Delici Pastries and Sweets

This week, the Makati Brunch Club had the pleasure of enjoying a cookie sampler from Delici Pastries and Sweets, confectionery specialists extraordinaire.

The first thing you may notice about Delici cookies is its truly exquisite packaging! A light green box is kept together with a brown paper runner, on which are printed pleasant little silver twigs. Each Delici cookie is sealed in its own individual bag. Can you say, fresh and flavorful?

The white chocolate chip cookie from Delici was the most delightful of the Delici lot. With a generous helping of chunky white chocolate chips, this sweet and crumbly Delici cookie begged for a cup of hot cocoa or steaming coffee.

The double chocolate Delici cookie, on the other hand, was a goosome twosome of awesome chocolatey goodness. Thick chocolate chunks embedded into a rich chocolate cookie. Lord, have mercy.

The chocolate chip cookie, while chewy and good, was nothing out of the ordinary. However, there are other cookie types at Delici that may cater to your own preferences.

Other varieties include Cream Cheese, Chocolate Orange, Chocolate Swirl, Peanut Butter, Chocolate Mint, and Oatmeal Raisin. Expect other MBC bloggers to weigh in on these, because I never got my grubby fingers on 'em.

[Krispy Kreme Philippines Series] The Original Glazed Donut

Today, the Makati Brunch Club blogs about Krispy Kreme Philippines' spectacular original glazed donut.

As we mentioned before, Krispy Kreme's Philippine branch opens on November 30, 2006, 8:30am, at the City Center, Fort Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City, near Serendra, selling glazed lemon-filled, traditional cake, sugar, chocolate iced glaze, chocolate iced with sprinkles, glazed raspberry filled, new york cheesecake, powdered strawberry filled, chocolate iced creme filled, glazed cruller, glazed sour cream (!), chocolate iced custard filled, caramel kreme crunch, and glazed chocolate cake, in addition to the original glazed we sampled.

The original glazed donut is the classic Krispy Kreme donut: simple and flavorful, an airy donut dipped into a sugar glaze that positively crumbles in your mouth. It tickles the palate with hints of sugar that are not too sweet - just perfect, if you ask us.

Lean: "One bite will never be enough."

Idjea: Yummy donut that melts in your mouth. A big improvement over the other donuts
available here in Manila. A definite must-buy for all donut-lovers!

Ganns: "I don't like having too much of a sugar rush, so this is great.
On the downside, the donuts I picked up seemed a little oilier than most."

Tina: "My perfect morning: fresh, light, soft and sweet!"

Leigh: "Sugar rush!"

Say KRISPY KREMEEEEEEEE!

Thanks to Krispy Kreme Philippines and Press Inc.'s Blooey Singson for hooking us up with these delightful donuts.

Come to Krispy Kreme Philippines' official store opening on November 30, and avail of the following:

• The first customer to ring the cash register will win a one-year supply of Original Glazed donuts.
  
• Free limited-edition Krispy Kreme Philippines tees will go to the first 500 customers.
• Raffle prizes (one-, three-, and six-months worth of free donuts) up for grabs to the 2nd to 500th customers)

Cucina @ Food Choices, Glorietta 4

With some free time on our hands, we decided to walk all the way to Glorietta 4 for a yummy brunch. We walked around Glorietta 4 but couldn't come up with a choice that made all parties happy, so the solution? Food Choices!

Fast Food
I'm not a fan of fast food areas, especially that of SM's. The cold metal benches and seeing the settling layer of fat and oil on perpetually reheated food doesn't stimulate your gastronomic senses at all. Glorietta 4's Food Choices is a definite improvement from the usual. (There are actually tables and chairs not bolted to the floor, imagine that!)

However, one thing common among all fast food areas, and Glorietta 4's Food Choices is no expection, is the cramped space. Glorietta 4's Food Choices used to be a bit more spacious but for some reason they've added several booths or kiosks in the middle of the eating area and now it's just too congested.

