ramblings, random musings, fascinations, rants, raves and revelations

The usual weekend craving got the best of my original plan to start dieting. Not wanting to go more into specifics on how we [the weekend group] agreed to go out, let me just say that “So, nag-Glorietta nga kami”. After checking out some shops and visiting Kiko’s optometrist for his black contact lenses, we started our usual practice of cruising for a restaurant and soon decided to check on Veneto Pizzeria Ristorante. We were really craving for pasta but Kiko didn’t like the place. We were already seated with the menus and the utensils in front of us so we were really having second thoughts and at the same time thinking of a good excuse to leave but we made it. I can’t remeber how we did it. We then soon settled at Dampa Macapagal.

Earlier, Z texted that he’s craving for Italian Pasta. He said that he’s just strolling around Greenbelt and so invited me to join him. Since I can’t go back to sleep anymore, I obliged. Red and green colors of a nearby dining place caught our eye and we stopped to read the menu. It was impressive at first glance. The name of the place is A Veneto Pizzeria Ristorante. I then remembered that it was the same restaurant last Sunday. Having such a name makes me think authentic italian and italian always makes my mouth water. We entered excitedly and hungrily.

It wasn’t really a beautiful place and I mean the interior. It appeared to want to look more high end but ended up short. The sign at the entrance said “Please wait to be seated”, but no one greeted you at the door so Z just charged in and picked the nearest table there was.

We were given thick laminated menus that were neither chic nor cheap. The selection though was interesting. There were several choices for appetizers, salads, pasta and pizza. Everything sounded delicious even though the pictures on the menu were far from enticing. It may have been to z though, because he ordered enough for 6 people [we were only 2].

We chose the A Veneto Family Platter, the Baked Zitti with 3 Hungarian Sausages, and two sliced of pizza - Bacon Cheeseburger and New England’s Best.

A Veneto Family Platter - This barkada appetizer included french fries, onion rings, breaded crabsticks and chicken wings. It came with catsup and sour cream for dipping. The first piece I tried was one of the onion rings. It came big, round and floured. Someone though forgot to put in seasoning and the whole thing just tasted like fried flour. The sour cream did wonders so it was bearable enough for me to wolf down a couple. The crabsticks tasted… well weird and soggy so I stopped at one piece. The fries tasted like the frozen one I buy at the grocery for my kids or those that are cooked by Potato Corner using a turbo broiler. The saving grace of this dish is the chicken. It was fried crisp and salty and doused with chili sauce. Yummy.

Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza - Large, thin and oh so bacon-ly. It might have been my love for anything bacon but this pizza tickled my fancy. I am embarrassed to say I finished every last bite. It was thin. It was sweet. It was salty. It was soo yummy.

Baked Zitti with 3 Hungarian Sausages - The dish came very hot and oozing with cheese. That was about it. You could have eaten 3 spoonfuls and not notice anything. It was that forgettable and disappointing. Z kept nibbling trying to find some sort of flavor. I told him “hayaan mo na”. I advised him to eat some sausage with the pasta and it worked. He said it indeed tasted better. I still beg to differ. The sausages added flavor to the dish, but it could not hide the fact that it lacked taste and quality.

I no longer tried the New England’s Best pizza. I thought if that was New England’s Best, I do not want to imagine their worst. The pizza looked like a bigger version of a Greenwich pizza, only bigger. Tsk tsk.

You may think I am being too harsh and I do not mean to be. But naming your place A Veneto Pizzeria Ristorante, one would expect some sort of authenticity in your establishment. There was nothing authentic about the place. It was all store bought and assembled. From the sauce which tasted like canned tomato paste cooked and seasoned, to the canned mushrooms spread on top of the pizza, to the fries, and even the black pepper. We saw the servers earlier spooning black pepper into McCormick containers from a big pail of black pepper [not sure if it was generic or just tons of McCormick black pepper in a pail].

Ok I will say one good thing about the place. You get what you pay for. The dishes are served and priced enough for sharing. To me, it was more a like a casual place where you took your friends if you want to and save money. The place feeds hungry diners and that’s about it. If you wanted to eat pasta or pizza and enjoy it, why not just go to TOSH. Its got a simple name but delicious food at least.

I was not really a bad experience in all. I don’t think there’ll be bad experience with him. Chot!