Italianni's — Restaurant in Cebu City

The place was packed for a Sunday evening but the hostess did her best of making us feel welcome as we waited for our table. The staff was equally as friendly and very attentive.

Everything looked so good we thought we would order a variety of items to try so we could get a good feel for the offerings. Between my wife and myself we ordered:

Shrimp an Pamelo Salad Artichoke & Spinich Dip Lasagna Seafood Rice

First we were given complementry bread and oil/vinegar for dipping. The bread was very good and it was a nice touch.

The salad came next and it had 3 shrimp on it along with a few slices of pamelo on it along with greens, feta cheese and vinegar dressing. It was a good salad but for 500+ php we were hoping for a few more shrimp

Next came the Artichoke & Spinich dip with some briscotta in a very unique servering tray. It was very good and we enjoyed it a lot.

The Lasagna entry followed and it was because of this dish that we give the experience 4 stars instead of 5. In the menu the Lasagna appeared very thick (like a thick pie) with lots of ingredients. To our surprise the dish came out flatter than most pizzas. It had a good flavor but it sure wasn’t as robust a dish as what was on the menu ... needless to say we were disappointed.

The Seafood Rice came next and we were please with the selection of seafood and the way the rice was prepared. It was very good and something we would probably order again.

The entire bill came to 2500php ($50usd) which seemed to be fair for this type of meal.

It is by far the best Italian restaurant we have found in 5 years of living in Cebu and would have given it 5 stars if it had not been for the Lasagana. We will be going back to try some other dishes in the near future and hope to raise our rating to 5 stars...

In a nutshell:

Probably one in my top lists of Italian cuisine right in the middle of Cebu Business Park, or Ayala Mall. My sights shifted here having tasted most of the pizza parlors, or Italian restos around Cebu City - and was quite surprised I haven't even once tried eating here before.

Let's put it out there for everyone - the food here is just magnificent. All  the things I wanted and then some more.

I can't even begin to describe their dessert - super deelish. All-in-all this was a very wonderful experience. To the guys out there, take your lady / significant other here to score more brownie points LOL.

How to get there:

Italianni's is located in Ayala Center Cebu, on their "Terraces" section. It might be easy to miss out so the landmark I'd suggest is JCO. There's a Japanese resto after that. This is quite a walk from Ayala Center, so for those bringing their own private vehicles, I suggest you park in the Terraces area, so the walk is nearer (just a suggestion).

Pros:

Really really good food

unique pizza

near other shops or restos

Try their desserts, you won't regret it :)

accommodating staff - very friendly and ready to assist you with the order

ambiance and all around chill place

complimentary food is always brownie points for me. It's more like a toast and served with some sauces and balsamic vinegar

Cons

I think the price is the only issue I have with this place - but then again, you are dining here in style. So just prep 1k-2k to impress your partner.

Conclusion:

Though a bit pricey for me, I believe it was worth it. I literally finished everything that was served to us - the food was that good peeps. Plus the ambiance and atmosphere, yeah - go for a date here and impress your partner. You will not...

Good food that actually taste like Italian food, restaurant is pretty nice except some AC who send icy cold air straight into neck, and also leak water on the table. This is details it shouldn't be necessary for customers to spend alot time to avoid, this is something the waiter should fix ASAP. Some of our plates was soaked with water, and those who got the cold air straight to the neck was freezing. Except for this the time spent was enjoyable. I like the food they have here. It's one of very few places in Ph you can get real Italian / American cousine. No sweetened pizza, tomatoes that taste tomatoes, and red wine of the house is absolutely fine for the food. We went here for celebrating my step daughters 18 birthday. I told the waiter about this when we arrived, and she said they would make a surprise. I said if they wanted to make a surprise dessert or something I could pay for this,most important was to make a good surprise. Anyway, nothing happened. No communication about this at all. It didn't destroy our evening, we still had a good meal well prepared and served (the cook here is really good, he/she knows his profession), but a bit surprised that they showed no interest in doing anything out of this evening. We was extra nicely dressed up, group of 5, and ordered pretty much all the best food we could manage to consume. I will absolutely go here another time, but with less expectations about the service and awareness...