Back to Back at Conti's Bakeshop and Restaurant, Robinsons Magnolia

This particular entry marks my 1,192nd blog post here at Frannywanny.com. This means that I've written that much in the span of 6 years! Quite a LOT, isn't it? Out of all the entries, I'd say that 80% are on the different restaurants I've tried locally, 15% are those I was able to visit abroad and the rest are on shopping finds, home ideas, beauty, my occassional musings and a lot more. Therefore, if you do the math, I've visited about 953 local restaurants to date. Now, that explains why I'm still a far cry from having a supermodel body. Haha!

Given the numbers I've mentioned above, there are still some restaurants that I'm surprised I haven't gotten around to blogging about. Thus, I'm making it my 2013 resolution to ensure that they make it to this blog site for me to share my favorites with you. One of those is my go-to place whenever the need to have some comfort food comes about. I'm talking about Conti's Bakeshop & Restaurant.

For years, I would frequent Conti's mainly for two things -- their Baked Salmon and the Mango Bravo Cake. It's really convenient that there's a Conti's branch located within my neighborhood allowing Paul and I to easily drop by to buy the cake before heading off to a birthday party or what not.

During our recent visit home, we agreed to meet up with our dear friends L and T for lunch. Conti's recently opened a new branch at Robinsons Magnolia and being the "balikbayans" that we feel we already are, we chose to dine there to be able to check the mall out. We agreed to meet up for late lunch which was around 1PM. By then, we were expecting for the restaurant to be empty. Well, I just have to tell you that there was still a line outside at that hour. Luckily, I was able to make prior reservations so we didn't have to wait and were quickly ushered to our table.

I didn't have to check the menu out to know what I'm getting. This is a rare occassion wherein I was 101% sure of what I will be ordering. Of course, when dining at Conti's, do not ever miss out on the Conti's Baked Salmon (Php. 355). This is, if I'm not mistaken, the only menu item that Conti's has attached its name to it. I am normally more inclined towards ordering signature dishes or those with the restaurant's name on it as it somehow gives me an assurance that it's the best the restaurant has to offer. As for Conti's, they made the right choice in making the Baked Salmon their signature dish. This is really one of the yummiest item in the menu! How can you ever say no to tender salmon steak baked with parmesan cheese and garlic. It's served with buttered veggies (read: corn kernels) and paella rice. If you asked me, I'd be happy having just the fish, some buttered brocolli or string beans and garlic rice. The paella rice was too overpowering and for a yummy fish like this, you need something more subtle. Somehow I felt that the rice was not complementing the salmon but rather it's struggling to be in the limelight too.

Paul was craving for some traditional Pinoy breakfast fare that's why he chose the Chicken Tocino (Php. 150). According to him, it was just a-okay. He wishes he got the Homemade Beef Tapa instead though. Maybe on our next visit, dear husband.

Of course, what's a meal at Conti's without having cakes. Since L & T are not quite up to having Mango Bravo since, lik us, they've been ordering this since time immemorial, we agreed to try something else. Taking the advice of our server, we tried the Choco Overload Cake instead. I like how the cake had varying layers with different kinds of chocolate. From chiffon to mousse, it wasn't too sweet making me like this cake a lot.



We had a good lunch catching up with L & T. I guess we really enjoyed lunch so much that we found ourselves back at the exact same Conti's for dinner that same day. You see, after we parted ways with L&T, Paul and I met up with my family. After going around the mall, time came for us to decide where to eat. We were listing off the different restaurants available and a unanimous decision came about when the name "Conti's" was brought up. Somehow, we didn't mind going back as we wanted to try more dishes!

We each had our own main dish but Mommy ordered some starters for sharing. Our dinner began with the Gambas y Champinon al Ajillo (Php. 175). This was really good! Our family loves gambas and Conti's version has successfully passed our standards. I love the juicy shrimps covered in garlicky oil. Yum!

Mommy and Paul both love Lumpia Ubod (Php. 80) which is fresh vegetable wrap with sweet sauce. Sadly though, this one was quite bland and didn't impressed us that evening.

I also tried the Cream of Brocolli which was yummy! I love starter my meal with a bowl of creamy soup.

For our mains, Paul and I shared the USDA Roasted Beef Belly (Php. 345). We first tried this during our potluck party last Christmas with my high school friends. J brought this and we all loved it! Despite the small chunks of fat, we enjoyed the tender, delicious beef belly that comes with almond pilaf rice. This time, I appreciated the subtle-flavored rice which took a backseat in order to highlight the beef belly. I highly recommend this.

Lastly, we had the Seafood Linguine in Pesto Sauce (Php. 295). This was the only one that we were not happy about. The noodles were dry and hard, the sauce tasteless and the seafood was just a-okay. It's quite pricey too given that it's just pesto and a handful of shrimps and squid. I really regret ordering this as Mommy even had to alter the pasta by adding some gambas sauce to perk up the taste.

Over-all, we love Conti's for their cakes, the Baked Salmon and the Beef Belly. Papa had the American Grilled Ribs (Php. 295) which he was very happy about. I guess you really can't win it all. Conti's may have some hits and misses but it's still one of our favorite restaurants in town.

Visit Conti's Bakeshop & Restaurant in these branches all over Metro Manila.