CANTINETTA

2 out of 5 stars

Not impressed with the Rockwell branch. The prices are jacked up to the hilt compared to the Pasong Tamo branch. Maybe it’s because of the rent, but nevertheless, I think they should have taken a bigger cut off their profit. The prices listed are exclusive of tax, plus they don’t offer the three-in-one pasta combination with steak that the Pasong Tamo branch offers. But I’m ranting….. Let’s talk about the food.

In the picture is the Quattro Formaggi Pasta (370 PhP) and the Deliziosa Pasta (420PhP). The pasta may have had the gorgonzola, ricotta, mascarpone and parmesan cheese as is written in its menu, but the sauce was too thick, buttery and heavy. It wasn’t one of those pastas that blew your mind away.

As for the Deliziosa, which contained artichokes, olives and parma ham, it was average at best. One thing that is good is the crust since they have a really good oven. But the artichokes were so obviously canned; and even then, they didn’t bother rinsing the vinegar preservative off too much. The parma ham was generously sliced, but it wasn’t as good as the ones I’ve tried in other restaurants. It was tough; I couldn’t seem to bite through it.

All in all, this restaurant is authentic Italian, but I’d rather go to the following alternatives: Pepato, Galileo Enoteca, Café Maestro, L’Opera…..or even the Cantinetta in Pasong Tamo! This restaurant has a limited menu like Cibo, yet with the prices of Pepato. Absurd!

But if you want to go check it out, the address is listed below. No need to reserve, unless you have a big company.

ate in:
Cantinetta, Rockwell
Rockwell Drive cor. Estrella St.
Makati City, Metro Manila
(02) 403-0145
Su, M, T, W, Th, F, Sa: 11:00 am - 11:00 pm

other branch:
Cantinetta, Pasong Tamo
Ground Floor Karrivin Plaza, 2316 Pasong Tamo Extension
Makati City, Metro Manila
(02) 892-9873
Su, M, T, W, Th, F, Sa: 11:00 am - 11:00 pm

LA GROTTA

3.5 out of 5 stars


You could almost miss La Grotta as you drive through Rufino St. A lot of the people that dine here are office folk, as word spreads through corporate circles. That’s why it’s usually full here during lunch hours. I even bumped into then-underbar associate lawyer-friends who ate there after work when Pao and I dropped by for dinner.


This entry has been pending since April of 2007, so please forgive me if I don’t recall all the details. One thing’s for sure, La Grotta is a good alternative if you want to feast on authentic Italian dishes at half the price of L’Opera or Mezzaluna. Gorge on veal, truffles and Parma ham without flinching when the bill arrives. Pastas or pizzas on average cost 300+, seafood entrees 500+ and choice cuts of meat around 600+. If you decide to get a pizza pasta combo, it’s definitely good for couple-sharing/four skinny girls. Also, some have mentioned that they don't like the interiors of the place, as if it's a mix of different styles without a cohesive theme. I personally find the place cozy, and the furniture is very comfortable, yet not too modern and new, much like a homey worn-in but well-maintained living room.

I (even more so Pao) get apprehensive when I see extensive menus. More often than not, it’s a sign of uncertainty that is masked by a great quantity of dishes, following the saying “jack of all trades, master of none.” This restaurant is an exception: even if their menu is a lengthy read (with spare time to add new dishes, on top of that), their meals are hearty, no-fuss delicious, and very Italian. Check out an updated menu at munchpunch.

When I researched on what to get in this place, a lot of writers/people/bloggers would mention the veal and truffle pasta, so I ordered the “Costoletta di Vitello --- Roasted rack of veal in red wine sauce” (870 PhP) as well as the “Tagliatelle di Tartufo Crudo --- Homemade flat pasta mixed with porcini and parma ham in truffle cream sauce” (350 PhP).

While we waited for our dishes, we munched on our free hot bread that came with butter, pate and olive oil in balsamic vinegar mixed with parmesan cheese. Very much like L’Opera, only that the latter had salsa and used a variety of bread like their flat foccacia. But hey, the bread’s your standard dinner roll which was very good anyway…and who complains when it’s free? ☺

I also ordered a 4 Seasons --- normally uneventful. But you know how it is when you base your impression of a place on one specific thing? Like for example, how you rate a hotel by looking at their bathroom? Or how you like a certain bar if they play your favorite song? Well, I like a restaurant if they mix a mean 4 Seasons. And for some odd reason, this fruit shake is indigenous to all restaurants in Manila, regardless of cuisine type…Painfully, I found out when I was a preteen that Four Seasons is mixed only in the Philippines. I think I was on a cruise off Florida with my family when I ordered it in such a confident way --- only to receive blank looks. I just mumbled some other drink I read off the list. Correct me, though, if I’m mistaken. I’m not really sure if other countries have this. But I’m digressing. Anyway, the whole point of the story is that La Grotta’s 4 Seasons is decent. Very fresh, and the fruits were just right-ripe. And that automatically lifts this resto several brownie points up in my eyes.

