Conti's Pastry Shop and Restaurant

Specialty: Pastries, International, Filipino, Pasta
Location: unit 1c-17 Serendra Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City
Phone Number: 8562352 to 53
Price Range (Meals): php 135 - 265
Rating: ★★★★

Conti's is one of the relatively affordable places to eat at Serendra. Hence, it will probably be full and would be best if you reserved a seat or arrive early. Their specialty are mainly pastries and cakes but they are also a restaurant and they do serve other things than cake and pastries.

Menu
A little too varied here. Entrees, pastries, pasta, sandwiches... they probably have a little bit of the more popular menu entries.

Frothy Iced Tea
Price: 45 Rating: ★★
Take some regular iced tea, add some shaved ice, put both in a blender and blend away. Not much difference from your regular iced tea. Just get the bottomless iced tea (php 60).











Chicken Roulade + Saffron Mushroom Risotto
Price: php 145 + 25 Rating: ★★★
I was craving for a bit of chicken and I had my eyes set on the first item on the Entree section but alas, it was not available. So I settled on another one of their most popular dishes (or so the waiter says). And with that, the chicken roulade was chosen. Roulade of chicken with spinach, cheese and caramelized onion served with either garlic rice or with saffron mushroom risotto (additional php 25). Do NOT get the saffron mushroom risotto. You are better off with their garlic rice. The saffron mushroom risotto was as boring as rice with star margarine. That was truly a sorry excuse for a risotto. But given the price of the rice, it was (I hope I'm right), forgivable. The veggies on the side wasn't too smashing either. But, as if to redeem itself, the chicken was definitely scrumptious. The spinach was embedded into slices of chicken meat and it was topped with a mouth-watering sauce. I'm a bit confused on how to rate this one. The meat was good while the risotto, abysmal. It wasn't that filling either. 3 stars. Get the garlic rice when you order this one.

Parmesan Fish Fillet with Parsley Sauce
Price: 195 Rating: ★★★★
Fish fillet served with buttered vegetables and garlic rice. The fish was the melt-in-your-mouth kind. Very delicious and soft. The parsley sauce was great on fish. The side dish, however, was about the same as on the chicken roulade. Not bad; Not good either. Plain buttered vegetables. Having tasted the risotto, I was half expecting this to be better than the risotto. I wasn't disappointed. At least this garlic rice tasted like garlic, although a bit on the oily side. The rice cup was shinier than a Florsheim after emptying the cup. Muchos grasa senor.




Linguine in Pesto
Price: 135 Rating: ★★★★
After having eaten the chicken roulade, I was stilling feeling a bit empty. So I opted for some pasta. It looked interesting enough and sure enough, I had my fill after having that dish. Famous rich green basil sauce served with linguine. You also have an option of having it served with seafood (additional 180).








Mango Bravo
Price: 85 Rating: ★★★★★
The place is called Conti's Pastry Shop and Restaurant. Pastry did come first there, so it seems imperative that we eat some form of pastry. Mango Bravo is the cake pictured in front of the menu so we opted for that one. It was HUGE! 4 layers of cake. 2 of which are embedded with mango bits and 1 layer with dark chocolate tasting stuff. I couldn't figure out what that last layer was. It was devoured before I got to it. Delicious!

Conclusion:
The place is indeed a pastry shop first then a restaurant, second. There are LAN ports underneath the tables but I didn't ask if they were functional. Good for the geek heads out there. It could seat around 35 people comfortably but if you want to take a group there, better call before hand. The place is usually crowded since it's one of the few affordable places at Serendra. The others are just plain overpriced. The ones where you think the food should taste great because it's so damn expensive. Going back to the topic, the food is good but it seems that at Conti's, rice was an afterthought. Putting a lot of attention to the viand and almost none to the rice. An option of plain rice would have been nice if they don't pay much attention to it anyway.

Bigby's : Take A Food Trip (part 2)

Bigby's Cafe Location :2/f Entertainment Center, Ayala Center Cebu, Cebu City Tel # : (032) - 2342495/ (032) - 2342395 Cuisine : International/Filipino Menu Price Range : Php 160+ - 300+ Service Charge: none Rating : ★★★★

(This is part 2 of the special 2 part review of Bigby's Cafe. Part 1 here.)

Round 5 : tapa bai!
Price : Php165
Rating : ★★★★
This is a variation of the classic Pinoy Beef Tapa. Beef tenderlion tips sizzling in spicy sauce and vegetables. Also served with rice. The beef was not melt-in-the-mouth soft, but the usual tapa variation, tender but with a sort of firmness to it. The sweet, salty and spicy blend of the sauce mixed well with the meat. The veggies for the added crunch and color. Also served with a generous cup of rice.


Round 6 : Asian Ostrich Skewers
Price : Php210
Rating : ★★★★
This gets a star just for originality. If you feel adventurous, go try something new in the poultry section. Ostrich. This little number has ostrich meat laced with herbs and spices on a kebob stick, drizzled in peanut sauce, raw mango strips on a bed of java rice.
The marinade of the meat is a bit spicy to my liking, but you can still taste the actual flavor of the ostrich. For the many who will be guessing it will taste like chicken, but surprisingly, ostrich is a dark meat variety, and to my taste buds, I think the closest flavor it is either pork/beef tenderloin.


Round 7 : Chicken Samurai
Price : Php179
Rating : ★★
Let's go back to the regular selection of poultry, the Chicken Samurai. Grilled Chicken smothered in Teriyaki sauce over a bed of sauteed greens. The chicken was tasty already on it's own but the sauce overpowered the whole chicken flavor. Leaving me to eat something like a Teriyaki sauce samurai, not the chicken. I didn't need the extra sauce served on the side.