On to the food
On this trip to Glorietta 4's Food Choices, I decided to get my food at Cucina (They serve Spanish-Filipino cuisine). Since they had a lot of yummy looking viands and I couldn't decide on just one, I ordered one their "promo" plates. For 155 pesos, I get a choice of 3 viands, rice and a small (really, it was small, look at the photo below) glass of softdrink.

For my viands, I chose their Lengua with Mushroom Sauce, a spanish classic, Callos and my craving for that day, Chorizo. For the rice, I had their Spanish Rice.

For just 155 pesos, the amount of food on my plate was not bad. It was pretty amazing actually, I was expecting them to stinge on the dishes but surprisingly they placed a good sized serving of each viand.

Their Lengua with Mushroom Sauce was good. It was cooked well, not tough to eat and the mushroom sauce was delicious. I think I had about 3 slices of lengua (tongue!)

Their Callos was also yummy and cooked just right. Some callos dishes come out chewy but theirs weren't which was good considering the dish was probably out there on the display for several hours already.

Now for their Chorizo, this was a bit of a disappointment. The last time I ate at Cucina, I adored their chorizo dishes. Unfortunately, on this try the sausage was cut too thick and it was crumbly. Don't know how else to describe it but looking at the sausage slices, I think the meat of the sausage was not packed into the sausage skin (or whatever that's called) that well. The taste wasn't all that bad but the texture of the sausage when you eat it just distracts you from tasting its flavor.

Yes, they didn't stinge on the viands but boy were they "economical" on the drinks. When I said small, I didn't mean the regular sized plastic cups. Small means those transparent plastic cups some places give out when you just want some tap water. Darn it, it was small!

Verdict: I will go back and try out their other dishes (their chicken looked good) but maybe this time I'll go with a regular order to get a regular-sized drink.

The Old Spaghetti House @ Paseo de Roxas

We headed over to The Old Spaghetti House or TOSH along Paseo de Roxas Road in the Makati Central Business District. This Old Spaghetti House is just a couple of blocks away from Greenbelt 1. Really just a short 5-minute walk from our office.

The Old Spaghetti House's Lasagna

Anyway, we had eaten there before but I think it was pre-MBC days so no review yet. This time, I tried their Lasagna, a classic pasta dish. Thanks to Greenwich commercials, I have been craving this pasta for days (ironically, I didn't end up in Greenwich...) There's not much you can do to destroy a lasagna recipe. It's pretty simple to cook and the flavor is classic. As for TOSH's Lasagna, it was good. Not great mind you, but not bad at all. It could have been better with more cheese and a bigger serving.

I also ordered their Garlic Mushroom appetizers and it was pretty good. Cebu's Sol E Luna had better unfortunately, they closed down (big bummer).

Conclusion: I'd go back for another serving of their lasagna and maybe try out their other pasta dishes. That's if I really want to spend a bit more than I should for lasagna.

Another one of their pasta dishes... now if only I can remember what it's called...

[Krispy Kreme Philippines Series] The Glazed Chocolate Cake

For the next few days, the Makati Brunch Club will have the pleasure of blogging about Krispy Kreme Philippines! Krispy Kreme donuts, the world-renowned American doughnut franchise, will officially open on Philippine shores on November 30, 2006, 8:30am, at the City Center, Fort Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City, near Serendra.

Today, with Lean and Idjea out of the office on official business (bwahahaha!), Leigh, Tina, and I had the pleasure of sampling the first donut variety sent us, the glazed chocolate cake, which was a soft, moist chocolate cake topped with a light glaze. Rich and sinful, but not gritty with sugar, this donut was absolutely delightful.

Leigh: The glaze is so yummy, I could lick it off the donut!

Ganns: To quote Friends' Monica Geller, I think I just had a tiny orgasm! Hahaha! Seriously, a sinfully rich, wonderfully moist cake donut with just the right amount of sweetness.

Tina: Irresistible, minus the guilt!

Other donut varieties available in the Philippines are original glazed, glazed lemon-filled, traditional cake, sugar, chocolate iced glaze, chocolate iced with sprinkles, glazed raspberry filled, new york cheesecake, powdered strawberry filled, chocolate iced creme filled, glazed cruller, glazed sour cream (!), chocolate iced custard filled, and caramel kreme crunch.

