They were not kidding when they say that the entree portions were "for sharing"…read more I had "brunch" at Full Belly Craft Kitchen this morning, and ordered the Bagnet ni Kenneth and the monggo guisado with bagnet. FBCK did not disappoint. I especially liked the monggo guisado which is a full meal in itself. At P600+ for two diners, FBCK is great value for money.

Full Belly Craft Kitchen is a casual dining restaurant located along the unfamiliar side of Sgt…read more Esguerra Ave, nearing Timog, and away for the busy district of Tomas Morato. It specializes in belly-delicious dishes. This is a hidden gem in Quezon City, and a good place to hang out or celebrate with family because of its quiet and homey ambiance. While waiting for my friends to arrive, we were served with their home-brewed iced tea. It has a fruity, not-so-sweet taste, and the added slices of fruit in the drink made it to an eye-candy as well. We were also served with the softest pan de sal with butter. The bread is soft and fluffy. I was immediately taken to bread heaven and thinking of the things I can eat with it. Once we are complete, we started having breakfast (at lunch). Full Belly Craft Kitchen serves all-day breakfast meals, but if you visit them for breakfast (7am-10am), they offer free coffee. What a deal! Our breakfast tasting included: - Homemade Spanish Sardines (Php240) : Homemade Milkfish or Bangus Belly cooked in olive oil and spices served with atchara, garlic rice and 2 sunny side-up eggs : Something to wake up to every morning, the bangus belly is soft and tender and do not have a fishy smell nor aftertaste. The garlic rice is fluffy and is lightly seasoned. The garlic is not overpowering. A good dish for me, for someone who doesn't love bangus belly. - Full Belly Tapa (Php245) : Grilled belly of beef served with 2 eggs and garlic rice : according to Sir Robert, they made these tapa themselves, and it shows on the tenderness of the belly and the tender-meatiness of the beef. The soy sauce mixture and garlic rice accompanied the dish well. A truly satisfying and filling dish. - Bacon Spinach and Cheese Fritata (Php185) : Baked eggs with cheddar, maple bacon, and spinach, served with pan de sal : One of my favorite dishes throughout the day. Cheese, spinach, and egg is already a good combination, but the addition of strips of bacon just dropped the bomb. The dish is light yet flavorful; all the ingredients can be tasted and has a comforting feeling in the mouth. After breakfast, we had lunch, and started off with an appetizer called Baked Mussels (Php240) : Chilean mussels with mashed potatoes topped with mornay sauce, mozzarella cheese, bacon bits, and truffle oil : My favorite dish! The problem with food tasting is that there are too many dishes to try so most dishes ended up with leftovers, but not this dish. I owned it and don't plan on sharing. Haha! This is a heavy dish because of the mashed potatoes and the cheese, but I was hypnotized by the creaminess of the potatoes, velvety-ness of the cheese, freshness of the mussels, saltiness and chunkiness of the bacon, and the sweet aroma of the truffle oil that I couldn't stop eating. :-) To wake me up from hypnosis, we had Ensaladang Bagnet (Php210) : Crispy Pork Belly served with Mustard Leaves, Onions, Cherry Tomatoes, Salted Egg, and Balayan Bagoong : a light dish that is full of flavor. The mustard leaves complement and contrast the bagnet; onions and tomatoes balances out the otherwise bagnet's cholesterrific nature; the salted egg is mostly there for color as the taste is light. The saltiness came from the baggong but only comes with a light taste. A wonderful appetizer to start and prepare for the good things to come. For the main event, we had a good combination of meat and vegetables, as not to satiate us out. You will notice that each dishes is carefully thought of and crafted as the ingredients complemented each other: - 12-hr Beef Roast (Php650) : Slow-roasted belly of beef cooked au jus, roasted veggies and potato puree : the highlight of the menu; something this good cooked for 12 hours allow the belly to be tender. It is cooked in its own juice so it is flavorful as well. - Tuna Belly Al Ajillo (Php285) : Grilled tuna belly served with lots of garlic on a sizzling plate : Among all the bellies, I like tuna the most, and this one is spot on! I like the sweet-sour-salty combination of the dish. Though some complained to be salty, I feel the taste is just right, well maybe because I ate it with garlic rice. - Bagnet ni Kenneth (Php320) and Beef Belly Rice (Php80) : Chef Kenneth is the original creator of their version of this double-fry, crispy pork belly dish, so it was named in his honor. The skin is very crispy even when no longer hot. The meat is so tender that it falls right off. It is served with a tomato and salted egg salsa. The belly rice, however, is just ok for me. It tasted like rice cooked with the beef's juice topped with some beef bits. A little bland. - Binagoongang Bagnet (Php360) : Crispy bagnet pork belly with grilled eggplant, morning glory (kangkong), cherry tomatoes and bagoong : salty yet flavorful, best paired with rice. - Wing Beans in Coconut Cream (Php175) : Sigarilyas cooked in coconut cream served with pork chicharon : What complemented the dish together is the bagoong alamang sauce.

