Dining Snippets: Va Bene Pasta Deli x Fely J’s x Tenya

VA BENE PASTA DELI

After all these years, Va Bene Pasta Deli still serves up the best pastas in the Metro. Newer and flashier concepts have since popped up, but nothing beats quality pasta dishes made with quality ingredients so it's just right to keep talking about it because more people deserve to know about it!

VEAL CHEEKS RAVIOLI (P690)

My ultimate favorite pasta dish would be its Veal Cheeks Ravioli; which boasts of beautifully-shaped spinach-and-veal-jus stuffed raviolis cooked in a mushroom cream sauce which was lightly flavored with truffle oil. This glorious pasta dish would definitely have you scraping every last drop of its sauce!

BLACK INK TAGLIOLINI SEAFOOD MARINARA (P590)

Another favorite is the Black Ink Tagliolini Seafood Marinara – with delicious squid ink tagliolini (and yes, you really can taste the squid essence in the noodles themselves) tossed in a deliciously light tomato cream. I recommend alternating bites of this between bites of the Veal Cheeks Ravioli as the latter does tend to be a little too rich when you eat that in its lonesome.

The only drawback in dining in Va Bene is that it doesn’t have a lot of choices when it comes to main dishes to pair your pasta dishes with; but yes, they have endless choices of quality pastas to choose from (personally, I'd steer clear of their pizzas - I'm not the biggest fan of them).

Va Bena Pasta Deli

3F Central Square Building, Bonifacio High Street, 5th Avenue corner 30th St., BGC, Taguig City

Date of Visit: April 30, 2023 with Jared Chua and Lily Chua

FELY J’s

Pork is rarely my choice of protein; but I do have a special weakness for Crispy Pata – and once the craving for crispy pata hits (usually when I come home from a trip abroad), it’ll consume me completely until I get a bite of it!

VIETNAMESE FRESH SPRING ROLLS (P330)

Initially, we planned to go to Livestock – BGC to nurse that craving; but it was simply too far a walk for my senior parents to go through (we parked in Uptown Mall); so, we decided to just drop by in Fely J’s which was located in the same building. I grew up dining at LJC restaurants (Abe and Bistro Remedios are family favorites) so I knew I had a classic Filipino lunch ahead – which was why I was so surprised to see Vietnamese Fresh Spring Rolls in its menu!

Since my family couldn’t get over seeing a Vietnamese dish in its menu and we wanted to incorporate some fresh veggies in our meal, we decided to order it. Each roll came with sizeable shrimps delicately wrapped with fresh vegetables and pork. This was then served with a delicious peanut sauce and Thai dipping sauce. It still doesn’t make sense to eat this in a Filipino restaurant, but I can't deny that they were a decent bunch of fresh rolls! So it’s not a bad addition to your meal!

TILAPIA WITH FRESH PLUM SAUCE (P575)

I’m a big sucker for Abe’s Binukadkad na Plapla, but Fely J’s takes on a different approach by pairing deep fried butterflied tilapia with a sweet plum sauce. Fish is fried perfectly – and its plum sauce had a nice balance of flavors – but nothing beats, a classic toyomansi combination for me though!

CRISPY PATA (P885)

Naturally, the whole point of the lunch was for me to have my crispy pata fix – but unfortunately, despite us being served with a meaty serving of pork knuckles – the meat was overcooked; thus making it tough and dry but the skin was perfectly crisp though! Its sauce, despite being loaded with garnish – lacks the punch that I’m looking for. However, due to my weakness for crispy pata, I’d still wolf down this mediocre crispy pata with a smile.

CLAUDE’S DREAM (P205)

Fortunately, my favorite dessert from the LJC Group, Claude’s Dream was on the menu, so naturally I ordered a cup for myself – I love every single aspect of this dessert – from its creamy macapuno ice cream with fresh buko meat and delicious pandan jelly. Definitely a pick-me-up that will cool you down in this summer heat!

Fely J’s

Uptown Mall, 36th Street, Taguig City

Date of Visit: May 7, 2023 with Wilson Chua, Lily Chua, Jared Chua and Jem Chua

TENYA

I’ve always been a fan of Tenya’s Tendons (I usually opt for the All-Star Tendon variant) but as I wanted something on the lighter side, I decided to try its Ebi Ten Soba.

EBI TEN SOBA (P395)

Light, fuss-free and straightforward, its Ebi Ten Soba covers all the bases – warm mirin-based soup, firm chewy noodles topped with tempura flakes, and that clean umami finish. You have an option to top it with one piece of shrimp tempura (P365) or two pieces of shrimp tempura (P395) to make it more filling. It makes for a fast and satisfying meal.

Tenya

3F SM Megamall A, Mandaluyong City

Date of Visit: May 10, 2023 with Lily Chua