Thanks to Krispy Kreme Philippines for hooking us up with these delightful donuts.

Come to Krispy Kreme Philippines' official store opening on November 30, and avail of the following:

• The first customer to ring the cash register will win a one-year supply of Original Glazed donuts.
  
• Free limited-edition Krispy Kreme Philippines tees will go to the first 500 customers.
• Raffle prizes (one-, three-, and six-months worth of free donuts) up for grabs to the 2nd to 500th customers)

Razon's Greenbelt

Today, Leigh, Tina, and I brunched at the new Razon's Greenbelt, a Filipino restaurant in Makati beside Delifrance Greenbelt. This new Makati restaurant is famous for its pancit luglug and halo-halo, so we trooped on over to try the food at Razon's Greenbelt.

Ambience. Razon's Greenbelt is relatively new, so its facilities were still quite clean. Its yellow interior was very inviting, and I was impressed with how spacious it looked compared to Monasteryo, the restaurant in Greenbelt whose spot Razon's now occupied. The chairs were relatively comfortable, and the lighting was quite good. The only drawback to the ambience? The strong smell of food - which isn't necessarily a bad thing - was all over this Makati restaurant, and without an exhaust fan in sight, the odds that the different aromas of the food will stick to your clothing are quite good.

Food. I ordered the two house specialties: pancit luglug, which is rice noodles in a yellow spiced sauce, and halo-halo, which is an ice mountain with milk, candied bananas, and custard on top. The pancit luglug was not bad at all, flavorful and textured. The P65 I paid for it, however, seemed a little steep, considering the amount of noodles on my plate. The halo-halo, which I shared with Leigh, was also good, different from typical halo-halo, which usually has kaong and beans, which I don't like. Without these colorful Philippine tidbits, we basically got a cold, caramel-flavored ice shake - which I did like.

Price. I paid P65 for the pancit and P65 for the halo-halo. The food was good, but to pay P130 for a meal that I think would've cost me about P100 if I had ordered a standard halo-halo to go from ChowKing and a petite pancit palabok from Red Ribbon, was a bit stiff.

Overall, the food wasn't half-bad, the place wasn't half-bad, and the prices were a little meh. Would I return to this Makati restaurant? Only if I were craving pancit luglug, which doesn't happen that often.

Masas @ Greenbelt 2

Dining at the Masas restaurant in Greenbelt 2 in Makati is always a delight. Aside from the great food, it's also a great restaurant in Makati to hang out with friends and catch up with each other's lives. An added bonus are occasional acoustic performances at night, which never fail to delight music-lovers, such as yours truly. Watch out for my friend Zion, who won last year's Next Big Thing - Search for the Next RnB Star. He sometimes performs at Masas, accompanied by his acoustic buddy.

Now back to the food...

Tina, Leigh, Lean and I headed to Masas in Greenbelt 2, along with a few co-workers, to celebrate Tina & Leigh's birthday. I hesitated at first because I know menu items at this Makati restaurant could be a bit pricey - I didn't know they have "silog" items that are quite affordable (the most affordable being at P105).

I ordered Adobo Flakes, served with fried rice, scrambled eggs, diced tomatoes & onions with 2 slices of salted egg and sauce on the side for the adobo. The food was hot when it was served; and the entire dish was not at all oily, at least not as oily as "silog" food served in other restaurants in Makati. The saltiness of the adobo, even with its sauce, was just right.

The service at this Makati restaurant was fast. But that's probably because we went there early. The staff were also friendly, they struck a pose behind us when we took pictures of each other. I think they're notorious for that.

Nevertheless, the dining experience was great, as always. -- Idj

Adobo Flakes

Skinless Longganiza



Quezo Puti and salso



I love Masas at night. The acoustic background, food and the ambiance is great. One of my favorite chill places. -tinz

The Seafood Club @ Greenbelt 3

We've been craving crabs for months now. We've always planned to have some come payday but somehow we always ended up in some other restaurant or worse, in the pantry with our canned goods and baon.

