TAVOLATA: La Trattoria di Abaca – One of the BEST Italian Restaurants in Cebu! @TavolataCebu @theAbacaGroup

TAVOLATA is an Italian bistro that serves simple Italian dishes from The Abaca Group (known for really yummy Cebu restaurants like Maya Mexican Restaurant and Abaca Restaurant in Mactan.)

Its name means “to gather around a table“, and the restaurant is designed to be a great place to hang out with friends or to celebrate special occasions.

It uses the finest ingredients from Italy like Finestra in Solaire, and has that informal feel, stylish ambiance and cult following like Wildflour in Manila.

It is worth flying to Cebu from Manila just to eat here. 🙂

Check out our Tabolata experience in Cebu…

The BEST of Cebu City Series:

• TAVOLATA: La Trattoria di Abaca – the BEST Italian Restaurant in Cebu?
• MAYA, Cebu: My Birthday in the Best Mexican Restaurant
• ABACA Restaurant in Mactan, Cebu by Jason Hyatt

Tavolata is the anchor restaurant of the Design Center of Cebu arcade, located along the food street of A.S. Fortuna.

It’s an informal restaurant but its ambiance is posh and stylish — you can’t help but dress to impress because it is a place to be seen when you are in Cebu.

I love the high-ceiling ambiance with bulbs hanging down, providing the soft mood lighting.

We were seated on the second floor, which was more compact. We loved the heavy, well-crafted wooden tables and chairs that matched the ambiance.

(Note: Don’t forget to make a reservation, especially during peak dinner times.)

We saw Jason Hyatt cooking the US Rib-Eye steaks and minding the pizzas cooking in the gas-fired stone deck oven.

(I have yet to meet Jason. Hopefully, one of these days, we can meet one of our culinary idols in the Philippines. 🙂 )

It was fun seeing them knead and prepare the pizza upon order.

TAVOLATA Menu: 

• Appetizers, Antipasto and Pizza 
• Bronze Cut Pasta, Main Courses 
• Dessert Menu 
• Liqueur, Spirits, Beer, Softdrinks, Fresh Juices, Coffee & Tea 
• Red Wines, Rose Wines, White Wines, Cava/Champagne/Prosecco 

★ Antipasto Platter (P895 +10% service charge). Culatello, coppa, salami, mortadella, gorgonzola, tageggio, asiago, grilled asparagus, marinated vegetables & assorted olives, served with grilled country bread.

The Antipasto Platter was excellent! We liked combining the arugula with the cured meats, topped with gorgonzola cheese.

I personally loved the sweet, red tomatoes that paired well with the sweet-and-spicy peperoncini. My wife enjoyed the artichokes and grilled asparagus, while the boys feasted on the grilled country bread with lots of butter. 🙂

★ Four Cheese Pizza (P410 +10% service charge). Ricotta, gorgonzola, asiago & mozzarella. Pizza not always round and slightly charred. Our pizza take a bit of extra time and will be served only when ready. We only use San Marzano tomatoes, Italian whole milk mozzarella and other fine meats and cheeses imported from Italy.

The pizza was a heavenly mixture of textures: crusty outside, airy soft inside, yet still nice and chewy. It had a really good cheese combination that the adults and kids at our table enjoyed.

The even, charred quality of the crust and the topnotch toppings made it even more delicious.

Oxtail Pappardelle (P495 +10% service charge). A wide flat pasta with tomatoes, parsley, parmesan and mushrooms. Bronze Cut Pasta made from the finest semolina flour and using bronze dies to extrude the dough, our pasta have an internationally rough surface & chewier bite than generic dry pastas.

We also liked the artisan quality of the pasta — it was soft and chewy, and you could tell that it was made by hand and not the commercialized type. The oxtail meat strands were very soft, but we found the sauce a bit too rich.

★ Lamb Chops “Scottadito” 2 Chops (P1,495 +10% service charge). Grilled prime American lamb with rosemary potatoes, green beans & salsa verde. 

We loved the flavors of the Lamb Chops! We were surprised that the serving size was quite big — good to share with the family. It was served with generously big cuts of rosemary potatoes with lots of green beans and tomatoes. Sarap!

Overall, we love the food and how it evokes memories of our dining experiences in the Veneto region of Italy. The stylish ambiance, good furniture quality, and high ceiling with soft lighting all contributed to our enjoyment in Tavolata. Budget P800-P1,000/head.

This restaurant can beat some of the mediocre Italian restos in Manila. Sometimes, I get a bit jealous of the Cebuanos because they get to enjoy really good gourmet restos created by Jason Hyatt’s group.

This is a must-visit for any foodie! You’ve got to try this when you are in Cebu. 🙂 

Related Blog Posts:

• The Style Cebu | Cebu’s Trattoria: Dining in Tavolata
• I Luv Cebu | Tavolata Cebu
• Babe for Food | Valentines Resto Destination 2013

TAVOLATA la trattoria di abaca
Design Center of Cebu | AS Fortuna at P. Remedio St.
Telephone: +63 32 506-6211
Email: tavolata@theabacagroup.com
Twitter: @TavolataCebu @theabacagroup
Facebook: The Abaca Group
Website: www.theAbacaGroup.com/tavolata-cebu/ 
Operating Hours: Open daily 5.00pm to 10.00pm last seating 

The BEST of Cebu City Series:

• TAVOLATA: La Trattoria di Abaca – the BEST Italian Restaurant in Cebu?
• MAYA, Cebu: My Birthday in the Best Mexican Restaurant
• ABACA Restaurant in Mactan, Cebu by Jason Hyatt

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If you have tips on awesome food and travel destinations, please email me at anton@diaz.ph.

Full Disclosure: We paid for our meals. I wrote this blog post myself, and it expresses my own opinions.

I have no business relationship with any company mentioned in this post or any organization promoting it. As a policy, I do not accept advertising from food and travel places we feature in the blog.

P.S. Note to Jason Hyatt: When are you guys going to Manila?