I was about 6 years old and I was living in a
small apartment which was provided for us when we we’re still living in Libya. I
remember the smallest kitchen ever, we had the smallest oven, refrigerator,
toaster and etc. And my Dad taught me how to bake cookies in our tiny oven. I
was very little (literally..)then my mom would be the one doing the mixture,
then me and my dad would prepare all kinds of shapes of cookie cutters, star
shape, square, triangle, heart.. It was very cute.. While mom is doing the
mixture, Me and my dad would draw and he would teach me how to stoke crayons
and be well on it. Maybe that’s why I want colors when it comes to my dishes.
Now that I am turning 24, It brings
back memories, I dreamed about it. Today is my father’s birthday.. And I am
mixed with different feelings. My dad is unfortunately in Libya where his
boss wants them to inspect and fix everything that’s happening to their company’s
projects.
But even if we are very far apart we
make sure that we communicate from time to time. And since it’s my father’s
birthday, we decided to go to TriNoma and celebrate it with Italianni’s
Restaurant.
Not only because it was Christmas it
was also the weekends and there were a lot of people shopping, roaming around
and eating and enjoying. Since I knew where the restaurants were, I decided to
take them to Italianni’s. When we got there, there were no tables that were
available and clean, so the receptionist said to sit down and wait. She was
pretty and neat but she wasn’t that accommodating, she just waited for the
tables to be cleaned and have us seated right away. The usual introduction of
our server, soup of the day and “Thank You Ma’am Sir, Enjoy your Meals”, not
smiling she was on an off mood (I suppose).blah blah blah.
See this is what I hate the most, I
write things about Restaurants and the service they provide, since it’s a class
a type of restaurant I expect a worthy service for a worthy price. Is that too
much to ask? I was trained to speak my mind and treat every guests equally and
fairly. I mature in the teachings of my professor with the saying “THE
CUSTOMERS ARE ALWAYS RIGHT!”. We offer good food and best service we can
possibly can because CUSTOMERS pay us for it! It’s our Job!
Continuation…
So as we sat on our comfortable
chairs and as soon as the receptionist handed the menus.. I put it down and
looked around. Italianni’s is one of the most marvelous restaurants I’ve ever
been. It’s incredible structure and architecture is to die for. Displays of so
many pictures of old Italian families, pots and trays that are made of wood and
Italian words that are painted to the walls. The whole set up had an Italian field and
atmosphere to it. You can relax with your family and enjoy.
Our server
was not of help at all… He doesn’t smile nor laugh nor greets us
whole-heartedly. He was just there standing, looking like he can’t wait for his
shift to end. He looked tired and very inappropriate. His clothes were dirty
and so as his apron. I asked him what are their specialties, and he wasn’t able
to answer right away. So I became the server on our table. Asked each and
everyone what they like and try to tell them what’s on every dish, good thing
on the menu there’s an individual description. Ha! (admit it guys we sometimes
are lazy to read that but come to think of it, why read if the server knows
what’s in it! Anyways as soon as we each have what meal to have, I wrote it
down and gave it to our server who wasn’t much of a help.
It was my first time to come to
Italianni’s TriNoma branch usually I dine in at Robinson’s Manila or at Gateway.. Plus my family is a
big fan of pizzas and pastas. So it’s obvious we had to pick Italianni’s.
On our
tables:
Appetizer : Basket
of Bread (Foccacia Bread)dipped in a olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette.
This serves as a “while you wait appetizer”
and it is free.
Insalata Milano P495.00 – This salad
has Salami Milano, romaine, black olives, tomatoes, grabanzos, parmesan cheese
and it’s dressing Italian vinaigrette. The saltiness of the salami and cheese
mixed with the Italian vinaigrette blends very well. It’s a great combination
of flavors. Just an advise, order water just to numb the taste of the salad, so
that you can still feel and taste the flavors of your main course.
Main Course
: Beef TenderloinP995.00 – I was
really upset with this dish. We wanted the tenderloin to be cooked medium rare
and well done. I don’t know how they define Medium rare in their kitchen, what
they served us was really off. It was Rare. Yes it was seared but it had 75%
red through the centre. Medium rare is seared but it should be 50% red on the
center. The one they gave us had a
gel-like texture, more likely eating a raw meat! Yuck! Fortunately, the well- done steaks were 100%
brown but still tender. I can taste the black pepper corn sauce and my brother
likes the mashed potatoes and there was a side dish which is mixed vegetables
that was topped with cream based sauce with cheese.
Grilled Pork Chops (2 chops)P695.00- Now here’s a good main dish, I like the tenderness of the
chops and its pepper-crust with black peppercorn sauce. Ofcourse the usual
served with seasonal vegetables, crispy fried spinach and garlic rice. Very
pinoy I might add. This was my mom's choice.. Again Mothers knows best.
Grilled
Pepper Fish Fillet P575.00 - Grilled Cream Dory fillet seasoned with black
pepper and served with either mashed potatoes or pasta coated with olive oil
then on the side you have there the tomato cream sauce with mixed vegetables. A
very healthy yet tasty meal. My godmother ordered one.
And as for me.... I had the Parmesan Crusted Fish Fillet (Regular)
P595.00 - Cream Dory coated with Parmesan Cheese and Breadcrumbs, served
with their amazing and delicious caper cream sauce, mashed potatoes and
buttered vegetables. Two thumbs and definitely a recommendation. A must-try
dish.
As you can see me and my family loves
dining out especially during special occasions. All their dishes were a little
pricy, and their service was really bad. As soon as we were done with our meal,
my sisters were complaining about their service, how raw the meat was. It was
painfully disappointing. The place was
good (no! the best set up!)Food? (it was ok…)SERVICE? VERY BAD!
Thanks everyone for reading.. Have a
nice day…
Eat HAPPY
Everyone!!
Kwaizz miya
miya!!
Yours
Truly,
Zielle
a.k.a Fat Girl