Always love the food here. Today tried their limited Calamari Fritti - which is best described as…read morecrispy with a chew. Loved the texture of the batter and with a squeeze of lemon was divine. The sardine panini was ok, it needed more sardine filling. It had a spicy kick. The bolognese rigatoni was excellent. Noodles were perfectly al dente with the flavorful sauce was divine. Since we're in the Philippines have het a mango shake.

Service was good. The food tasted amazing!! The pasta cream was yummy and the pizza delicious!!…read more Everyone was full!! Generous portions! Highly recommend!

It was my husbands bday, and the whole family came. There were 8 of us. My hubby likes Italian and…read morewe wanted something really good. My sister found this place on google as best Italian restos in the area and we tried it. We ordered so much I don't quite remember all! But we had a couple of cold cut meats to start and couple of mozzarella with tomatoes. For main, we ordered a steak...boy was it huge and delicious! Value for price! We also ordered Alfredo w chicken, carbonara, pesto pasta, seafood pasta and red wine to go with it. Roberto, the owner, and our servers were very friendly! Oh, and not to mention, we had our own private room as it was a Monday and the ambience is so authentic and quaint! Love this place!

The ambiance is great but the food is not. The truffle pasta is not that good plus it is too salty…read more The carbonara is no different, it also disappoints. The pasta clearly needs more cooking for it is kind of tough. The pizza is the worst. No flavor. The crust has terrible texture. I feel i just dumped my money into the trash but that is just one man's opinion. The crew is friendly, though.

Every time we come to the Philippines, we always include a trip to MARIO'S. Been coming here ever…read moresince I was little. Our usuals include their Caesar salad, Oysters Rockefeller, and salpicado for me. But our last couple visits, I've been getting the salpicon de mar y tierra which is steak and shrimp. Everything is absolutely delicious. They even start you off with the softest, yummiest dinner rolls and butter. Pair it with their iced tea and you've got yourself a delicious meal. Service is always great and it's never usually too packed when we go. A trip to the Philippines is not complete without a visit to Mario's. Do yourself a favor and check it out for yourself!

Mario's whips up a pretty mean Caesar salad and their Chilean sea bass dish is solid too. But boy…read moredoes their chef need to learn how to properly cook a steak. I ordered the Porterhouse cooked rare, but the cut they served me was well-done. Normally, I'd let things like this go, but not if the darn slab of meat costs ₱1795! I asked them to do it again, and the second time, it came out literally raw. #facepalm

A foodie friend referred me to this place a few years back. He said that they have the BEST pasta…read morein Manila--perhaps in the Philippines--perhaps one of the best you will have in your lifetime. I've always wanted to go but never found the time or opportunity, until last night. The rumors were true. Despite the peculiar choice for the location--a gas station in the middle of EDSA, for crying out loud, Va Bene served us some of the best pasta dishes I've ever had. We were greeted by their friendly, very accommodating staff, and it turned out to be a deliciously beautiful evening from there. The interiors, in my opinion, were nothing extravagant: glass-top tables overlooking paintings underneath, dark-painted chairs with tacky glossy varnish, and on one side a floor-to-ceiling shelf with their wines, cookbooks, and pasta-making paraphernalia for sale. I wouldn't say this was the work of a professional interior designer, but I felt the heart and the unassuming authentic Italian taste. Then came our food. I ordered the Lasagna a la Michele--lasagna with Italian sausage, bolognese, and parmesan cheese sauce. Presentation-wise, it looked like your typical lasagna served on a large hot plate instead, but it tasted far from the ordinary. Each forkful of the pasta layers was rich and heavenly. All I could think was, "I wouldn't want to gobble this up so quickly, it's too good!" The only thing missing was a piece of bread on the side or a glass of wine, so you wouldn't feel so "umay" if it was the only thing you ordered. But I have no complaints at all about the flavors and portion size. With this plate alone, I'm one more happy customer. I tried my friend's Black Ink Tagliolini--mixed seafood, marinara sauce, light tomato cream sauce, and it was nothing short of flavorful too. The sweetness from the seafood was the best partner for the very "malinamnam" black ink pasta. I wouldn't change a single thing about the dish. Va Bene also offers other main dishes if you want more than just pasta. We also ordered their Ciao Burger--chicken breast bruger served with homemade mayonnaise, semi-dried tomatoes, sauteed mushrooms, buffalo mozzarella, arugula leaves, and crispy potatoes. And my for an Italian restaurant, it's one burger I truly enjoyed. The ingredients, especially the arugula, were so fresh and green and it just made me feel happy stuffing them in my mouth. So when all the food was gone and we were happily paying for the above-average price of our bill while complimenting our server for the amazing food, he offered us some Lemon Drop shots--some lemon syrup with vodka that tasted good but was actually pretty strong. Will Va Bene ever run out of surprises? Overall, after just my first time here, Va Bene has become one of my favorite restaurants in Manila. (I'm eyeing that Parpadelle for my next visit.)

