Piadina Italian Restaurant (Robinson's Ermita)

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Right after buying breads at Dough Joe, we headed to Piadina Italian Restaurant to redeem our Ensogo voucher. Piadina is a small Italian resto on the second level of Robinson's Ermita.

Taste

We ordered the Cotoletta di Pollo Trio and the Rimini Mare. Both dishes are served with a bowl of the resto's soup of the day and a glass of iced tea. The soup of the day for that day was broccoli soup. Bf also ordered a separate bowl of Minestrone.

Broccoli Soup (soup of the day) - P75

Minestrone - P100

The broccoli soup is hearty and creamy. The minestrone is served with three slices of piadina. It is chunkier than others we have tried and includes a generous amount of eggplant, tomatoes, raisins, onion, and bell pepper.

Cotoletta di Pollo Trio - P310

The Cotoletta di Pollo Trio includes breaded chicken fingers, homemade baked potato with cream and cheese, and pasta of the day. The chicken fingers are crunchy but needs a little bit more salt. The baked potato, unlike what I expected, is not a single chunk of potato but consists of several thin slices put on top of one another.

Rimini Mare - P380

With the Rimini Mare, the customer can choose the type of piadina and pasta. The one in the picture consists of Pasta Italspagna (pasta with Italian sausage and Spanish chorizo in creamy tomato sauce) and Piadina con Pollo Rosto (piadina with roast chicken, mozzarella, and lettuce). The Pasta Italspagna is tasty but greasy. The greasiness is evident with just a forkful of the pasta. The piadina is soft but a bit too dry for my taste. I bought my picky aunt a piadina set and she liked it, though, so maybe it's just me who is not impressed.

Affordability

Overall, the prices of the food are okay.

Interiors

Piadina Restaurant has a modest size and features warm colors, mostly shades of red and brown. Several framed prints hang on the wall. Decors and furniture used are simple and practical, nothing pretentious or garish. The resto is open and welcoming -- there are no doors or barrier -- customers can just step right in. Lighting is adequate and the food is prepared in an open kitchen.

Cleanliness

Everything looks clean and orderly.

Service

Piadina did not follow the terms outlined in their voucher. According to their Ensogo promo, the vouchers can be used for "any menu item (except Piatto Speciale menu and Per Bambini)". However, upon ordering, we got told that seafood items, desserts, and beverages were not included as well. We had to ignore the items we really wanted to order and choose more expensive dishes that we didn't really fancy much, just to use up the value of our vouchers (worth P1000). Originally we were planning to use the vouchers for a light dinner, desserts, and coffee, all in Piadina, but with the added exclusions to what could be ordered, we just skipped desserts and coffee.

There was also a slight hassle in the reservation. In the Ensogo voucher, the number given was that of their Makati branch. I tried calling up their contact number at 7pm, expecting someone to answer since Piadina Restaurant and its sister brand La Piadina are located in malls. Nobody answered the phone so I tried calling them up again the next day during office hours using our landline phone. A girl answered the phone but the connection was poor. I couldn't understand her at all so I tried calling using my cellphone. Still the heavy static. I tried again via landline, urging the girl who answered the phone to speak louder. When I told her I was calling to place a reservation in the Ermita branch, she just gave me the contact number for that branch. Ugh, they should have just put the direct number on the voucher.

On the positive side, after I got the number of their Ermita branch, placing a reservation was a breeze. The girl who answered was efficient and considerate. According to the voucher, the buyer must book a reservation at least 5 days in advance but I took a chance calling just a day before. I was thinking that in case there was no available slot, I would place a reservation on the following weekend instead, but Piadina was able to accommodate our reservation for the next evening.

In the restaurant itself, service was okay. Not the warmest we've had, but nothing to complain about either. Our food arrived quickly.

XS: I hope Piadina will remove the autoplaying music on their Web site. The music plays even if you close the small music player widget. Quite annoying.

Piadina Restaurant
2/F Midtown wing
Robinson's Place Manila
Ermita, Manila, Metro Manila
Tel # 567-6527
Web site
Facebook page