I GOT an invitation from grade school classmate Raffy that they are opening Pastanni at SM Lanang Premier. I was non-committal because the opening was right smack during our busiest hours in the afternoon.
As expected, I did not make it. But I was there the following day. With my buddy Kublai picking up the bill. That was really cool. He wanted to drop by the wake for a friend's father, but he didn't want to go when there were many people (as expected), and so dragged me out of my house at 8 a.m. on my day-off with a promise of breakfast.
It became brunch since I had an errand to do. So, there we were at Pastanni's nearer lunchtime than breakfast, with one handicap: I forgot to bring my eyeglasses and could thus barely read the menu.
I had to ask the waiter to read the tiny letters that described what "Five Layer Dip" was composed of. I ordered my way for the rest. I got the Formaggian (I'm not sure of the spelling, but that was how it appeared to me). It's a cheese pizza. How many kinds? I don't know as I can only read the names, not the descriptions. Then I got the Filipino puttanesca (assuming that this will have tuyo or ginamos instead of anchovies).
For our main course, I got the milkfish. Kublai's pesca-vegetarian so we had to stick with seafood and veggies. The pizza was great, especially because it was sized just right for two to share (we got the small one).
The Filipino puttanesca had tuyo instead of anchovies, and it was just as good, with lots of chunky tomato sauce. The five layer dip, puttanesca, and pizza were served pretty fast. The milkfish took some time to arrive though, we're not sure why. But we were already done with the dip and the puttanesca and I was saving three slices of the pizza to eat with the milkfish before it finally arrived. Otherwise, everything's great.
As its name says, Pastanni is all about Italian street food -- pasta, pizza, and paninis. They have some bread and pastries displayed at the counter, but we were already full by the time we finished our shared orders.
Here's to wishing that Pastanni at SM Lanang Premier will be there for a long time.
By the way, it's right at the main entrance across BDO, and if you think the name sounds familiar, it's because this is but a new branch. The original Pastanni's is at Abreeza Mall beside Tnalak on the second floor.