Food Trippin: La Grotta Cucina Italiana (Makati)

I do love Italian cuisine. It would rank as second or third in my top cuisine list. I have perhaps became familiar with almost all of the dishes and being in La Grotta made me feel so much at home.

We were starving like hell and so we quickly scan the menu and ordered right away, and here's what we ordered.

Lasagne Emiliana (Php 360) - baked lasagna with meat and bechamel sauce.

It was a great dish. The ragout is very flavorful and the bechamel sauce is not overpowering. I was about to be impressed with the dish until I chewed on a dry, I can even say burnt layer of pasta at the bottom. I asked the server to have it replaced since I think that the texture of the pasta isnt supposed to be like that. Well, plus the fact that my friend told me that he had experience the same thing, that is having a burnt lasagne bottom, I decidedly insisted to have it replaced. The server checked my plate and returned it to me after half a minute telling me that it is not burnt. I actually didnt think that the staff handled my concern very well and so I got really disappointed. It was a turn off for me. :(

Spaghetti Maremana Rosso (Php 360) - Spaghetti with fresh seafood and basil and tomato. A so-so pasta dish.

Calabrese Picanti (Php 405) - Pizza with tomato, cheese, onion, basil and Italian sausage. Kinda "ok" but I was not really impressed.

My friend ordered Risotto Finanziera (Php 350) – Italian rice with chicken, mushroom and mascarpone cheese. (forgot to take a photo) :( But I think that one is a good risotto dish. It was too heavy for me though.

Overall, the food is mediocre for me. I got really turned off by the fact that they didnt address my concern well. I was expecting they would say sorry because I was not satisfied with the dish that they served me, regardless whether the food is really burnt or not. In my opinion, they should have atleast offered to have it replaced since I am not satisfied, instead, the lady took a firm stand that it is not what I think it is.

For the ambiance, I think its a perfect place to have some intimate time with friends or be on a date. But for the service and the food? Mediocre. Not really impressive.

La Grotta Cucina Italinana

Angelus Medical Building, V.A. Rufino., Legaspi Village,

Makati City, Metro Manila,

Philippines.

Tel: +632-894-1320