Nobody lives a perfect life

The perfect life only comes true in dreams, a make-believe reality. And the next best thing we can do with our life is to accept our imperfections and make the most out of it. Life is short so live it to the fullest.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

An Italian Gastronomic Experience at Bistro Casanova

I think I was born an Italian citizen in my past life because my palate always longs for pasta and pizza; so when I chanced upon an order all you can deal in Groupon Beeconomic, I immediately got in touch with my high school buddies for us to avail of the deal. You can view the details of our voucher here: http://www.beeconomic.com.ph/deals/metro_manila/eat-all-you-can-up-to-70-off-on-order-all-you-can-italian-cuisine-at-bistro-casanova-fort-bonifacio/715941853


My friends and I purchased 2 vouchers of Order-All-You Can: Php1050 (Php3600 value) for 2 people. So basically, one person paid for Php525 instead of Php1,800. It was truly a worthy deal.


Bistro Casanova is a cozy restaurant located at GF Kensington Place, 1st Avenue, Burgos Circle, Taguig City. We got to the restaurant at around 1pm and we were surprised to find it empty. It was a real treat to us because we had the whole restaurant to ourselves. It stayed that way until we left at around 4pm. 


The "Order-All-You-Can” menu consist of 2 Choices of appetizer, 3 choices of soup, 4 choices of insalate, 7 choices of pasta, 10 choices of thin crust pizza, 4 choices from main course and 2 choices of dessert. Well those were supposed to be the choices but we were able to order other stuff from the menu which was really great. We just got a little worried for Vince, our server, because he might get reprimanded for not limiting our orders to those that can be served but he assured us that it was okay as long as the cost doesn't exceed Php7200. Unfortunately, we got restricted to the "Order-All-You-Can” menu after that. 


Below are photos taken during our 3-hour stay in the restaurant. 


Cashier, facade of the kitchen, door to the restroom


They have a really nice mural painted on the wall. The design and colors were pleasant to the eyes.


Fancy lighting


This is the front part of the restaurant.


Fancy table setting
Quite nice, right? We felt so good being served like queens the whole time we were there. It was like this: we look at the menu, pick our choice of food, call Vince and tell him of our choice, wait for a few minutes, and indulge on freshly-cooked Italian dishes. 


Of course, I didn't miss a chance of having my photo taken in this part of the restaurant. I had my eye on it the moment we took our seats. Haha!
I just wanted to have a photo taken with that red chair


It would have been great if we were able to taste at least one of these bottles.
There were different kinds of wine and liquor but since these
were not included in the deal, we weren't able to taste any.
 And of course, we had our photo taken before the food started to arrive.
Razy, Mae, Me, Daisy -
the ladies who consumed Php7200-worth
of food :)

Now let me share with you our delectable and sumptuous meal for the afternoon.


Zuppe (Soup)

For Me and Razy:
Crema Ai Funghi (Cream of mushroom)

It was good enough for me though I would have loved it better if the mushroom pieces were bigger. 
Yes, I'm a certified mushroom-lady!


For Daisy:
Straciatella (Roman style egg drop soup with basil)

This one tasted like Lucky Me Chicken with egg but a high-end version. Hehe :)


Antipasti (Appetizer)


For Mae:
Prosciutto e Mango (Parma ham and mango)

The ham was too salty for me but I think it really tasted
like that. I guess I'm too used to the sweet ham served during
Christmas and New Year.


 Pizze (Pizza)


For all:
Pizze (thin crust, dough pizza)
Quatro Stagioni 
Four different tastes:
1. Boscaiola - tomato, ham, mushroom, mozzarella
2. Al Formaggi - tomato, emmental, gorgonzola, taleggio, and gruyer 
3. Positamo - Tomato, salami, mozzarella
4. Garlic

At first sight, we all thought that it was a heavy mean but taking our first bite,
we all realized that each of us can eat one whole pizza by ourselves. Well,
that is if we are not going to eat anything else.
My favorite of the four is the Boscaiola, mainly because of the mushrooms.
Second choice is the Al Formaggi; I am a ceritifed cheese-lover, too.
We ordered a second serving of the Quatro Stagioni and decided to try 
different flavors. 



Antipasti (Appetizer)


For Daisy:
Carpaccio di Salmone (This slices of smoked salmon with capers, onions, lemon )

Surprisingly (Hazel's word for the day), this appetizer tasted good. 
I just had a few servings, though, because 
I didn't want to upset my stomach.




For me and Razy:
Salamina All'aglio (Italian garlic sausage with onions and cheesy tomato sauce) 

I really like this one, mainly because of the sauce and the Italian garlic sausage.
It was a meal and itself and I would have loved it if there was rice served with it. Haha!


Specialita della Casa (House Specialty)

For Mae:
Ravioli Verdi di Ricotta Spinaci (Green ravioli stuffed with ricotta cheese
and spinach in tomato ricotta cheese sauce) - what's left of it :p

I wasn't able to take a photo of this one before Mae started to eat it. Again,
           I loved the sauce. I'm a sucker for red sauce with cheese. :p




Insalate (Salad)


For Daisy:
Itaca (lettuce, onion, cucumber, onion carrots, andcitronet dressing)

The only salad we tried and I only tasted a little. 


For all:
Mango Tango - the BEST dessert!!!!

I had 2 of these. I think Razy also had 2. Mae and Daisy had
3 each. Obviously, we really loved this dessert. It's not your 
typical ref cake (the one with graham crackers, all-purpose cream,
condensed milk, and mango). The sweetness was just right and it
felt like it melts in your mouth.


For Me:
Chicken breast in pesto cream sauce

I was the only one who ordered a main dish, mainly because I wanted to try it.
The chicken was not overcooked and I really liked the pesto cream sauce.




HAPPY TUMMIES!!!!


For Me:
Penne Calabrese (Penne pasta with sun dried tomato, ricotta cheese and black olives)

Again, this is me and my addiction to red sauce. :) The pasta was cooked just right.
I had to ask help from the three because I was a little full after eating the chicken. 


Our photo after our very heavy meal :) This is the mural I was referring to.


Mae, Hazel, Daisy, Me


And another photo was taken at the facade of the resto.
My best buddies Daisy and Hazel <3


The restaurant signage


It was a truly delightful experience and I would definitely purchase another voucher if it will be offered again. But even if there is no voucher, I can say that this restaurant is worth going to. It's expensive but reasonable. I think the Order-All-You Can is available everyday as well but instead of Php525, each person needs to pay Php650. It's not too bad thinking that you can consume Php1800-worth of really delicious food.