Up to this point, Pao had never tried truffles. Truffles are knobby little black tubers that grow underground several feet of dirt near certain kinds of tree roots with which they have a symbiotic relationship. Because they have stubbornly resisted efforts to be cultivated, there are never enough to go around, and gourmands or chefs would be willing to pay astronomical prices — upwards of 170,000 PhP/$30,000-40,000 a pound — to get a bit of the smelly subterranean fruits. The taste of truffles is indescribable, but if one was forced to, it would be musky, like fermented mushrooms. The best way of getting an idea of it without paying a hefty price would be through the use of truffle oil, such as is found in La Grotta’s Tagliatelle with truffle cream sauce.

When the pasta came, it was heaven for me! Not only is the truffle oil very distinctive, but the parma ham and porcini were sprinkled liberally throughout the dish. The sauce was very thick and creamy (and very fattening, I’m sure), and the sprinkling of parsley on top gave color to creamy color of the pasta. Pao didn’t appreciate the truffle flavor much, saying that even if it tasted different, it wouldn’t be something that he’d actively go look for :P haaaay!

Tagliatelle di Tartufo Crudo

And as much as people were raving about the veal, I honestly didn’t find it that great. Veal is meat made from calves less than 1 year old. The meat is often whitish, as the calves only drink cow’s milk for food. They start having that pink to reddish color once they start eating grass, and they start getting tougher once they become active and older. The veal I had was already reddish, and the meat wasn’t as tender. They probably tried covering up the meat with the wine sauce and gremolata on top.

Costoletta di Vitello

Well, that didn’t do it for me. I should have just probably ordered the appetizer that doc jeff got in his review (that he highly recommended), which was this:

Scallopo Del Ostrecche Forno
P270.00
Baked fresh scallop and oyster topped w/ spinach and porcini

Nevertheless, La Grotta is still good. Service is on point, ambience is private and cozy, and food is flavorful. Though some dishes may be hit or miss, you don’t really mind it since the price is easy on your wallet. This is a must try for Italian food lovers. Enjoy!

Pao and I --- full and happy after a great meal

La Grotta Cucina Italiana
AETNA Bldg., V.A. Rufino (formerly Herrera St.),
Legaspi Village, Makati City
8941320
Su, M, T, W, Th, F, Sa: 5:30 pm - 11:00 pm
Su, M, T, W, Th, F, Sa: 10:30 am - 2:30 pm

*no reservations necessary, unless you want a corner table.

Places I’d bash….with pictures!

1 out of 5 stars (for all 3 restos)

I wrote in my resto list that I’d most likely bash these restaurants because of all the factors that you look into one, be it ambience, presentation of the food, the cost or the remarkable service; there is really no redeeming factor to speak of. Of course, I may be wrong now, but I wouldn’t want to go back to these places again to see if I truly am.

And off we start to number one: Gran Caffe Casanova

Bern and I tried this place only because it was near my house, being located in Corinthian Hills. It serves authentic Italian cuisine, as I see the Italian owner many times roaming around, but that still doesn’t save it for me. The prices are extremely expensive (i.e. your Hawiaan (?!?!?) pizza will cost you 385 pesos, while a 4 cheese one will cost 435. Note that this is only a small pizza that can fit two people who aren’t hungry at the most. Or how about a seafood main course Grigliata Mista di Mare della Riviera? That will set you back 640 painful ones, excluding tax!) and the place is physically stifling, a cramped room evoking Hollywood boudoir that feels out of place with its surroundings.

I got the Capelli D’Angelo al Tartufo Aspargini e Speck described as homemade angel hair pasta with truffle cream asparagus and cure ham. The pasta was average, and I was grudgingly willing to forgive paying the 400 pesos for it, if only I didn’t recently eat in La Grotta, having their tagliatelle al tartufo, a truffle cream dish that was 10 times better, fit for 2 and only cost around 300 pesos!!! (post to come)

Compared to the latter dish, this one had very little truffle essence in it, and the sauce was runny. I guess you cant expect a heavy one to pair with mild angel hair, but it’s the chef’s fault to even pair it with that type of pasta anyway! Truffle cream has a robust and rich flavor, and the best type of pairing would be with equally thick pasta such as bucatini, linguine, bow tie, or even tagliatelle (like in La Grotta, though this choice may still be contentious). I barely tasted the sauce, and there was nothing special about the ham or the asparagus --- they could be easily bought in any grocery. Even the cheese used was your kraft-processed parmesan…sheesh, they couldn’t even buy it in its original form and have it freshly shaved over the pasta.

