Winners and Losers at the Venice Piazza Food Adventure 2011

Thursday, July 28, 2011

I was able to get wind of this thru email. Like our June Photo Walk, we exchanged a new experience for an actual photo walk!

Venice Piazza partnered with 12 restaurants to showcase the best dish in each restaurant and giving the patrons a unique experience. Being able to taste 12 dishes from 12 restaurants in a span of 4 hours is brilliant. The adventure is strictly every Saturdays from 6-10 PM at the Venice Piazza.

You have to register first at the Piazza lobby in order to get a passport (P550). Just present your passport at the participating restaurant and wait for your dish. You can make use of the passport for all Saturdays of July. If on your first visit, you were only able to dine at 5 restaurants, don’t worry – you can go back the next Saturday to avail of the others.

This could be you!


Unfortunately we arrived around 7:30 PM which meant 1 thing; our dinner would have to be rushed! Like any awards night, the Venice Piazza Food Adventure had its winners and losers. The nominees are:

Fried Spring Rolls from Pho Hoa (1/2 Sample - P85)
We’ve had better spring rolls, it didn’t taste as authentic as the ones we’ve had in Vietnam.


Baked Oysters from Pincho's (1/4 Sample - P87.50)
I gave it a chance, but I really don’t like oysters. Haha


Crab & Mango Salad in Creamy Lemon Basil Dressing from Blackwood Bistro (1/5 Sample - P65)
This salad was bland and a bit sad. It saved us some time though because Blackwood Bistro and Pincho’s had the same owner so we got both dishes at Blackwood Bistro.


Marinated Salmon Carpaccio from Old Vine (1/2 Sample - P130)
Like Blackwood Bistro and Pincho’s, Old Vine and Kuse also have the same owners. Another time saving restaurant! I liked the Salmon Carpaccio but only in small doses. It was a good thing this was just a sample size.


Karaage (1/3 Sample - P51.70) and Kakuni Buns (3/4 Sample - P135) from Ramen Bar
The sauce of the Kakuni Buns overpowered the whole dish plus the Karage was oily. Sadness….I do wanna go back to try their ramen instead.


Soft-Serve Yogurt Mango or Chocolate flavor from Yoswirls (60g Sample - P36.40)
I was pleasantly surprised with this one; it tasted more like ice cream than yogurt. It even reminded me of my fave, McDo’s Hot Fudge Sundae. For ice cream addicts like me who want a healthier version, Yoswirls is for you! For yogurt lovers who love the sour taste of yogurt, this isn’t for you.

Now for the losers and winners…..

Hello Sebo (not de macho) Award:
BBQ Beef Back Ribs Adobado from Kuse (200g Sample - P123.75)
The beef was tender and the sauce complimented it. Great right? Not exactly. They served the dish cold and when we cut through it, in the middle was sebo. This was my first time ever to experience that in any restaurant or even turo-turo. It completely turned us off and we stopped eating. We were with out friends and they didn’t have this problem.


Worst Service:
Minced Chicken with Lettuce Cups from Little Asia (1/2 Sample - P97.50)
The service here was slow. We were already waiting for 15 minutes and our food hasn’t arrived. We decided to leave and go to the next stop instead. We asked if we could go back after 10 PM and they allowed us. When we did go back, the dish had great textures from the crisp lettuce, crunchy noodles and soft chicken. Nonetheless, the dish was salty and was nothing great. This was one of the 2 dishes we didn’t finish.


Fail of the Night:
Butter Ginger Crab Claws from Red Crab (200g Sample - P250)
When we got there, they ran out of the dish already so they couldn’t accommodate us. Fail friend, fail.


Best Salad:
Baked Macaroni with Orange Summer Salad from Empire Deli's (1/2.5 Sample - P74)
The salad was refreshingly great, I’d come back for this. Plus points to the Baked Macaroni for being gooey and delish! It was an interesting combination that proved to be a winner.


Comeback Award (I wanna come back here to have more!):
Cheese & Peppers Quesadillas served with Guacamole & Salsa (1/4 Sample - P50) and Crispy Buffalo Wings with Barbecue sauce and Ranch dip (1/4 Sample - P62.50) from Sweet Pea
The cilantro comes through in the quesadilla and I loved it! Top that with their light sauce and salsa and it’s just heavenly. I’m not a fan of Buffalo Wings (ever) but their version was dry and I ended up liking it. After a couple of pieces though, it became too spicy for my palette. Based on the food we had, the ambiance and menu, we swore to come back to Sweet Pea.


Best Dessert and Best Overall Dish:
3 mini scoops of Gelato from Sol Gelato (equivalent to 1 Scoop - P95)
Snickers. Reese’s. Coffee Crunch. Those were the flavors I picked. Ok now drool. Haha We loved everything from Sol Gelato. I wish on a normal day they would have the mini serving so that customers can try more of their ice cream. The other flavors I can’t wait to try are: Ferrero, Irish Cream, Hokey Pokey and the Dark Chocolate. Don’t they sound sinful??

There were a lot of hits and misses on our adventure. But you know what, I appreciated it. I saved myself from going to the bad restaurants and experiencing a full meal.

One thing I did notice, most of the servers in the restaurants didn’t make us feel welcomed. It felt like we were just a chore, as if we weren’t paying customers. Thank God we were there for the food and not the service. The only places where I sorta felt welcomed were at Empire Deli, Sweet Pea and despite the problem Kuse.

We ended the adventure full and happy. Sol Gelato was THE perfect end to our night. I know this sounds bad, but I hope other malls and areas copy Venice Piazza’s concept! At the very least can they also do this at their other property, Eastwood? Or, or, can we have something like this with bars? Hahaha

You have 1 more Saturday (July 30) to take part of the Food Adventure!

* Sample portions and prices were copied from OurAwesomePlanet. (Thank you!)
* Additional photos from Danix Labudahon.

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Venice Piazza at McKinley Hill
The Fort, Taguig City



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Past Photo Walks:
January - Quiapo and Makati
February - Negros Occidental
March - Zamboanga
April - Corregidor
May - Bellarocca
June - Cirque du Soleil's Varekai and White MoonBar

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3 comments

  1. Was it really worth the price? Sounds like you didnt enjoy it much.

    ReplyDelete
  2. yes it was! we immensely loved the sol gelato! haha but more than that, i think its worth it cos it saved me from going to some restaurants in the future that i didnt like.

    oddly enough, i'd give kuse a second chance despite the sebo incident. the dish tasted good sans the sebo. =)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Blackwood Bistro’s 3-course Lamb Shanks Meal - 50% off! Check it out at http://pakyaw.com.ph/team.php?id=1612

    ReplyDelete

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