As featured in BEST OF TAGUIG: 10 Most Awesome NEW Restaurants in BGC & Taguig 2014!
VA BENE is a yummy artisan Italian pasta deli by Chef Massimo and Carolyn Veronesi. Originally located at Petron Gas Station on the corner of Edsa and Pasay Road, it is best known for serving what many consider the Best Italian Pasta in the Metro.
After 3 years of operation, they finally opened their 2nd branch near the BGC Cinemas, with a bigger kitchen, a bigger dining area, and more offerings. We recently visited the new branch with our La Salle Engineering batchmates and we all loved it!
Here’s our Va Bene BGC experience…
VA BENE PASTA DELI
Cinema Level, 3/F (same level of 4DX Cinemas)
Bonifacio High Street, 5th Ave. corner 30th Street, Bonifacio Global City Taguig
Contact Person: Carolyn Veronesi
Mobile: +63 917 722-5780
Telephone: +632 556-9442 | +632 216-9879
Operating Hours: Monday – Sunday 11.00am – 11.00pm
Email: vabenepastadeli@yahoo.com
Facebook: VA BENE PASTA DELI
Instagram: @VaBenePastaDeliPH
Website: http://www.vabenepastadeli.com/
Va Bene BGC has a relatively bigger dining area, but still feels cramped, especially with all the people who want to eat here.
You can make a reservation with Carolyn (+63 917 722 5780) to ensure you have a table.
VA BENE MENU: Antipasti Caldi (Hot Appetizers), Antipasti Freddi (Cold Appetizers), Zuppa (Soup) | Insalate (Salads), Ravioli (Stuffed Fresh Pasta), Pasta Lunga (Long Fresh Pasta) | Gnocchi, Pasta Al Forno e Risotto, secondi (Main Course) | Pizza al taglio (square Pizzas), Panini (Sandwiches) | Dolci (Desserts) | Menu dei Bambini | Beverages: Fresh Juices, Fresh Shakes, Other, Nespresso Coffee Selections, Ristretto, Tea | Sparkling, White Wine, Red Wine, Liquor, Grappa & Amari
We recommend the appetizers, pasta, desserts, and wine. 🙂
Their food is best enjoyed before or after watching a movie, but there’s also the option to have your order delivered to the cinema area if you want to.
APPETIZER
The complimentary bruscheta with tomato salsa is good and sets the tone for the rest of the dinner.
CAPRESE (P390 +10% service charge). Tomato slices, roasted onions, buffalo mozzarella cheese, basil pesto, mixed lettuce, balsamic reduction.
The vegetables are fresh and pair nicely with the balsamic reduction. I wish that they had bigger portions of the buffalo mozzarella cheese though.
The wine list is a well-curated selection of mostly Italian wines–with a few other choices from New Zealand and Australia–at under P2,000/bottle.
✮ Trinity Hill 2011 Merlot New Zealand (P280/glass, P1,550/bottle +10% service charge).
Ripe and rich red wine, with good flavor when served at the right temperature. We finished two bottles of this. A nice wine for the pasta and meat.
PASTA
Their pasta is made fresh in-house upon order and cooked al dente, which makes it really good.
✮ BLACK INK TAGLIOLINI (P390 +10% service charge). Mixed seafood, marinara sauce, light tomato cream sauce.
Love this squid ink-infused pasta with just the right amount of tomato cream-based sauce that doesn’t overpower the dish. It has generous servings of squid and mussels, making it good for family sharing.
✮ ORGANIC EGGS TAGLIATELLE (P390 +10% service charge). Portobello mushrooms, white wine cream sauce, truffle oil.
This is how you make an addicting truffle mushroom sauce! The long, flat pasta absorbs the sauce and all the flavors and goes well with the generous chunks of portobello mushroom.
✮ PAPPARDELLE (P450 +10% service charge). Twelve (12) hours-braised lamb shank, Italian sausage, semi-dried tomatoes, black olives.
