Bistro Ravioli: Italian Cuisine Obsession Unleashed!
Bistro Ravioli’s take on Italian cuisine is a lot like what I would consider as sublime poetry: it takes on a traditional theme, but presents it in a manner that claims its own spell on whoever dines there.
We don’t mind clingy, as long as it’s cheese.
Opened in 2010, Bistro Ravioli brought its own prose of well-guarded recipes to Manila, presenting unique experiences with its superb freshly-made pizza dough and its boiled fresh tomato salsa still prepared in the owners’ home.
When Bistro Ravioli opened a branch in Greenbelt 1, it quickly became my mom’s default choice for a week closer whenever we’re out on a Sunday. Simply put, it’s the cherry on top for a good week and the good part for a bad one. The thing about our family visits to Bistro Ravioli is that we always order the Spinach and Feta Cheese Ravioli in Pesto Sauce, the Fennel Sausage Pizza and the Choco Lava cake. Every single time. They never failed to satisfy us, though!
Still, because of this, I called myself lucky when we were invited to explore the vast menu of Italian cuisine at Bistro Ravioli one day.
Wanting to go beyond my ‘usuals’, we insisted that the staff choose the food for us. When the food came out of the kitchen, we found ourselves faced with a feast of thirteen (yes, 13!) of their most recommended menu items!
Warming Up the Belly with Antipasti
Antipasti is the plural form of Antipasto, which in Italian means “before the meal” or the first course of a traditional Italian meal. This prelude to the main course begged to raise the bar, saying ‘You’re welcome to expect more.’
Grilled Foccacia with Spinach Dip
The crunchy corners and chewy middle make grilled focaccia flatbread a better substitute to garlic bread. Its flavor is matched with the creamy spinach dip settled underneath a layer of thick creamy cheese. Every time you lift the spoon from a helping of the dip (I know it’s ‘dip”, but we like it better this way), the cheese on the spoon resists, separating from the cheese left on the dip. Ugh, cheese.
Pizza Frita with Boursin Cheese
This appetizer was a teaser to the quality of their pizza. The Pizza frita is very chewy with a slight taste of herbs. It is enhanced with the flavor of the garlic and herbs and smooth and the creamy texture of the Boursin cheese. I think I ended up stopping myself after my third “share”, because I felt like I was no longer sharing it with the other five people I was dining with.
Dough That Is Always Fresh
Bistro Ravioli’s pizza boasts of fresh dough baked in a brick oven. I only knew what that meant the morning after we dined in when I microwaved pizza that I ended up taking home the night before.
Even after re-heating, I was surprised to find that the pizza crust did not turn stale and the cheese formed into a stiff blanket that comes off altogether. Maintaining its soft and chewy crust, the creamy cheese still resisting to part at each forkful and the meat and vegetables still crispy, the folks at home and I were having an extended treat of a slice of seemingly fresh Fennel Sausage pizza.
Fennel Sausage
One of my family’s ‘usual’s when in Bistro Ravioli, we continued ordering this because of its more-than-satisfactory light mix of sweet and salty flavors coming from the meat and scallion. The creamy white cheese is a hit with the in-house sausage. It is very light on the palate, but heavy on the appetite.
Garlic Clam Supreme
The common favourite of the group, there’s a smokey flavor that gracefully blends in with the garlic, cheese and the saltiness and juiciness of seafood and mushrooms. Try this if you’re visiting Bistro Ravioli for the first time!
More of their exciting Italian cuisine on the next page…