Bern had the Papardelle Nere al Granchio described as homemade squid-ink colored pasta with crab meat in olive oil and white wine. Considering that this is a thick pasta, you’d expect the sauce to be creamy and rich, but again, the sauce was thin and runny. There wasn’t much crab meat, the red sauce looked unappetizing with the color of the squid-ink pasta, and the tomato toppings was exactly the same as the one used with our complimentary bread! It doesn’t make things any better that her dish cost 395 either.

Better alternatives: La Grotta
Galileo Enoteca

So that’s that, on to the next bashed resto: Paloma

Patty, Bern and I tried Paloma in Shangri-la, expecting it to be nice considering it lied on the same hallway as Cyma, SumoSam or Tender Bob’s (haha, plugging!)…. But it failed to meet our expectations.

Our appetizer Boquerones in Olive Oil (120 PhP) described as fresh anchovies with vinegar and oil dressing, was just okay. It was presented nicely on a wooden block with beds of lettuce, but the taste was nothing spectacular. To think fresh, raw anchovies would be exciting like carpaccio, but it tasted too salty and had a somewhat unpleasant aftertaste. I wouldn’t pay to eat this dish, even if the price is reasonable.

We also had Gambas al Ajilo (155PhP), a very typical dish in any Spanish restaurant. You’d think that the most common dish of your theme restaurant would be the best tasting one. Unfortunately, there was nothing special about it, with the small prawns drowning in oil and garnished leaves. It’s neighbor, Cyma, would carry your known eggplant moussaka, but unlike the gambas, was the best moussaka I’ve tasted thus far.

Our main dish, Paella Paloma (495 PhP for sharing) which had lobster tail, mussels, jamon serrano, squid and sausage, write better than it tastes. Our cook at home who makes paella often, can do a better job of the paella than the one in Paloma. But I guess one thing that it never fails to do is make it look pretty, as can be seen with the picture.

Finally, we had the Caramel Cheesecake (140 PhP). Again, it was presented nicely on a wooden artist’s palette. But by far, this was the worst-tasting dish of all the ones we’ve tried. The cheesecake was too rich, and the cheese component didn’t blend well with the rest of the cake. Also, the cream and chocolate sauces shaped as circles of paint did not taste good at all. We left it uneaten, which is unlike normal dessert sauces where people would usually lick it clean.

Better alternative: Segundo Piso/Terry’s Selection
(get the really yummy chistorrado --- Spanish rice similar to paella
with a capsicum sauce and melted cheese on top….yum!)

Last but not the least, we have: Massimo’s Café, Cliffhouse (Tagaytay)

Kit, Gia, Melo, Nina and I went here after Nina’s party because we heard about their wagyu burgers from a friend. Considering that this is an established restaurant in Tagaytay, you’d expect its extension in Cliffhouse to be just as good, right? Wrong!! This café aims to disappoint….their wagyu burgers (255PhP +35 with cheese, +75 with fries), the supposed centerpieces of this café, tasted like ordinary beef, and it was such small serving for its price, albeit sandwiched in between foccacia buns (they tasted stale, though). There was no good dressing for the burger, only a huge dollop of mayonnaise on the plate, and if you order the extra 75 PhP fries, it’s just those frozen fries that you buy in the supermarket.

Our other friend got the tenderloin with brandy cream sauce (295 PhP). It was two small pieces of tenderloin, a scoop of mashed potatoes and a huge side of salad that had mere lettuce and tomatoes to accompany it. The tenderloin may have been good, but I wouldn’t pay the price for it. Or if I did pay the price such a quantity, there must be something special about it. But really, it tasted like your ordinary tenderloin which was probably local beef, and there was nothing spectacular with its cooking technique, being pan-fried.

In addition, the iced tea was more than a hundred, but it tasted like that sickeningly sweet Lipton, while the dessert cakes did not look appetizing at all... the place wasn’t remarkable eating in, either. The dining table had a tile top (it felt like a bathroom), and the café itself looked too plain, as if you knew it had a lot less overhead being just a small stall instead of an establishment where you can eat even on the inside.

