Tuscano : Italian Wood Oven Pizza in Bonifacio Global City

Quietly tucked in one of the hidden corners of Bonifacio Global City is a bright and inviting Italian restaurant called Tuscano. Upon receiving an invite to have lunch there with fellow foodies Richard and Irene, Paul and I found the restaurant after a wrong turn and a phone call to Richard for more verifications. The restaurant is located at the ground floor of The Fort Residences thus parking is pretty limited. We truly welcomed the Valet Parking service that the restaurant offers allowing us to just hand over our keys to the valet and he'll do the rest.

I love Italian food mainly because I love pasta! Luckily, Manila is booming with more and more restaurants that would save you the plane ticket to Italy and still you'll be able to enjoy a good plate of pasta or some freshly baked thin-crusted pizza anytime you want! Still, I wish that Paul and I will one day be able to visit Europe and eat all the pizza, bread, pasta and cheeses to our hearts delight. Someday...someday...

Our lunch began with two types of soup -- Creamy Broccoli Soup & Pecorino Cheese (Php. 185) and the Roasted Tomato Soup & Goat Cheese (Php. 265). I can't have anything with too much tomato in it thus Paul took care of tasting this soup while I happily had the creamy broccoli soup.

According to Paul the Roasted Tomato Soup was okay however he could hardly taste the goat cheese. He enjoyed the full flavor of the tomato which was a good thing as others would normally make this too diluted in water.

The Creamy Broccoli Soup & Pecorino Cheese was good too. See that splash of oil on top? I initially thought it was truffle oil sadly it had zero truffle taste so I think it must have just been olive oil. The soup had a chunky texture due to the pureed vegetable. I wouldn't mind ordering this again on my next visit. Note that this is the actual serving size of the soup so for light-eaters, you might want to share this with a friend.

For salads, we had the Tuscano Signature Salad (Php. 425) which consists of prosciutto, cherry tomatoes, sweet pear, grapes, lettuce, arugula, pine nuts, walnuts, artichokes and all tossed in balsamic vinaigrette. It was very refreshing brought about by the fruits added into this salad.



Our second salad was the Seared Local Fresh Tuna & Mixed Greens (Php. 385). This one I liked better as I loved the fresh seared tuna with goat cheese, sweet pears, strawberry, bacon, grapes, cherry tomatoes, lettuce and basic vinaigrette. I prefer salads with a little bit of meat or seafood in it.

Our next dish was the one thing that I fell in love with during our visit at Tuscano. Introducing the Spicy Tomato Prawn Gamberetti in Oil & Garlic (Php. 465). My Mom, upon hearing us rave about this pasta dish, headed to Tuscano with my Aunt a week after. It was THAT good. I love the al dente angel hair spaghettini pasta which was perfectly coated with the delicious spicy sauce made out of olive oil, garlic, and tomatoes. It's a simple dish but a truly addicting one. The prawns were perfectly cooked having the right bite. I highly recommend that you try this dish should you visit Tuscano soon. Can't handle the heat? Tuscan will gladly adjust the spicy level of your pasta upon request.

Also on my next visit, I will definitely try the Truffled Wild Mushroom Cream too!

Tuscano is known for their wood-oven baked pizzas thus we made sure to order two flavors to have a good taste of their specialty. First was the Pepperoni & Cheese (Php. 465). I'm personally not a fan of pepperoni so I just took a small slice of this from Paul's plate. It was ok, very meaty and the pepperoni slices were quite spicy.

I then moved on to our second pizza -- Flambe Wild Mushroom (Php. 695). Obviously, I chose this simply because it had truffle oil on it. I'm truly addicted to mushrooms and truffle oil and this definitely perfectly suited my taste. The crust was crunchy and had just the right thickness to it. This pizza was loaded with mushrooms, caramelized onions and more mushrooms. I loved it! I was so happy that we had a few more slices left that we brought home for dinner that day.

Tuscano also has a couple of main dishes. We were able to try the Beef Stew Casserole with Chocolate (Php. 585). Sadly, I didn't like this dish at all. The beef was lacking in the flavor and the chocolate was too bitter to be enjoyed. My lunch companions all shared the same sentiments thus this was the only dish that we hardly touch all throughout the meal.

The Grandma's Roasted Garlic-Lemon Chicken (Php. 565) was more promising though. I love the oven-roasted garlic that melts like butter as I spread it over my slice of chicken. The baked potato was really creamy and I ate this like a happy camper. One order gives you a quarter cut of the chicken which makes this a bit too pricey if you ask me.

Over-all, I enjoyed our pasta and pizza dishes. I'm definitely going back for more Flambe Wild Mushroom and the Spicy Tomato Prawn Gamberetti again!

*photo credit: Paul Ang

Tuscano is located at The Fort Residences, 30th street corner Padre Burgos Circle, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City. It's located very near Burgos Circle and across Robinsons Bank (among other banks located nearby). Call them at 478-7503.