GREAT steaks are relatively easy to enjoy but particularly difficult to find. What you consume in minutes could have taken days of restaurant visits before finding it, and your wallet parting with thousands of your hard-earned cash at every stop.
It’s almost like a casino where the stakes are high.
See, nobody walks into a steakhouse because it’s a steakhouse. People enter it because others have already vouched the week before that they came out of that place as winners.
Simply put: People want a sure bet when it comes to their steaks.
It is fitting then, that the newest player on the block, Il Primo Italian Steakhouse, is located at NUSTAR Cebu—a premier 5-star integrated resort that will soon feature more dining options and shopping thrills (alongside its already-glittering jewel, the casino, of course).
Do you want to try a juicy, US Black Angus Cab Omaha Prime Ribeye? Place your bets—odds are you’ll get what you came for at Il Primo. Currently, the restaurant serves a half-kilo, dry-aged Ribeye at P3,900. With this information, one begins to think about dining strategies—take on 500 grams of full flavor headstrong or split it 250 grams each with a companion?
These numbers become irrelevant the moment your eye meets the plate. The grill marks on the steak are done right. Each slice reveals a reddish, pink glow. The juices carefully drip on the surface forming not the face of Christ but more like the map of Tokyo’s subway. It doesn’t matter. You’re telling yourself, “OMG.”
There are more options, too. There’s the T-Bone, Tenderloin and Striploin. One could go all-in on the “sweepsteaks” as there is Australian and Japanese A5 Wagyu available. Absolutely tender and flavorful, it is almost unbelievable. Yes. OMG-caliber.
The welcoming Chef Luca Angioletti enumerated a few of his secrets on great steaks: “First of all, it’s really the quality of meat.” He added a few more: Charcoal makes a difference; how the steaks are dry aged, thawed and rested matters; the timing of cooking is important; the right amount of seasoning without overpowering the meat is key; and last, allowing it to have “a good rest” before serving.
Highlight: Il Primo utilizes a Josper grill—a hybrid grill and oven known for its capacity to grill under controlled cooking temperatures—for its steaks.
I was fortunate to try other stars as well and have come up with my own little recommendation of must-tries at Il Primo: The Burrata, its take on the creamy cow milk cheese appetizer made with Italian heirloom tomatoes, basil and cold press olive oil; its Prosciutto e Fungi, the classic Italian pizza with tomato sauce, mozzarella, parma ham, mushroom and arugula.
There is also the refreshing Branzino for those who want to skip meat—pan-fried Chilean sea bass fillet served with tomato, olives and capers. And last but probably up there with the steaks, is its hallowed take on the Italian dessert, Tiramisu—creamy mascarpone, ladyfingers soaked in espresso and topped with cocoa powder.
Chef Luca revealed that he takes inspiration for the dessert directly from a restaurant called Le Beccherie in the city of Treviso, where tiramisu traces its origins. Le Beccherie was one of the prominent restaurants which included the dessert on its menu for the first time back in 1972.
Should you be around the area but not ready for a grand meal, ordering the tiramisu, plus espresso, is still a spectacular choice. The best in town.