Finally, this payday we satisfied our cravings. Lean, Idj and I headed to The Seafood Club at Greenbelt 3. We had planned on ordering the Crab Solo (crab, pasta and something or another, can't recall now) but Lean and I got sidetracked with their buffet, specifically their appetizers.

For my first round, from the appertizer area, I sampled some of their meatballs, baby potatoes and garlic mushroom. And from their main course, Lengua and fish fillet in some cream sauce,

The meatballs was yummy, it reminded me of Ikea's Swedish Meatballs with not as much gravy. Their baby potatoes were boiled, semi-peeled, sauteed in garlic and basil (?) and topped with a white cream sauce. It was yummy but then again I'm partial to anything potato-ey. Their garlic mushrooms were not so good. They were cold and not as garlic-y as I wanted them, not enough flavor.

And for the second round, I got a plateful of crabs. The buffet featured two types but on sight, you can't tell the difference. After eating them you'd realize one had spicier taste to it. It was YUMMY. I love crab. I don't mind eating with my hands, it's thrilling to remove the shell of the crab and aim to get a perfect peice of crabmeat.

I enjoyed the buffet but for 450 net it's a splurge.

~~ Leigh

miss leecha and miss moja feeling crabby

idjea's Seafood Club Pasta

I absolutely love seafood. However, when the brunchers wanted to go to The Seafood Club in Greenbelt 3, i hesitated a bit. I didn't want to lunch there as I feel it would eat up on my budget. And besides, what's the point of going to The Seafood Club if not to crab-all-you-want from the buffet?

I curbed my appetite for crab... poor me... and ordered The Seafood Club Pasta from its a la carte items. I didn't regret my decision as it was a delightfully tasteful meal. It's fetuccine pasta, with an oil-based sauce, with lots of shredded seafood, dried tomatoes and big slices of sweet bell pepper, served with 2 pieces of one of the best garlic breads I've ever tasted. Yummy!!!

However, the price was a bit steep as expected. This particular dish costs P230, and that's without tax & service charge yet. It's quite pricey and I just think it shouldn't be worth that much. But it's great food, so I guess that's okay... :) - Idj

David's Tea House @ Greenbelt 1

It was still several days before payday (and a Friday to boot!) and we were tired of eating canned goods for lunch (not too mention it's bad for you). So half of the Brunch Clubbers decided to eat out for lunch. (plus it was raining... need comfort food -tinz)

After much deliberation (we're running out of budget-friendly places!), we decided on David's Tea House in Greenbelt 1 Makati. Usually this place is overflowing with people but today was not one of those days which was good for us. David's Tea House is a typical Chinese restaurant, it's bright, crowded and noisy. Thumbs up for the fast service and cleanliness of the place.

This is my second time at David's Tea House. The last time was pre-Brunch Club days. We ordered family style and it was yummy albeit a bit expensive for everyday eating.

This time, to save what little money I had left, I ordered their Wanton Hofan Soup and an order of Shrimp Siomai. Their Wanton Hofan was okay, not good but not bad either. It wasn't as tasty that I expected. I had to rely on their chili sauce to add some flavor.

The Shrimp Siomai from David's Tea House was actually pretty good. Very tasty and not all covered in siomai wrapper like some other dimsum places. (true true! love their siomai!-tinz)

I'd go back to David's Tea House in Greenbelt 1 Makati but maybe this time I'll stick to their family-style offerings.
~~ Leigh

Sweet and sour pork was average. Used to order their orange chicken... yummy too. Chinese food really is soothing. -tina

Pizza Company @ Market! Market! Fort - Taguig

Today, the Makati Brunch Club decided to step out of its native roots, and headed off to Taguig for its first non-Makati restaurant review. The beneficiary of this “special” distinction: The Pizza Company at the Market! Market! shopping mall in Taguig City.

