I love to eat. Pizza and pasta are just a few of the things that I love. I love pizza and pasta because both are made of a balanced meal on its own. You have carbs, vegetables, meat and fish on there, not to mention the tomato sauce provides lycopene which fights cancer and gives us that healthy pinkish glow we so need. So anyway, there is this Italian restaurant in Camp John Hay that I have heard about and I really wanted to try out their food, so off we went one cold evening to sample their menu.
The ambiance is superb, the decors and the tables and chairs give the place a cozy touch. My brother in law, his wife and kids joined us for dinner that time. The kids settled in quite beautifully and because the place was quite spacious, the kids were able to walk around without disturbing any of the other diners.
I was handed a menu and just about had a heart attack. The entire menu was in Italian, and it was pricey! Like a meal costs around Php250.00 and up. However, the menu looked promising. The waitress was friendly enough, however, she could not pronounce anything on the menu right, which irked me a bit, I mean, she works in an Italian restaurant, how hard can it be to at least be able to pronounce what they have on the menu? Is that so hard? I mean really? If I were in her place, I would jump at an opportunity to learn a new language, even if the words and phrases I will learn are all about food, I think thatâs way better than a bunch of hi-s and hellos.
While we were waiting for our food, we were served an appetizer.
The local brand of liver spread was better than this one and this is supposed to be Foie Gras, but I’m not fooled. But, I loved the bread and the tomatoes were a little sweet and juicy, it was refreshing.
The kids, “C”, “L” and “Baby E” ordered the Penne Pasta Carbonara. It was good, however, not the best Carbonara I have tasted, and for its price, it wasnât that worth its price, if it had more salt or perhaps bacon, it would have been great. I can make a better version than this one, for sure.
“O” had the Lasagna, again, nothing special, it was ordinary and kind of bland, and again, way overpriced. Pizza Hut or even Greenwichâs lasagna tastes better.
O’s brother, “L” ordered a Pepperoni Pizza for all of us to share. It wasnât that great, but it wasnât completely bad, probably one of the only good thing served that night. I loved the green bell peppers on the pizza, it gave it a yummy crunch but since when does a pepperoni pizza have bell peppers? I mean, I loved that they added it, it actually saved this sad pizza, but it’s just not common is what I’m trying to say.
Big “L”, his wife “N” and their son, little “L” ordered steaks. It was dry and seemed over cooked because it was literally like chewing gum, so sad really. Little “L” wasnât able to enjoy his food because it was so chewy he couldnât swallow it. And I’ve just realized there are a lot of L’s in our family.đ
I ordered the Spinach Ravioli. What a big disappointment that was! The ravioli was not cooked properly, it was starchy on the outside and there were some of it that were even frozen on the inside, which made me think that it came straight from the freezer, shocked in hot water to heat it and then covered in tomato sauce. The tomato sauce was okay, the pasta was a big let down. I was so disappointed, I was cranky and unsatisfied when we left. Too pricey for it to be such a disappointment.
It took about an hour and a half for our food to arrive at our table, we were hungry and really running out of patience. It was no wonder why aside from us, there was only one other family dining in. The food was really bad and it was very expensive. My sister in law almost threw a bitch fit because she was hungry and tired and when her food came, she asked the waitress for some steak sauce (A1 Steak Sauce), the waitress had no idea what it was so she said they ran out, too bad there were a bunch of A1 Steak Sauce on the counter behind her, it pissed off my sister in law so bad, but she managed to keep her cool and just pointed to the counter and said, âeh ano yun? (Whatâs that then?)â, the waitress turned around and her face read, âoh, okay so thatâs what a steak sauce isâ.đ
Itâs funny now, but back then it was just annoying.
“L” paid for the meal, our bill came to around Php4,000. It was so not worth it. Will we be dining there again? Perhaps not anytime soon, but who knows, I heard there are good stuff on the menu, so perhaps one day, when I am over the disappointment, we can go back.
But don’t take my word for it, try it out for yourself.
Cantinetta
Building 660, Camp John Hay, Baguio City
This post was originally posted on my first ever food blog, which was a domain I won through a blog giveaway, of course that blog is long gone that's why I'm re-posting this here. Also, that's why the watermarks are so aggressive and loud, back then, there weren't copyright laws in place to protect bloggers/content creators. It was such a different time...
