelong and there was nothing in the area offering a seafood boil concept,” Ms Caranguian said.

The restaurant is decked out in the rainbow flag to represent their LGBTQ+ community and Filipino decor to pay tribute to their cultural roots.

Ms Alvarez and Ms Caranguian met in high school in the Philippines and have been together since 2015.

They were married in 2016 after Ms Alvarez came to Australia from the US with Ms Caranguian six years ago.

Kayle Marinas is located at Shop 4/112 Pakington Street, Geelong West and is open Sunday to Thursday from 11am to 8pm and from 11am to 9pm on Friday and Saturday.

Originally published as Geelong’s first seafood boil restaurant has opened in Pakington Street