Idjea, Lean, Leigh and Tina pose in front of the Pizza Company restaurant in Taguig

Even more fun was the fact that the Makati Brunch Club – Lean, Leigh, Idjea, Tina, and I – was complete for the first time in months! With all this excitement, we piled into The Family Car (that would be my Revo) and headed towards Market! Market!
The Pizza Company's festive and clean interiors

The Pizza Company restaurant in Taguig is a delightfully clean place that offers Italian dishes for value. As the The Pizza Company - Fort photo above shows, festive wallpaper, preserved vegetables, and an open-air cooking area add to the pleasant vibes of The Pizza Company in Market! Market!

A thick, creamy Fettucine Florentine from The Pizza Company

We ordered The Pizza Company's Fettucine Florentine that was rich, creamy, and flavorful without being heavy. The pasta was cooked to perfection, al dente without starchiness. Abundant ham and spinach only served to enhance the fattucine experience.

A sweet and tasty Pasta Bolognese from The Pizza Company

We also ordered The Pizza Company's Pasta Bolognese, which was tangy and sweet, with generous servings of spiced ground beef.

Idjea posing with the Bacon and Cheese Twists from The Pizza Company

A special treat that I finally got to claim was The Pizza Company's Bacon and Cheese Twists, which were heavenly and flaky, rich and truly delightful. We got this free, thanks for the Pizza Company Taguig's Loyalty Card promotions, which I was finally able to claim on a weekday.

The Tom Yum Kung / All Meat Pizza from The Pizza Company

Finally, the piece de resistance, the Pizza Company's pizza, which was a half-and-half, a treat they give because of their first-year anniversary. The top half in the photo shows the Pizza Company specialty, a mouthwateringly spicy Tom Yum Kung; the bottom half shows this Taguig restaurant's half-sweet, half-salty all-meat selection. We ordered the medium size crispy, which it was.

Price-wise, expect a heftier bill than usual at the Pizza Company thanks to almost 20% add-on in taxes. Ouch. Other than the exorbitant bill, which almost didn't justify the cost of the food, The Pizza Company is a fantastic restaurant in Taguig worth experiencing. I'd go back in a heartbeat. - Ganns


It has been one Italian place to another! In this particular rainy day, the club was once again in complete attendance and in full force as we trek down Market Market and indulge in a much-awaited Pizza Co. experience.

I personally have been to this resto a couple of times and I can say that it never fails to satisfy not only one's hunger but also some major Italian craving.

We ordered a personal favorite of mine, Pasta Bolognese. I'm not much of a fan of white/cream-based pastas and this bolognese is cooked to perfection. The sauce is so yummy and not oily at all; the pasta itself is perfect in every bite.

The pizza on the other hand is a character in its own. It was my first time to try the Tom Yung Kung pizza and since it's the pizza's take on the famous Thai soup, which I'm not a fan of, I didn't like it as much as I thought I would.

As for the All Meat pizza, as expected, it's so sinfully delicious. The crust is superbly thin and crunchy and the portions of meat are bountiful.

This place makes you fall in love with Italian food over and over again. - lean

Like Lean, I've also been to The Pizza Company in Market! Market! before. My all-time favorite dish there is the Fetuccine Florentine. I'm partial to tomato-based sauce as well but this pasta dish is to die for. Perfect white sauce in my opinion. It's not too creamy nor is it too oily. You don't feel your arteries clog up with the cream.

I also like their Tom Yung Kung pizza but then again I'm a thai food junkie. I don't think it's for everyone though, especially not for those that detest Thai food.

Other items on their menu that I recommend but we didn't order: their Stuffed Calamari (yummy baby squid stuffed with crabstick) and their Cheese Garlice Bread (yummy yummy for your tummy).

I will definitely go back to The Pizza Company in Market! Market! You go too!
-- Leigh

I'm not really a fan of pizza company. Maybe because I prefer my red sauce to be more italian- a little sour and not so sweet. And I didn't like the crust of their pizza that much too. I prefer homemade dough. Their cream based pasta seemed starchy. And maybe because I didn't like the Tom Yum Kung seafood pizza that we ordered that much. There's this tang of salty water or is it just my imagination? hehe I just liked the colorful decor amongst the wooden chairs. Nothin' beats Itallianis for me. :P -tina

Pizzeria via Napoleone @ Jupiter Street

Pizzeria Via Napoleone
#28 Jupiter St., Bel-Air Village, Makati City
63.2.899.6147


In an Italian restaurant in Makati foodfest, Pizzeria Via Napoleone along Jupiter hosted half of the Makati Brunch Club today while the other half dined at Italianni's in Greenbelt 2. Tina and I took time out to travel from our office in Legaspi Village to sup at this charming Italian restaurant in Makati and enjoy authentic Italian cuisine.

