Last week I found myself in Parqal, a new strip mall in Pasay's Aseana business district. I planned to have lunch elsewhere, but the errands were taking longer than expected and I was hungry. There's a Marketplace supermarket that serves relatively cheap and good enough food, but the place was packed and the stuff I wanted to eat had run out. Most of the restaurants in Parqal are expensive, so it's no surprise that people flock to Marketplace to eat.
So I decided to have lunch at Gianetto instead, an upstart Italian-inspired restaurant. Apparently their original branch is in San Juan City, which is near our apartment, yet here I was, sampling their fare 15 kilometers away.
The restaurant occupies quite an expansive space, and the interiors have this attractive dark wood finish.
I ordered spinach ravioli (P495) and passion fruit iced tea (P139). The first item that arrived though was the free focaccia bread cubes with balsamic-olive oil dip, a standard starter in many Italian restaurants. It was still quite hot when it arrived. I looked closely because the center looked uncooked, which I confirmed after taking the first bite. I think I ate 2 out of the 4 cubes. Well, at least it was "free."
About ten minutes later my order arrived. The presentation could use a bit of work as it didn't look that appetizing. Taste wise, I found the sauce too sweet for my liking, but it was generally ok. I think most people would be fine with it.
The ravioli was on the soft side. The cheese and spinach filling was tasty enough, and the serving was generous - two less gluttonous customers could probably share a single order. I think it would've been better though if they took it easy on the sauce as it got a bit overpowering.
Meanwhile, the iced tea was nothing special.
The overall experience was ok, I guess. The most positive aspect of this visit was the service, which was fast and friendly.
I was a bit curious about the pizzas as the pictures looked good in the menu; maybe I'll come back to sample them. I think Gianetto started out as a pizza place anyway, so perhaps that's their specialty.
Summary
Taste: 3.0/5.0
Quality: 3.5/5.0
Interiors: 4.0/5.0
Ventilation: 4.0/5.0
Value for money: 3.5/5.0
Worth coming back to?: Maybe, just to check out the pizzas.
Click here to view the menu