The Italian Market

Gupse Tan

3.0

As soon as I saw spot.ph's post about the Italian Market as a new restaurant to watch out for, I decided to add it on my list of to-visits. And when I learned that they were indeed serving a unique dish -- the roasted pear and foie gras pizza, I just knew I had to visit it RIGHT AWAY. But unfortunately, today, when I visited, the pizza wasnt available, and nor was the lobster mac n cheese. They didnt even have 7up (lahat nalang wala, but the show must go on!) So of course, I was dismayed, but since I was already there.... I took the time to choose what to order.For the appetizer, we had the butter milk and parmesan calamari. It was so soft, the crunchy part was like no other, and the citrus aioli dip was what we enjoyed the most. If it wasnt paired with that dip, we'd probably get umay. This appetizer is quite expensive and it would probably be devoured quickly by 3-4 people, but by 2? Maybe you would consider eating only half so you'd still have stomach space for the other entrees. Next came the open faced philly cheese steak, which again, was quite expensive, but let me tell you this, if you're willing to shell out some cash for something really good and savory, do it only at the Italian Market, because this is by far the best philly cheesesteak I've tasted. Others would have melted mozarella and you could only taste the cheese, but with this one, you really get to taste the griddled roasted beef balanced with the cheese weez. The baguette wasnt even heavy, so it didnt overpower the beef. Really good I had to ask my brother for a second bite. The fries that came with it were also made from real potatoes (thank God). Next came the Earth Bread pizza (still wishing they had the pear and foie gras pizza that time). Based on research, TIM uses a brick oven (authentic Italian restaurants use this to cook their pizzas and these ovens are usually worth more than a million bucks), so I knew that what we were going to get wasnt the traditional filipino kind of pizza. There's no meat at all in this pizza, only the freshness and goodness of wild mushrooms, goat cheese, ARUGULA salad, and truffle oil. I do not like eating arugula alone, and the best pizza I've ever tasted (made me love arugula in pizzas) in asia is the one I tried in Macau's portofino which also had arugula and baby rockets, and TIM's Earth Bread is definitely a contender!! Each bite is bursting with flavor and the freshness of the ingredients. Also loved the addition of cherry tomatoes!!! I don't usually go for second slices of pizza but I had to with this one. It's just so good and it really does smell good. For the price, it definitely is worth it! For the pastas, we had the wild mushroom ravioli and the shrimp fra diavolo. I especially liked the wild mushroom ravioli even if I was doubting it when it arrived, since it had a little bit of red sauce on top. There are a lot of italian restaurants out there who serve wild mushroom raviolis and this is by far the most unique and most not nakakauhaw version. At first bite I was already raving about it! The ravioli pasta is actually big, shaped like a scallop shell, and it is stuffed with lots of mushrooms. You could already tell that TIM doesn't scrimp on ingredients. My only comment is that it was a little bit salty, but it was okay!! I liked the pops of pepper here and there. The shrimp fra diavolo was also good, but I didnt really enjoy it because it was spicy. But it really was a different kind of spicy, maybe if I werent too full I would've tried it more. The shrimps were really good though!!We wanted to get dessert but we were already too full, and the prices were really steep so we decided to try other restaurants for that part of the meal. The place isn't really packed so I'm not really sure if reservation is necessary, I guess we were the first customers today, and by the end of the meal only two tables were occupied. Service was so-so. The girl who seated us didnt even talk to us at all. The other one was okay but here's the thing, if you try to clear out dishes from a table, you're supposed to put it in the washing area of your kitchen right? The girl just left it on the table beside ours. (See photos) she probably forgot about it. But that is definitely a no-no. And there were actually mosquitoes dining with us that we even asked for candles to be lit. The only accommodating staff was the guy manning the bar. Couldnt give this place a 4 because of the service, the pricing (try to go on groups if you want to save on money because even if they have good servings, prices are still steep), and the mosquitoes, but nevertheless, the interiors are really nice, and it was a really great gastronomic experience!

Meltemdiren

4.0

Great beef ribs here. It's so tender. And the rice pilaf that comes with it is a perfect pair. I'll definitely come back for it :) The woodblock pizza is something to try as we'll.

Sedious Loo

4.0

If you're up for some wine and dine experience, then go to Italian Market. They serve authentic Italian food and a good selection of wine (not the best, but good enough for me). I loved the Meatballs and Gravy, though I wasn't so fond of the Pig & Fig pizza (maybe the combination of ingredients was just not for me). I'd still recommend it to anyone who's interested to try it though.