Place: Italianni’s Gateway Mall (Araneta Center - Cubao, Quezon City)
Date: 26 July 2008

When brother came home from La Union, we decided to use the 2,000 pesos worth of gift certificate my sister and I get as thank you prizes when we attended the Italianni’s Bloggers Event last June. We decided to wait for brother’s home coming, so that all of us would get to enjoy the sweet rewards of blogging. Anyway, mom was ecstatic about it, because she now understands how this blogging rewarded me with so much.

Sister still has a meeting in her school (her school is just walking distance), so brother and I just took pictures around the place. He and I brought our own digital cameras, and because all pictures are transferred in one folder, all the pictures are mixed up. Here are some pictures from the restaurant (some are taken by me, some by brother):

*** Upon entering, the greeting is more than enough to make you feel at home. ***

*** The dining area / bar / preview to the kitchen. ***

** The bakery / wine stand. We were seated just across the wine display. ***

Sister was taking way too long in her meeting, so we decided to order. Mom let me order what I want, and I wanted her and brother to taste the foods sister and I ate at the Bloggers’ Event, so we basically just ordered the same thing.

*** Photo Ops with the menu. Hahaha. ***

The complimentary foccacia bread. Every time you dine in here, you were given a basket of freshly baked focacia bread (5 slices), which you can dip into the olive oil / balsamic vinegar dip. You prepare your own mix of dipping, of course. I love the taste of the herbed oil and the balsamic vinegar, but I am dipping more into the vinegar side because even though it’s olive oil, it’s still oil.

Spinach and Artichoke Formaggio - this is really delicious! the spread is mixed very good and I love the creamy texture with the bread. Mom actually loved this one, too!

Sicilian Chicken Salad - The sweet mangoes and grapes mixed with the bitter arugula lettuce plus the chicken salad as well as the crunch of the croutons make this one somewhat a complete meal in itself. Brother didn’t like the sweetness of the fruits with the rather salty chicken salad, but still found it great tasting over all.

Grilled Chops au Poivre - This is sister’s most favorite Italianni’s dish, and because there are four of us, we ordered two chops. I am not sure if the leaves on top are spinach or basil, but when eaten with the rest of the dish, it gives a different flavor to it. I love this one because it’s moist, grilled perfectly, and the peppercorns give the right spice to it.

For our drinks, us three girls ordered fruit shakes, while brother had iced tea. Our fruit shakes consisted of three different fruits, and I seriously have forgotten what fruits went into our glasses. From what I know of, mine had mangoes, mom’s had grapes, and sister’s had strawberries.

All of us had a pleasurable time eating, but my sister was somewhat disappointed that we didn’t order pasta. Well, even though we had 2,000 pesos to spend, the foods here were really expensive, and we cannot really order that much. Actually, the foods we ate were already enough, but still, my sister cannot hide her disappointment because we didn’t give in to her wishes.

Some family pictures:

*** Mom and I. ***

*** The foodie family. ***

*** Sister and brother. ***

We only had 2,000 pesos gift certificate, but the bill came out 2,495 pesos. Because I was the one who dragged them all to the place, I shouldered the excess 495 pesos. Very expensive food, but sharing it with the whole family made it really priceless. I don’t know when will we do it again, so for now the memories are forever etched in stone…or in this case, in my blog. =)

*** Jenn ***