A.Venue Restaurant Reviews in OAP
Fluke
A Tale of Two Art Cafes in A.Venue
Gasthof – Home of Boracay’s Famous Baby Back Ribs!
Burger Avenue’s Ridiculous Challenge
Foccacia, A Slice of Italy in A.Venue Mall
This is probably my favorite AVenue restaurant at the moment. Focaccia Slice of Italy is the meeting of two of my favorites — C Italian Dining Panizza and Italianis FREE Focaccia bread. Finally somebody copied the panizza of Chris Locher’s C-Italian Dining in Pampanga and I must say it is really good. Finally, I don’t have to drive all the way to Pampanga to get a taste of Panizza.
Marina Pazzo Rollio (Mini P130). Fresh Tomato, Sundried Tomato, Garlic and Pomodoro.
Focaccia’s pizza is branded as Pazzo Rollio Crazy Rolls. It is best if you order the ones with meat like Milano, Prosciutto or Slice of Italy. The pizza is super thin cut-up diagonally into 8 slices for the mini and 12 slices for the normal one. You put arugula leaves and alfalfa sprouts at the end of one slice and carefully roll it up. You can eat it in half or just swallow the entire thing in your mouth. The arugula gives it a bitter finish.
Foccacia Bread with Balsamic Vinegar, Olive Oil, Chili Flakes and Parmesan Cheese. It is FREE but technically the cost is already folded into the prices of the other dishes. Their focaccia is the crunchier commercialized version. I actually love the balsamic vinegar, olive oil and lots of parmesan cheese combination and I can take any bread to go with it. So far, Focaccia is the best complimentary to that combination.
Tuscan Garlic Chicken in Parmesan Cream Sauce (P250). Baked Garlic Chicken served on fettucini noodles in parmesan cream sauce.
This pasta was a disaster and I regret following my waiter’s recommendation. I was tempted to return it because the pasta was overcooked and the chicken tasted frozen. You can check out the other dishes in their menu: Starters, Appetizers, Pasta, and Secondi Piatti, and Pazza Rollio, Drinks and Desserts.
Angelati Italia Gelato (P80). I love Angelati Italia but the gelato servings in Focaccia is so small that P80 pesos is like stealing money from you consciously. How I wish I Love Berries Frozen Yogurt opens already so that I don’t fall for this expensive gelato. I think the waiters need to be trained to put more gelato into the cup rather than air.
Focaccia a Slice of Italy
Ground Floor, A.Venue Mall, Makati Avenue, Makati City
Telephone: +632 729 9403
Text and Photos by Anton Diaz. www.OurAwesomePlanet.com Copyright 2008.
yay! i’m glad you’re doing this a.venue mall series! thanks for the batch of fresh reviews!
“You put arugula leaves and mushroom sprouts (I forgot what it is called?)”
Hi Anton! I believe those are alfalfa sprouts…
I was just at A. Venue last weekend for the Dutdutan Tattoo Festival, and was surprised at all the new restos there. I was curious about them, but unsure whether they’d be good. So, thanks again for being our guinea pig, Anton! 😉
While I’m always happy to try more Italian restaurants, and pleased that I can enjoy a panizza clone without having to go to Pampanga, I feel bad that they copied Chef Locher’s and his wife’s invention. (Unless, of course, they got permission first.) Sure, some might say that it’s really nothing more than a pizza cut in a different way and then stuffed with leaves and sprouts; but the fact remains that it’s an original C’ creation, and it’s sad that Focaccia couldn’t have at least tweaked it a bit so it isn’t exactly the same. Umiral na naman ang Pinoy copycat mentality. :-/ Especially since most people have never even heard of C’, nor are able to go all the way there to have the original panizza, now Focaccia customers will think that this Pazzo Rollio is unique to them. Then again, C’ has other delicious dishes apart from the panizza, so there are still many other reasons to go there.
this is a fave a.venue eating place too (next to the burger joint)!
all the other restaurants look expensive!
Hi Anton! My friends and I have eaten in Focaccia on more than one occasion and we have always come back for the food. It is one of our favorite restaurants which we have recommended to our families and other friends. So far, everyone we know who has eaten there has actually come back for more. There really is something about its cozy ambiance, the yummy dishes, and the budget (that doesn’t break our wallets).
I know for a fact that the bread is freshly baked every day, which is why i don’t understand why you called it the “commercialized” version. And, perhaps the waiters could have recommended the wrong pasta. The Spaghetti Amatriciana and the Carbonara are my favorites and I strongly suggest that you order these the next time you go back, you can’t go wrong with these pasta dishes that Focaccia serves, and might even want to blog about their pasta in a whole new way 🙂
Looking forward to more out of town posts from you, you haven’t done Cebu yet!
oh anton u should try their cannelloni! i love their crazy pizza rolls most esp because i loveeee arugula 🙂
Have been to C’s in Angeles City and the rather new extension small cafe inside Clark Freeport. Must say Chef Locher has done wonders for that part of the country and guess doesn’t matter if Foccacia copied his bread. C’s has its hands full at Clark and in the near future, you will see more restos in Clark like what you have in Subic. Which is great for every Filipino that finally imperial Manila is not the only one…look at Aclay in Sagada and the others…nice developments if you ask me…more power awesome man and yes, Animo La Salle
I love their crazy rolls!! Nutty arugula and refreshing alfalfa sprouts really complemented their succulent pizzas! ahhhhck, im craving for that now!
Hi! I love your posts! I would just like to ask if you know any home cooked meals delivery service here in Metro Manila? If you do, kindly give me the contact details. Thanks!
its realy funny to see people how they pretend to be a good chef…. but if you will look at them carefully they are nothing but a copy cat!
its realy funny to see people how they pretend to be a good chef…. but if you will look at them carefully they are nothing but a copy cat!
if you are into italian food, you may want to check Pizzeria Toscana. Located at G/F Dunville Condo, #1 Castilla St., cor Valencia St. New Manila, QC (near Valencia Hills Condo and Gilmore Heights). But they are only open during evenings. its best that you call for reservations. Tel Nos. 415-8073 / 0917-8259546
I love PANIZZAs!!!!
i wish I could try the one at C Italian Dining 🙂
http://jotan23.blogspot.com/2010/01/focaccia-italian-restaurant-slice-of.html
I arrived in Foccaccia in A. Venue at 11 a.m. last Saturday (10 Mar 2012), and ordered bruschetta, which the menu said had tomato, basil and mozzarella. When it arrived, I saw tiny bits of crumbled cheese (not mozzarella, more like feta) and no basil. I asked the waiter: Was it not supposed to contain basil? He went to consult with the chef, who peered at me through the glass window, returned, and said, “May dried basil, sabi ho ng chef.” I replied that there was no such thing in the bruschetta, the only green visible was bits of parsley. The chef finally came out, and eventually admitted to me that there was indeed NO basil in the bruschetta as there should have been. When restaurants run out of ingredients, as all do at one time or another, they should let the customer know (I would probably have given it a bit of thought, then ordered the bruschetta just the same). But what really annoyed me was being LIED to by the chef, who clearly thought I was too stupid to know what basil looked like! Then across the room, the only other customer, a European, lost his temper because the female server had hooked her thumb in the food when she was serving it to him. Think about it: the first two customers of the day, and we were both freaking out due to unforgivably bad service! I’ve been to Foccaccia several times usually late in the evening, and while I like the food, I have noticed slovenly service and a lack of a managerial presence. If the C people want to protect their brand, then they should provide more staff oversight! And remember that staff members who try to deceive customers are even more likely to deceive the restaurant owners!!