Casa Italia Cafe

Shahbaz Mamdani

2.0

I have walked past this restaurant several times the last few months and have always been curious in trying it out. The interior looks nice and fresh and the menu looks quite interesting. Of course, also on this menu, I see nachos. Not really Italian is it, but who cares about this here in Manila. One weekday at around 6 PM a couple of weeks before Christmas it is time to finally give Casa Italia a try.We order - of course – Nachos, One Spaghetti with Pesto, and two pizzas. A part from this the waiter also recommends us their best seller - Mac and Cheese. Nothing special with our order but it gives me the opportunity to try out what they, according to our waiter does best. Pizzas and pastas.The food is being served quickly to our table. Less than 15 minutes. Unfortunately, I am not happy with basically anything. The food is tasteless and the servings are quite small. Especially for the price that I am paying. In a bowl, I am being served the spaghetti with pesto sauce. I estimate that there is about 250 grams of store bought spaghetti mixed with pesto sauce. The pesto sauce itself lacks not only garlic flavour but also plain seasoning. I am guessing that the pesto is made with cheap quality almonds and not the proper more expensive pine nuts. Also, I believe that the cheese is made with dried “Parmesan cheese” and perhaps also cheddar cheese in order to make the product even more profitable for the restaurant owner. I more or less have this confirmed when I ask our waiter for additional Parmesan cheese and I am being served the, so called Parmesan cheese, but for me, is just a dried powder that has been transferred from its original plastic tube, (probably bought next door in SM supermart), to a glass container with a spout making it easier to pour this dried tasteless powder over my food. Of course the spaghetti itself is overcooked, Just like all Italian restaurants serve it here in Manila.Similar story with the Mac and cheese. In a black frying pan (?) I am being served not only over cooked, but also completely tasteless macaroni, probably, by the brand “Ideal”. This has been topped by a couple of table spoons of different types of cheeses. The weird thing is that the cheese is just topping the macaroni’s. The cheese has not been melted or gratinated. It looks like something a student cooks in his dorm. I look at the food for a while and estimate that there is about 25 to 30 pesos in raw material I am being served. Also, the pizzas are quite small. The taste is not bad, but what make me disappointed is that the pizza base itself has been cooked first once, and then topped before being cooked a second time, in order to heat it up and melt the cheese. So what about the Nachos? Same here. The portions are way too small. Have a look at the photo and judge for yourself? Would you be happy paying 195 pesos for this?As you understand I cannot recommend people to go here. Since I live in the neighbourhood I will continue to walk past this restaurant. I will keep an eye on it, and it is not impossible that I will try it again. Especially, after I have been informed that they have finally hired a proper Italian consultanting chef that will help the owners to get back on track. Unfortunately, this chef will be quite expensive but if this does not happen this restaurant will for sure close in 2017.

SHELLY

2.0

Nice interior,Food Taste - just ok, Gellato lang yung masarap siguro sakanilavalue for money - not goodMedyo mahal ng unti pagkain nila tapos parang nirereheat lang nila pagkain, umorder ako ng lasagna/lasagne yung sa bandang gitna ang lamig lamig, nangangahulugan na galing pa sa ref. Kaya kinelangan ko pa sabihin sa waiter na ipainit nila uli.