Round 8 : Mango Chantilley Crepe
Price : Php XXX (to be determined later)
Rating : ★★★★
I am not much of a dessert fan but I'm sure is a crepe fan. Their mango crepe is served not your usual way but mango slices on the outside, ice cream flavor of your choice from the selection on the inside (we chose mango) and a pool of caramel sauce of the side. The mangoes were sweet and it seems to match well with the mango ice cream, which resulted into a fixture of creamy and citrus flavors with caramel sauce spooned generously to your likeness. It was a damn shame I was having a coughing fit that day.


Round 9: The Birthday Surprise
Price : Free
Rating : ★★★★★
Like all the themed restaurants with the curious knick-knacks, waiters in creative costumes and whatnots, everybody has their own birthday gimmick. Here at Bigby's I was the victim of the birthday surprise since I treated a bunch of people for my birthday dinner, and up to now, I still don't know who secretly told the restaurant to get a group of enthusiastic waiters to sing me a Bigby's birthday jingle served together with this brownie ala mode cake. When they shouted at the doorway towards where we're seated, I was crawling under the table, literally. Nevertheless, it is an equally wonderful and embarrassing surprise.

Conclusion
A good place to go for good eats with great people. Compared to manila restaurants offering the same stint, its prices are relatively cheaper. So do swing by if you happen to be visiting Ayala Center Cebu, and, like their menu said, take a food trip.

© 2007 wastefulspace

Bigby's : Take A Food Trip (part 1)

Bigby's Cafe Location :2/f Entertainment Center, Ayala Center Cebu, Cebu City Tel # : (032) - 2342495/ (032) - 2342395 Cuisine : International/Filipino Menu Price Range : Php160+ - 300+ Service Charge: none Rating : ★★★★

Bigby's is one of the known restaurants in Cebu City. If you aren't one of the backpacker types that brave to venture the run-downed places or the pongko-ponko offerings in the streets, then this is the right place for you.

Think of it as Burgoo or T.G.I Friday's in Manila (but, cheaper). The ambiance is casual, fun, and very quirky. The walls are emblazoned with a bunch of traveler's memorabilia, ranging from souvenir plates, buttons, pins, mardi gras masks and a pair of skis. Couches are available for a cozy date or for a small group of family or friends and the usual tables and chairs for large parties.

If you glance up on the ceiling, you'll see the crazy spiral lamps and other little surprises which you can check out when you get there yourself.

Bigby's offers a wide range of foodstuffs ranging from appetizers to desserts. So there's really something for everyone.

Now on with the food trip! :D
Round 1 : Appetizer Sampler
Price : Php2XX (to be confirmed)
Rating : ★★★★
I was expecting a hungry crowd over so I knew they will be famished once they arrived, so I had a 2 sampler plates ordered (1 plate is good for 4-5 people) w/ all their popular appetizers: Chicken Fingers, Buffalo Wings, Flavored Fries and the Cheese and Garlic Quesadilla. Honey Mustard Dip and Salsa are also served for the extra kick of flavor. The Chicken Fingers were crispy on the outside, tender and juicy on the inside. But as all chicken fingers served in these sort of establishments, they are a bit bland so the honey mustard is the perfect combination to add a sweet and tangy taste to it. The Flavored Fries are the usual julienned slices of potatoes powdered with barbeque seasoning, best eaten hot or it will be a soggy, oily, mess. The Cheese and Garlic Quesadillas are little bite sized tortillas with a cheese and garlic spread, to be topped generously in salsa so the cheese won't be tiring your tastebuds for the yummy food ahead of you. But for me, the Buffalo wings are the winner of this platter. Smothered in a sweet chili concoction but still having the satisfying crunch on each bite. the flavor sears into the meat, so you know it's marinated well.

Round 2 : Belly Sizzlers
Price : Php185
Rating : ★★★
Here's Bigby's variation of Cebu's pork belly. Served on a sizzling plate drenched in special barbeque sauce with buttered veggies on the side. It comes with a generous cup of rice.
If you love the fat, then you gotta love the dish. Each portion of meat has a generous amount of fat which methinks gives this dish it's very succulent flavor. I'm not a 'fat' person myself, but the meat parts are really very tasty.

Round 3 : Deep Sea Pasta
Price : Php160-180(to be confirmed)
Rating : ★★★★★
Soon to be a regular on my menu is this shrimp pasta dish. Generous crab fat and baby shrimps on topped on a bed of sizzling spaghetti with some green onions as garnish. The sauce is not the usual tomato or cream, but a wonderful blend of spices that reminds you of the sea. the pasta is served al dente but expect the bottom pasta parts to be a bit chewy if it's gonna be seated on the hot plate for quite sometime.


Round 3 : Chix Ahoy
Price : Php189
Rating : ★★★★★
Also one of Bigby's favorites is the Chix Ahoy. If you're crazy about chicken and gravy, then this dish is for you. A fillet of boneless chicken fried and smothered in gravy and potato wedges on the side. It may sound like the average chicken and gravy, but once you tasted it, the zing of the garlic flavor will surely get you to ask for another cup of rice.

Round 4 : Passion Fish
Price : Php189
Rating : ★★★
Breaded blue marlin (look ma, no bones!) deep fried served with garlic dip and rice. I am very particular with the methods of cooking fish and I don't like it when I get a fishy aftertaste.
Anyway, this number definitely doesn't have the aftertaste. In fact, it was so crunchy and juicy that I say, it could definitely pass for chicken. (Mmm, taste like chicken).

Stay tuned for the next food trip!

This is part one of a special two-part review of Bigby's Cafe.

© 2007 wastefulspace