Together with four other friends, we ordered two pizzas (Gorgonzola and Tutta Carne) and two pastas (Carbonara and Amatricana), a selection adequate for a party of six but certainly not for four hungry gentlemen and two famished ladies.

So how did I find Pizzeria Via Napoleone's food?

The Pizzeria Via Napoleone's pizza dough was obviously fresh and handmade, with the chefs making the pizzas in full view of diners. The pizzas of this particular restaurant in Makati may be designed to be light, which they were. In my opinion, the pizzas lacked toppings, especially the gorgonzola, which was supposed to highlight blue cheese, which I hardly got to taste, even hints of it, in the pizza. The tutta carne, which means all meat, had meat, but certainly not enough to make the pizza filling. To add insult to injury, at the bottom of the plate, underneath the pizza, was one solitary hair; Tina and I then glanced over to the chefs' corner to discover, to our horror, that the chefs were not wearing hairnets while they kneaded the dough and baked the pizzas.

The pastas, on the other hand, were overcooked, so instead of a pleasant al dente, we got a relatively tough, almost starchy pasta. I did not try the carbonara, but the amatricana was relatively bland, and one other diner with us noted the lack of flavor.

"Maybe real Italian food is supposed to be bland," he noted.

"Believe me, it's not," I countered.

In fairness, the prices of this Italian restaurant in Makati were quite reasonable, so I imagine that may have softened the blow of this otherwise noteworthy restaurant. The ambience lent itself to a pleasant experience, with its clean, austere surroundings and Italian decor. The service was lightning fast (food arrived within minutes), and there was no wait for seating. Ultimately, though, I was not particularly impressed with the food of Pizzeria Via Napoleone, and when the food of any Makati restaurant leaves me wanting to eat more, albeit not of the same cuisine from said restaurant, I do not see myself returning. - Ganns




Ninja turtle in the past life. (hehehe kidding)
by: Tina
I've always been a fan of pizza. Pizza could sustain me. hehe I just love pizza and any kinds of italian food! (I know it's not forever that I could just escape the implications from all the calories hehehe) Coming across Pizzeria via Napoleone's at Jupiter Street, Makati, I knew I've found another favorite italian restaurant. The blue cheese pizza is just heavenly. This runs third place in my favorite pizza list! (And it's in reasonable prices too. Although the carbonara seems a little starchy. Still I love it's not so cheesy, not so salty, not so buttery taste... a little bland and sour pizza and not-so creamy white
sauce. The restaurant is really not so fancy. But they serve your order really fast! I'm definitely coming back! ~ Nice boxy lights on top... ~

Seattle's Best Coffee @ Greenbelt 3

And for dessert... we headed off to Seattle's Best Coffee at Greenbelt 3 Makati. I've been craving for Seattle's Best Coffee's all-time best SBC Javanilla Shake since last Tuesday (when I last had one!).

Seattle's Best Coffee's Javanilla Shake is like no other's. I love it mainly because it's not sweet. You can actually still taste the coffee in this great coffee creation from this coffee shop in Makati. You are not overwhelmed by the whipped cream. Between Starbucks, Gloria Jeans, Coffee Bean and Seattle's Best, the best ice blended coffee (for me at least) would be SBC's Javanilla Shake.

My dad once asked a barista from another coffee shop in Makati what their counterpart for SBC's Javanilla Shake was. The barista recommended one drink but let's just say it doesn't even come close to the ballpark.

YUMMY!!! -- Leigh

I must admit that I am not a coffee drinker. I do love coffee shops, though. There's something quaint about them.


