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| Finestra |
One of the good things I kept reading about the place was how nice and grand the restaurant looks. It was really grandiose inside, high ceiling, carpeted floor, sparkling chandeliers, everything screams of class and elegance. Did I personally like it? Not so, it was too grand for me. It felt like I was attending some kind of a banquet function. I still prefer the small cozy, comfy and homey feel of restaurants.
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| The Dining Area at Finesra |
As soon as we took seats, a basket of wonderful looking breads was placed on the table. All of the breads were excellent but one stood out, the cheese bread. The cheese bread had that slight crunch with a super moist center plus it was so cheesy.
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| Complimentary Bread Basket |
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| Cheese Bread |
The restaurant offers an extensive wine list, they offer wines from different wine regions and prices range from 1,000 to 10,000 a bottle. We settled for a bottle of Pinot Noir from Burgundy.
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| 2012 Pierre Andre Bourgogne Pinot Noir - Php1,900 |
To start we had the Zucchine Timable, the dish consists of pan grilled zucchini, grilled eggplant, cherry tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella with a rustic tomato sauce. We pretty much enjoyed the simple dish as it tasted nice and fresh. The best thing about the starter has to be the buffalo mozzarella, it was the real thing. I've only tasted it once in a wine event, I've tried to go to delis who claims to have it but more often than not they always ran out.
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| Zuchinne Timbale - Php400 |
We decided to try out their risotto of the day which was the Bianco risotto. It was pretty basic as it consists of reggiano and fontina cheese with shave truffle on top. The risotto was simple and delicious, the arborio rice was cooked perfectly as it just had the right textute and consistency.
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| Bianco - Php520 |
An Italian Meal wouldnt be complete without pasta, we ordered a plate of Bombardoni. It was my first time to see pasta tubes this big. the server told us it was called Pacherri. The pasta came with lobster and roasted heirloom tomatoes 'marinara sauce'. Cooked really well, the pasta was al dente, the small chunks of lobster tail tasted fresh and the sauce was superb. My only gripe about the pasta dish is that it wasn't worth its price. The serving was small, it had around 4 to 5 pasta tubes and there were only a few small pieces of lobster tail.
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| Bombardoni - Php950 |
For our main course we had the Branzino Aqua Pazza, a seabass dish with pomodorino pachino, olives and mashed potato. Upon doing some research, pomodorino pachino are cherry tomatoes that comes from Sicily. The tomato puree complimented the seabass really well as it didn't overpower the flavor of the fish. Simple, fresh and delicate. Even though the seabass was a tad bit overcooked, it was still exquisite as it tasted so fresh plus the skin was crispy. Mashed potato was smooth and creamy. Again, my gripe would be the size of the fish, it was too small to be consider a main course. You can down it in two full bites.
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| Branzino Aqua Pazza - Php1,400 |
I enjoyed my meal in Finestra but felt that it was overpriced. The food we tried were great but it wasn't really extraordinary that's worth its price. Some might say that you are also paying for the ambiance but I'm not really concern about a restaurant's atmosphere, food is still priority. I would still love to go back, the cheese bread is to die for and there are wines that I would want to try. Maybe next time around I would go with a bigger group and order the resto's family style dishes.
Finestra
Address: Solaire Resort, Aseana Avenue, Paranaque City
Tel. No.: 888 8888