If you’re looking for a meat-based variant, I recommend this super soft lamb pasta dish, served with some sausages and black olives to counterbalance the taste. The pappardelle is like a wide fettucinne noodle that you can use to wrap the meat as you eat it.
PIZZA
BOSCAIOLA (P210 +10% service charge). Taleggio cheese, ricotta, mushrooms, truffle pesto, parma ham.
Their pizzas pay homage to the street pizzas of Italy, which are served in four rectangular slices of ciabatta-like dough. This was just OK. This would be better served in 8 smaller, square-shaped slices and eaten as an appetizer.
BIANCA (P170 +10% service charge). Four cheese, wild nuts, organic honey.
This 4 cheese pizza was better, but I’d still stick with the pasta and the other main courses. This is best ordered to go, to be eaten inside the cinema.
MAIN DISHES
✮ SALAMI PICANTE CRUSTED JUMBO SCALLOPS (P650 +10% service charge). Tomato risotto, white wine sauce.
Good combination of salty salami and juicy scallops, but the star of this dish is the fat tomato-infused risotto, best eaten with the creamy white wine sauce.
DESSERTS
✮ Typical Regional Cheese Selections (P310 +10% service charge). Honey, fig, walnuts.
Order their selection of cheeses as a pre-dessert. Perfect with the red wine.
Sweet Mia (P220 +10% service charge). Vanilla ice cream, organic honey, extra virgin olive oil, almond slices.
A simple ice cream dessert with sweetness from the honey and some almonds to cleanse the palate.
Lemon Tart (P220 +10% service charge). Coffee ice cream, figs compote.
The fig compote and the lemon tart were too sweet. Make sure to eat with the ice cream and some actual coffee.
Homemade Profiteroles (P220 +10% service charge). Caramelized walnuts, vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce.
Profiteroles a la mode–good and gone in just a few minutes. 🙂
✮ Traditional Italian Tiramisu (P250 +10% service charge). Espresso, amaretti cookie, Kahlua, mascarpone cheese, shaved dark chocolate.
The real dessert star was this freshly made Tiramisu, prepared just like they do in Italy. 🙂
✮ Limoncello (P100/glass, P1,100 per bottle +10% service charge). 28% Luxardo Sicily Italy.
We recommend ending your meal with a shot of this sweet but strong Italian lemon liquor.
Congratulations to Chef Massimo and Carolyn for a successful opening of their Va Bene Branch in BGC!
VA BENE has really set the bar for what good Italian pasta dishes should taste like. It would be very hard for the other Italian places in BGC to compete. Although the average price of the pasta dishes are a bit high at P400/order, the serving sizes more than make up for this.
I recommend getting the Black Ink Tagliolini, Organic Eggs Tagliatelle, Lamb Pappardelle, and Salami Picante Crusted Jumbo Scallops. Don’t miss the freshly made Tiramisu if it’s available. Best to just skip the pizza. Order some Red Wine and the Limoncello for a good digestive to end your meal.
Budget about P1,000/head.
We all agree: that was one awesome meal. Thanks, Chef Massimo! 🙂
VA BENE PASTA DELI
Cinema Level, 3/F (same level of 4DX Cinemas)
Bonifacio High Street, 5th Ave. corner 30th Street, Bonifacio Global City Taguig
Contact Person: Carolyn Veronesi
Mobile: +63 917 722-5780
Telephone: +632 556-9442 | +632 216-9879
Operating Hours: Monday – Sunday 11.00am – 11.00pm
Email: vabenepastadeli@yahoo.com
Facebook: VA BENE PASTA DELI
Instagram: @VaBenePastaDeliPH
Website: http://www.vabenepastadeli.com/
Live an Awesome Life,
Founder, www.OurAwesomePlanet.com
Disclosure: We paid for our meal but got complimentary desserts and limoncello from Chef Massimo. 🙂 Read Our Awesome Planet Complete Disclosure Policy here.
P.S. It was nice to have this impromptu reunion of our Engineering batch for a some boys’ talk, getting updates on our other batchmates, and celebrating the success of our fellow Civil Eng alumni who founded Megawide. ‘Til the next reunion! 🙂