OH MY GOD THE HYPE IS REAL. Va Bene is the best, THE BEST Italian Restaurant I have had the…read morepleasure of dining at. Why this place is located in a gas station in EDSA is beyond me, but my god what an incredible restaurant. There was nothing put on or artificial about the whole experience, and you do get the sense that the staff knows what they're doing. The restaurant itself is bright and inviting, and while it had none of the lines we so associate with headliner restos, Va Bene always had customers in the two hours we stayed in there. Yes, two hours. As for the food, the names escape me right now but I had a pasta dish with lamb, and my friend had a mushroom/truffle pasta. I still have dreams over both dishes, ESPECIALLY the mushroom/truffle pasta. Incredible.

Was meeting one of my childhood friends here. She recommended me this place because it's a UP…read moreclassic. So i had to try it. We got the carbonara, the pepperoni pizza and their fried stuffed ravioli. Hahanap-hanapin ko yung lasa ng Carbonara kasi ang creamy! Everything was so flavorful and yummy. Service is great! The vibes were very cozy! Pagbalik ko sa Pilipinas this Will be on my list.

The food is really good. We ordered Bistecca, Salsiccia, Aligue Pasta (crab paste pasta),…read morefantastico pizzq, salad with balsamic vinegar dressing, and table wine (red). I can't say how genuine italian the food was but was really savory. Serving size is typical asian/ filipino size so if you ate a big eater, don't shy away from ordering more. They have a 3 car parking slot or you can park at the curve side. Ambiance: they have plastic chairs and tables. Not very fancy. I came here for lunch. It was not very busy but not very empty either. There were several of us here in this tiny place. We stayed here for a good 2 hours Service: the lady was very kind, prompt and very helpful.

One of the best Italian restaurants I've ever eaten at, including when I was in Italy. Great…read moreservice. Friendly staff. Wonderful restraurant. Desserts are the best!

The food here is great! Authentic Italian cuisines. If your in Manila, this is the place to go…read more From what I hear, they have many franchises all over Manila, but this place is the original. The service is great, the ambiance is relaxing and very welcoming and warm. One foot note is the Mama Lou's Special pizza, was mind blowing! Who would of thought mango and basil on a pizza. Wow!

This restaurant is long gone, but my family and I always ate here. It was our favorite restaurant,…read morebecause none of their dishes ever disappointed, and the staff were always so friendly and welcoming. One of the reasons we loved this restaurant so much was their bread basket, which was either accompanied by butter or their green spread (which was maybe garlic-based). It was addictive. The appetizer I would always get was the fried mozzarella (or Mozarella in Carrozza), which had a good texture combination of crunchy breading and stretchy, chewy mozzarella. Their seafood pasta, Pasta Pescatore, was also wonderful. The tomato-based sauce was so flavorful, really capturing the flavors of the seafood and garlic (which I love). Even their pizza was great, particularly the capricciosa. But really, everything was great. Gourmet would not have been as delightful a dining experience that it was without their people. The waiters here were always kind and joked with us frequently. The atmosphere was always light and jovial with them around. It wasn't just the food that made us want to come back; it was also them. That's why it was so sad when we visited after some time and discovered that this restaurant had closed down. We weren't able to say goodbye. To this day, we miss them, and we wish that we could see them again. They have given me and my family so many good memories. It's unlikely that they will see this review, but just in case, I want to say that we miss you so much! And thank you! You made us (and our stomachs) so happy!

I keep seeing this restaurant whenever I come in Shang from the MRT entrance, and it looked classy…read moreto me. I have never really tried it until a friend treated me to dinner here, and it was great. Definitely one of the nicer Italian restaurants I've been to, with great pasta and pizza. We started with a salad, and I like the freshness and crispness of the organic greens in balsamic vinegar, as well as the ricotta cheese in the salad. For the pasta, we shared a puttanesca, and I liked it - just the right combination of sweetness, sourness (yes, I like to taste the sourness of the tomatoes), and savoriness. For the pizza, we had the margherita, a classic order, and it did not disappoint. I don't remember us having dessert, but Trattoria also serves desserts like the classic tiramisu. For those who love Italian food, this restaurant is definitely a must-try.