Dining Snippets: Napoli Pizzeria Ristorante x Cerveseria x Kisoya
NAPOLI PIZZERIA RISTORANTE
Having resided in Quezon City for most of my life, I had fond memories of dining around Tomas Morato's strip of restaurants during my childhood. One of these restaurants would be Napoli, which proudly has decades of experience under its belt; a feat that few restaurants can boast about in recent years. This no-frills rustic pizzeria has always churned out hearty pizzas with generous toppings and tasty chewy crusts. Admittedly, with the advent of new concepts saturating the busy street of this food haven (even venturing out to its neighboring Scout streets), my family ended up forgetting about Napoli. After probably more than a decade of, we decided to give it another shot.
CHEDDAR CRUNCH (P195) and CALAMARI RINGS (P270)
The Cheddar Crunch turned out to be a plateful of beautiful fried golden balls of cheddar cheese, each thinly rolled in a crisp batter. Each bite was cheesy and melted in a wonderfully creamy manner. The Calamari Rings were perfectly fried; albeit a number of pieces came with excess batter. Ultimately, each piece was tender and came with a good dipping sauce, leaving no room for complaints.
SHRIMP FIESTA SPAGHETTI (P455)
The Shrimp Fiesta Spaghetti was massive. Fetching a price equivalent to a solo serving of pasta in Cibo, the Shrimp Fiesta Spaghetti comes prepared to feed a hungry bunch. A large baked casserole filled with al dente noodles, sandwiched in decently tangy tomato sauce with assorted seafood, lies below a gorgeously gooey bed of cheese. Taste-wise, it’s something that you won’t gush about, but it’s filling, palatable, and comfortably feeds a group of four.
ALL MEAT PIZZA (10” – P350, 14” – P525, 16” – P705)
The pizza was more or less loaded with a variety of meat toppings and came with a tasty crust which delivered just the right amount of crunch. Unfortunately though, the meat toppings were notably of mediocre quality. The pizza comes with a friendly price tag but clearly at a cost.
Ultimately, our visit to Napoli was nostalgic but sadly disappointing. Its rustic charm is strongly still evident; and its generous family-size servings still come at wallet-friendly prices; unfortunately, the quality of its food seems that it can’t compete with pizzerias that have popped up in recent years (Personally, I’m loving the pizzas from Motorino and Pizza Express).
Napoli Pizzeria Ristorante
Timog Avenue, South Triangle, Quezon City
Date of Visit: December 22, 2018 with Lily Chua and Jared Chua
CERVESERIA
Cerveseria has always been dependable when it comes to churning out delicious tapas. For Christmas lunch though, we decided to pair our spread of usual tapas with some hefty main dishes.
COCHINILLO (1/6 – P1250)
The Cochinillo came with perfectly crisp skin and melt-in-your-mouth meat. It’s well-seasoned and comes with a spiced up in-house version of Mang Tamos, and some chutney. I loved that Cerveseria offers the suckling pig in smaller serving sizes so that you can opt to mix it up with its other dishes.
LUBINA ASADA CON CHORIZO Y ALMEJAS (P790)
When the Lubina Asada was served, we were all shocked. We thought that we would be served with a fillet of Philippine seabass, not an entire whole sea bass! After getting over the initial shock of its unexpectedly large serving size, I was pleased that the roasted fish was delicately flavored by spicy Chorizo pieces, clams, and lots and lots of roasted garlic. The sea bass in itself boasted of a smoky charred flavor which wonderfully pairs with a spoonful of Paella Valenciana.
Cerveseria
Level 1, Greenbelt 3, Ayala Center, Makati City
Date of Visit: December 25, 2018 with Wilson Chua, Lily Chua, Jared Chua and Jem Chua
KISOYA
One of the new concepts that opened up in the revamped Robinsons Galleria last year was the Korean-Japanese franchise called Kisoya. The heart of its menu would be its enormous udon sets that come complete with appetizers and side dishes that even when I’m at my hungriest, I barely could finish one.
HIYASHI SOBA SET (P599)
The Hiyashi Soba Set came loaded with a huge bowl of cold Hiyashi Soba, a fried tonkotsu cutlet, sashimi, and a side salad. The base of its Hiyashi Soba was actually really refreshing and tasty; but I found it odd that the noodles were already soaked in the cold sauce (instead of being dipped). It did come with the traditional dipping condiments; but it didn’t make much sense to use it if the noodles were already soaked in the sauce. The Tonkotsu was crisp and juicy; but I personally prefer leaner cuts for my fried pork cutlet.
KIMCHI UDON (P350)
The Kimchi Udon was insanely delicious. Its heat is subtle enough that you won’t be gasping for water after every sip; but it's fiery enough to bring a sweat to your brow. Back when I first tried this, I refused to eat with the rice it came with since I wasn’t really a fan of carbs – on -carbs. Fresh from my trip from Korea though, I’ve now gained a profound appreciation for soaking my rice in any kimchi-based stew so the next time I try this dish, most likely I’ll be able to clear out both the udon and the rice.
KISOYA UDON (P250) and GYOZA (P150)
Ordering Kisoya’s noodles a la carte is already filling enough on their own. The broth of the Kisoya Udon was fragrantly flavorful; its noodles, wonderfully springy. I paired it with a side order of some of their juicy Gyoza. The dumplings were nowhere near the caliber of Mendokoro Ramenba’s; but they’re good enough to nurse an urgent craving.
Kisoya
Level 3, Upper Veranda, Robinsons Galleria, Quezon City
Dates of Visit: September 28, 2018, October 12, 2018, and December 26, 2018