Anyhow, I am such a Starbucks, Seattle's and Coffee Bean fanatic. Not so on their coffee concoctions but on the other drinks they offer.


Arriving groggy and sleepy today, I had to get my caffeine fix, so I went to Starbucks during the morning. Quite satisfied, I was taken aback when Leigh wanted to get a Javanilla Shake at Seattle's, which of course, I could never resist. C'mon, it's Javanilla! No one can resist that, right?


So with a palpitating heart, I bought my Javanilla even though my eyes are almost bawling out of their sockets due to coffee overload. Told ya I aint no coffee drinker. A cup makes me an energizer bunny already. And having two, well, just keeps me going and going and going......


But, yummy nonetheless. Never fails. - lean

Italianni's @ Greenbelt 2

Don't you just love paydays? Everyone does but more so us Makati Brunch Clubbers. It's a day when we can splurge and eat to our stomachs' content at any restaurant in Makati.

This payday, we went Italianni's at Greenbelt 2. (Actually, we were craving for the Japanese food at Yaku at the Somerset, but due to ongoing renovations, that review would have to wait until August.)

Smoked Salmon Pizza

Before anything else, forgive us for the pictures of the half-eaten food we ordered at this Italian restaurant in Makati. The only excuse we can give is that we were so hungry we totally forgot to take photos.

Anyway, because of the sashimi cravings, we decided on the Smoked Salmon Pizza and it was good. Not great mind you, I found the crust too chewy for my taste. I tend to like my pizzas with a little crunch in them. (If you guys are looking for an Italian restaurant in Cebu, try La Tegola Ristorante! The Parma Ham is yummy!).

The smoked salmon was satisfying, with the many flavors - cheese and dill, among them - blending very well with the fish.

Baked Ziti

The baked ziti of this Italian restaurant in Makati was fantastic. Italianni's baked ziti was very good; the meat and sauce was delicious. It wasn't flavored for the Filipino preference of sweet tomato pastas. A little dash with Tabasco sauce and it's perfect.

The Italianni bread looked yummy as well but I'd have to get Lean's take on that since she was the only one who had a taste.

Italianni's serving size is perfect for two. Maybe three if you're not too hungry. With the pizza, one serving was enough for us three girls.

-- Leigh

One good reason to go to Italianni's: free foccacia bread!

Makati Brunch Club was craving for Japanese food, and we wanted to go to Yaku at the Somerset Millenium, but it is unfortunately closed for renovations. We head our way to Greenbelt instead, without any clue where lunch was going to be. We decided on Italianni's at the last minute, and we didn't regret our choice.

The Baked Zitti was great! It had lots of cheese, which I liked, and lots of sausages, which I also liked. The serving was a bit small to be shared by 3 people, but with a slice of Smoked Salmon Pizza, which also had generous toppings of salmon and cheese, which I also liked, what we had was definitely filling.

I would like to especially commend on the service rendered by the staff at Italianni's. They were very quick with their service, from the time they seated us to our table to the delivery of our change. What's worth mentioning though is how they didn't throw away our packed left-over pizza when we left the resto to buy our coffee elsewhere. We went back to the resto hoping that they haven't thrown it away yet. Apparently, they kept it at one of their counters for just in case we had to come back for it. Great service, ain't it? :) -- Idj

I adore Italian food. I have good enough reason to believe that I'm a Sicilian native in my past life.

Yep, Idj is correct when she said we did not plan on eating at Italiani's this fateful payday. But since the Jap resto near the office is closed for renovation, we had no choice but to scour for a new place to dine.

And yes, Greenbelt is the answer to our aching tummies. And what better way to satisfy it but indulge in some Italian loving!

So we, the fantastic three of Idj, Leigh and I, decided to have pasta and pizza. Smoked Salmon Pizza and Baked Ziti. Good thing it's already payday and we can dine in our hearts' content without much of the annoyance that we'll end up penny less afterwards. Come to think of it, we almost did.

Every single bite was sumptuous. The pizza crust is perfect. The pasta is al dente. It was simply heavenly.

- lean