Cantinetta at the Rockwell Center, Makati City
...and the fun never stops!!
After celebrating my birthday with The Club, my high school best friend and my family, I went back to work the day after my birthday leave and scheduled to have lunch with my closest colleagues. They let me decide where lunch will be held and after finally choosing between 2 to 3 restaurants, I finally went for Cantinetta which was located outside the Powerplant Mall.
The reason for choosing this restaurant?
1) I am craving for pasta and truffles
2) I love Italian food
3) I haven't had a full meal at Cantinetta ever (the last time was when I just had a bowl of Gelato).
Thus, Cantinetta was our lunch destination that day.
My colleague I was the first to arrived and she was given a basket of warm bread and two types of spreads. At the same time, she went ahead and got a plate of Spinaci e Funghi (Php. 300) for us to share.
I love the bread and the delicious Chicken Liver Pate. I enjoy having this topped with some sweet salsa on top. Delicious! We all enjoyed this that we asked the server to refill our bread and spreads which he happily complied. Thank you Cantinetta!
The Spinaci e Funghi was also a great way to start our meal. It's cooked spinach topped with mushrooms, cheese and drizzled with truffle oil. It was heaven on a plate. I wish to have more of this but I stopped myself knowing we have a lunch feast ahead.
Choosing the pasta was a breeze, I zeroed in on the Tartufo Spaghetti (Php. 550) which was loaded with truffle cream sauce and slices of prosciutto. A simple dish but an instant favorite for its very flavorful ingredients. Perhaps on my next return, I'll try this with another type of pasta. Penne perhaps?
We also got the Cannelloni Ricotta (Php. 450) which was equally as delicious. What I do not like is a very filling pasta full of meat. This Canelloni is stuffed with spinach and ricotta cheese making it a light and delicious pasta dish. One order comes with two big cannellonis making it good for two to share.
For pizza, we had a mix of Margherita and Fontina Porcini Tartufo (Php. 520) flavors. I'm so lucky that my colleagues also love truffles thus we had quite an overload of it that day. No complains whatsoever! Everyone simply enjoyed how fragrant and delicious the dishes were. Of course, I prefered the Fontina Porcini Tartufo pizza over the basic Margherita. We noticed though that the crust was a bit too thick to our liking. I prefer the hand-tossed thin crust pizza normally served in other Italian restaurants.
Of course it was birthday celebration and we ended our meal with dessert and coffee. We got a slice of Chocolate Cake (Php. 240) to share. It was very rich and moist that I enjoyed every bite of it. It was truly a perfect match to our meal. What we didn't like though were the Tiramisu and Cheesecake which was also got but was pretty much forgettable.
Dining at Cantinetta is quite an experience. Given the high end price tag of each dish, it surely is not the place for your everyday lunch break (not unless you are really into fine dining every day). However, I'm glad I chose to have lunch at this restaurant as it was a perfect chance for us to unwind in between a busy work day and to bond over good food.
I'm definitely going back and I'm taking Paul to try more dishes with me. Of course, I will make it a point to order the Spinaci e Funghi and Tartufo pasta on my next return.
p.s. my apologies for the terrible photos...a result of poor lighting and an old camera desperately asking for a replacement.
Cantinetta is located at Blk. 9 Hidalgo Drive, Rockwell Center (near Powerplant Mall) in Makati City. Call them at 403-0145.
After celebrating my birthday with The Club, my high school best friend and my family, I went back to work the day after my birthday leave and scheduled to have lunch with my closest colleagues. They let me decide where lunch will be held and after finally choosing between 2 to 3 restaurants, I finally went for Cantinetta which was located outside the Powerplant Mall.
The reason for choosing this restaurant?
1) I am craving for pasta and truffles
2) I love Italian food
3) I haven't had a full meal at Cantinetta ever (the last time was when I just had a bowl of Gelato).
Thus, Cantinetta was our lunch destination that day.
My colleague I was the first to arrived and she was given a basket of warm bread and two types of spreads. At the same time, she went ahead and got a plate of Spinaci e Funghi (Php. 300) for us to share.
I love the bread and the delicious Chicken Liver Pate. I enjoy having this topped with some sweet salsa on top. Delicious! We all enjoyed this that we asked the server to refill our bread and spreads which he happily complied. Thank you Cantinetta!
The Spinaci e Funghi was also a great way to start our meal. It's cooked spinach topped with mushrooms, cheese and drizzled with truffle oil. It was heaven on a plate. I wish to have more of this but I stopped myself knowing we have a lunch feast ahead.
Choosing the pasta was a breeze, I zeroed in on the Tartufo Spaghetti (Php. 550) which was loaded with truffle cream sauce and slices of prosciutto. A simple dish but an instant favorite for its very flavorful ingredients. Perhaps on my next return, I'll try this with another type of pasta. Penne perhaps?
We also got the Cannelloni Ricotta (Php. 450) which was equally as delicious. What I do not like is a very filling pasta full of meat. This Canelloni is stuffed with spinach and ricotta cheese making it a light and delicious pasta dish. One order comes with two big cannellonis making it good for two to share.
For pizza, we had a mix of Margherita and Fontina Porcini Tartufo (Php. 520) flavors. I'm so lucky that my colleagues also love truffles thus we had quite an overload of it that day. No complains whatsoever! Everyone simply enjoyed how fragrant and delicious the dishes were. Of course, I prefered the Fontina Porcini Tartufo pizza over the basic Margherita. We noticed though that the crust was a bit too thick to our liking. I prefer the hand-tossed thin crust pizza normally served in other Italian restaurants.
Of course it was birthday celebration and we ended our meal with dessert and coffee. We got a slice of Chocolate Cake (Php. 240) to share. It was very rich and moist that I enjoyed every bite of it. It was truly a perfect match to our meal. What we didn't like though were the Tiramisu and Cheesecake which was also got but was pretty much forgettable.
Dining at Cantinetta is quite an experience. Given the high end price tag of each dish, it surely is not the place for your everyday lunch break (not unless you are really into fine dining every day). However, I'm glad I chose to have lunch at this restaurant as it was a perfect chance for us to unwind in between a busy work day and to bond over good food.
I'm definitely going back and I'm taking Paul to try more dishes with me. Of course, I will make it a point to order the Spinaci e Funghi and Tartufo pasta on my next return.
p.s. my apologies for the terrible photos...a result of poor lighting and an old camera desperately asking for a replacement.
Cantinetta is located at Blk. 9 Hidalgo Drive, Rockwell Center (near Powerplant Mall) in Makati City. Call them at 403-0145.