Better alternatives: more pricey but excellent wagyu ---- Malcolm’s Place
less pricey but more cowboy settings ---- wagyu in Salcedo Weekend Market

Gran Caffe Casanova
The Clubhouse, Corinthian Hills, Temple Drive
Quezon City, Metro Manila
(02) 638-2989
Su, M, T, W, Th, F, Sa: 11:00 am - 12:00 mn

Paloma
6th Flr, The Ledge Shangri-La Plaza, Shaw Blvd. cor. EDSA
Mandaluyong City, Metro Manila
(02) 910-4096
Su, M, T, W, Th, F, Sa: 10:00 am - 9:00 pm

GALILEO ENOTECA

4 out of 5 stars

There are a few places where you really feel like you’re away from the city. This place exudes that feeling, along with the likes of Lavigne and Barcino (more of the latter to come). I compared them to each other because they all fall under the “secluded wine cellar” category. And as much as I’m writing about this, I do hope they maintain that comfy niche that is often taken away by popularity of the masses.

Simply put, Galileo is your “wine and cheese” barkada hangout. I would not actually recommend this as a date place because as a couple, you’d share communal tables with strangers, and no perfect lighting or ambience (which this place does have) would compensate an irate neighbor who eats sloppily or talks noisily. Thus, I invited my foodie friends over, all nine of them. That way, we were able to reserve a whole long table for us at the end, which had its own almost private room. By almost, I mean that our table had its own alcove connected to a main hallway through an arched opening.

Galileo is a charmingly rustic place, with aged red brick foundations, and fancy murals and extensive wine vaults housing their specialty wines that decorate their walls. Upon entering the place, a small glass-encased deli storage rests on the left that houses their cold cuts which they use extensively in their dishes. The main hallway is to the right, and there are small nooks, housing the long communal wooden tables that remind you of a basement in Italy.

Its menu is simple but put-together. You either order “Galileo’s set menu” (which includes wine, antipasto, a pasta of the day and coffee at 400 PhP/head), or an assortment of bruschettas(220PhP for 4 pcs.), paninis (around 130-160 PhP), cold cuts (around 140-350PhP), cheese (from 145 PhP to 350 PhP), wine (120 PhP for house red/white and 150 PhP for Spumanti) and coffee (55-100PhP). They also have an a la carte menu, but it comprises mainly of sidings like salad (120-220 PhP), prosciutto with melon (200PhP), a cheese platter (150PhP), a cold cut platter (190PhP), sundried tomatoes(190PhP), olives(190PhP), sardines(190PhP), fresh mozzarella (390PhP) and pesto pasta (270PhP). (insert menus here)

Never to skimp on food, all of us (except for Patty, who ordered a salad since she had dinner already) ordered the set menu. We began with a simple broth laced with basil and macaroni noodles. Quite a good start as we picked our house wine (or a 50 peso upgrade to Spumanti) as we talked over plans of our careers, our friend Rosh’s wedding plans and reminisced of our carefree college and high school days. We also nibbled on their fresh bread which we dipped in a tomato-sardine ragout, balsamic and olive oil mixture, or porcini gravy mix.

Our individual antipasto plates arrived next, and the pictures do not do justice to its taste. There were three types of cold cuts, one salami, the other prosciuitto, and another smokier meat of two slices each. It was accompanied by generous slices of manciego and crumbled pieces of a firmer and saltier type of cheese. They all fit well together with the bunch of olives and a huge sun dried tomato atop a bed of lettuce.

I was full enough as it is, but of course I would save room for their pastas of the day (penne con porcini, spirali con salsiccia [Italian sausage], penne con gorgonzola [blue cheese] or spaghetti con melanzanie [eggplant]). Being a mushroom freak (in a wholesome way, of course ;P ), I got the porcini. It was delicious, though nothing spectacular. The pasta was properly cooked al dente, the gravy complemented the rich flavor of the porcini mushrooms and pancetta. Its presentation was simple and elegant with Italian parsley or basil on top. By the time our coffee came, we were stuffed silly.

Over-all, I had a great time in this place, and would gladly come back, but only as a big group when we need catching-up. The food was good, but what really stood out were their wines and cold cuts, which they really pride and specialize themselves on. So, to fellow foodies out there, be sure to reserve for your barkada or family In Galileo for that “wine and cheese” experience. This is just about as steady as it gets.

ate in:
Galileo Enoteca
Ground Floor, Reyes Gym
Calbayog corner Malinao Streets
Mandaluyong City Philippines
Tel. Nos.: 719-1038, 534-4633, 532-0482
Email: galileo@mydestiny.net
Su, M, T, W, Th, F, Sa: 9:00 am - 10:00 pm

other branch:
Galileo Enoteca, Makati
Unit 14 La Fuerza Plaza, #21 Chino Roces Avenue
Makati City, Metro Manila
(02) 817-9118

*please reserve before dining.