Sunday, December 28, 2008

Friuli - Italian Resto at Teacher's Village, QC

Friuli Trattoria has intrigued us for a long time. Whenever we pass by Maginhawa Street, Teacher's Village, Quezon City ( just opposite Holy Family Academy), this little Italian-sounding restaurant is always filled with customers. There's a positive review about this resto that we've seen somewhere so we decided to try it out during the Christmas break.
The ambience is simple and homey - there are about five tables in the 1st floor, one table outside (al fresco), and a 2nd floor. But because of the tight space, a noisy group can monopolize the whole area (we had to make our voice extra loud to hear each other).

We ordered Angel Hair Putanesca Pasta, Viva Venezia Pizza, Mozzarella Cheese Sticks and Fried Raviolli. The Angel-hair Putanesca was delicious. The sauce is not the usual Del monte tomato-sauce but made from real tomatoes thickened and mixed with herbs and spices, anchovies and olives. The serving is also generous - it's good for one (with big appetite) or for sharing. The Viva Venezia Pizza (their specialty) was also superb! The crust is thin - not too crispy, not too "bready." The combination of their home-made special sauce with the ground beef, olives, bell pepper, mushroom, and cheese toppings made the pizza really enjoyable to eat. The size is about 10 inches (8 slices).

The Mozzarella cheese sticks and Fried Ravioli, on the other hand, are not too memorable. The Mozzarella Cheese sticks were too big that you quickly lose enthusiasm after a few bites (nakaka-umay). But to be fair, the sticks (4 big ones) were really filled with mozzarella cheese and not the cheaper quick-melt type. Maybe the sticks need to be made bite-size (8 small ones instead of 4 biggies). The Fried Ravioli was crispy and filled with ground meat. However, I find the ground meat filling too-dry - it would have been a better combination to find a crispy outside and juicy filling inside. The sauce of both Ravioli and Cheese sticks were also the same - thickened fresh tomatoes with hebs - save for some mozzarella mixed in the Ravioli sauce. Maybe the chef needs to experiment more on variations on sauce (sweet, spicy, hot...?) not simply resort on the tomato-based type.

The price? The Viva Venezia pizza is only P190; Putanesca, Fried Ravioli and Mozzarella sticks all at P120 each.This resto is a good find and will definitely be included in our list of favorites.

Address: 79 Maginhawa St. Teacher's Village, Quezon City Tel: 4341416 (Deliveries within Teachers' Village only; minimum of P400)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

its holy family school, by the way :)