Italian Wars: Amici vs a Veneto

Within the course of a week, I had the chance to dine at two old time favorites- Amici and a Veneto. Both are local Italian restaurants that have similar items on the menu so we're doing a side by side review/feature. Despite the title, I'm not pitting one against the other (What? I like them both!). It's not a competition (boo!).

Amici or a Veneto?

Back in the day, we would troop to the Amici branch at Don Bosco every so often to have lunch and then cap the meal off with a generous serving of premium gelato ice cream (this was before gelato hit mainstream). My (highschool) friends and I frequented the one at Glorietta 3 after cutting classes. a Veneto is a popular stop because of their helfty servings at (almost) fastfood prices with restaurant service.

Amici's Pollo Arrostito (p245) / a Veneto's Baked Ziti with Chicken (p315)

Staple nomz in Italian restaurants are chicken, pasta, and pizza. We'll give you a little bit of each.

As an Amici main entree, Pollo Arrostito is one of the most popular for the price and safeness. You can't go wrong with half a rosemary chicken that's lightly seasoned with a side of vegetables. The chicken had less meat than expected but on the whole, it's a good dish. Serving is good for one (two if neither of you are hungry).

a Veneto's Baked Ziti with Chicken is one of the pricier ones on their menu, but the serving is good for sharing. Two or three can gorge on this basketful of baked ziti topped with (yummy) breaded chicken and then slathered with a generous amount of mozarella cheese. The order always comes straight from the oven (with a warning to not touch the hot plate) and a few forkfuls warms you up in a good way.

Amici's Tutta Carne (p295) / a Veneto's New England's Best (p270 (10"))

Tutta Carne is Amici's version of an all-meat pizza (perfect for those who don't like veggies). Pepperoni, ham, and bits of meat are toppings on a thin and light pizza crust that's oven baked to a fine crisp. The pie is enough to be shared by two (if you have other orders).

New England's Best is also one of a Veneto's best. Ham, mushroom, onions, green peppers and a whole lot of mozarella cheese are the toppings on a thin(ish) pizza crust. The ten inch pie is good for three to four.

Amici's Caramia desserts: Nocciola Gateau (p75) / Pistachio Gelato (p55)

One thing that Amici has to offer on their menu that a Veneto doesn't is a good number of tempting desserts. Because of their tie up with the wonderful Caramia Gelateria, gelato ice cream and cakes are readily available. 

Besides being deliciously sinful, the gelato scoops are fairly priced at only fifty five bucks a scoop on a wafer cup (considering the prices from other gelato shops). The Nocciola Gateau cake comes highly recommended by our server. It's a cake made up of crunchy meringue layers held together by cream and chocolate, making it taste kind of like chocolatey sansrival. b(~_~)d

The atmosphere at a Veneto is very friendly, like a diner. It's a place where you'd bring your family on a Sunday brunch or your friends for a quick Friday get together. Amici is a place where it would be good to bring a date on a Saturday night. The warm yellow lights inside the restaurant give off a romantic vibe, and you can order a glass of wine or two while you regale your date with stories to impress.

While you get more value for your money at a Venetto with their large servings, Amici levels up the playing field with well-prepared nomz, classy ambiance and fantastic desserts. Both remain to be two of my favorite pseudo-Italian restaurants in town.

Amici Location: Ayala Triangle Gardens, Makati Avenue, Makati Contact details: (02) 621-6128 Other info: Amici Facebook page Map: View Larger Map

a Veneto Location: Lower Ground Floor, Bldg A, SM Megamall, Mandaluyong Contact details: (02) 818-3090 Email: avenetopizzeria@yahoo.com Map: View Larger Map

Vegetables and Pizza Dont Go Together. Or Do They?

Before gettting blindsided by crepes the other day, it was pizza that we were after. And soon as dessert was done, we headed to Yellow Cab to order a pie. Their newest offering is the Dear Darla pizza- a nearly vegetarian pizza featuring aragula leaves and alfalfa sprouts as toppings.

Now I like vegetables more than your average joe, but a "vegetarian pizza" sounds a bit off to me. I like my pizzas as meaty as possible and was apprehensive when presented with this thin crust pizza sparsely topped with olives, tomoatoes, onions, cheese and a bit of pepperoni, all ready to be rolled with fresh vegetables. We bought an 18 inch pie for only 635 pesos, good enough for six.

Yellow Cab's Dear Darla pizza (p635 for an 18 inch pie)
*veggies in a separate container

Stories and Snacks at Tagaytay Highlands

A few weekends ago, my family and some friends were en route once again to Tagaytay to do a bit of R&R. One of the best places to do just that is Tagaytay Highlands, where the greens are lush, the air is fresh and the crowd is thin. Tagaytay Highlands is a country club where you can swim, fish, play golf, tennis, basketball, among many other recreational activities.

The sights at Tagaytay Highlands

After using up some energy on swimming and fishing, the group gathered at Toscana, one of the restaurants in the area, for snacks and stories. It was mid afternoon so we settled on a couple pies of pizza and a round of drinks.

Toscana serves Italian food, gooood Italian food

Get a Limited Edition Eraserheads Boxset from Greenwich!

If you're from the Philippines and you're a child of the 90's, you'd know Eraserheads for sure. With timeless hits like Ang Huling El Bimbo, Alapaap, and my personal favorite, Magasin, the band has been etched into the hearts of many Pinoys, mine included. For those who don't know who they are, get on YouTube right this minute! For the non-fans, uh.. hi. For the fans out there, you'd be happy to  know that Greenwich is giving away exclusive Eraserheads boxsets!

There are two ways to get this limited edition cd set:

Option 1- Get an Eheads Card and collect six Eheads stickers until end of promo period. You'd have to order 3 large Greenwich pizzas with drinks and 3 Greenwich Barkada Feasts in total.

Or,
Option 2- Get one Greenwich Barkada Feast and pay p2,499 for The Eraserheads Limited Edition CD Set.

The set includes:

• 10 remastered studio albums
• a bonus cd of unreleased recordings
• a special pop-umentary DVD
• a magazine of photos, lyrics, and history 
• an exclusive Eheads tshirt

Larry's gorgeous Eheads set

One of the first few people to get this special set is Mr. Larry Cayco. (Thanks for the pizza!) Read his detailed review of the boxed set here. Are you a true fan like him? Quick, get yours now before they run out of stock. Promo runs until October 31, 2010.