Va Bene Pasta Deli

I had been hearing about Va Bene, a little Italian place at the Petron station on Edsa corner Pasay Road, for a while now. When I saw Deal Grocer vouchers for this restaurant, I decided to buy a few. As such, I ended up visiting this restaurant three times in the last couple of months. (The good thing about the Petron station is that you can get your parking ticket validated by the establishment you visit, meaning you get free parking for the first two hours. The downside is that parking space is limited; it may take you a while to find an available slot.)

As a result of my three trips here, I got to try a few different items on the menu. The first one I had was the Pappardelle, which is a pasta dish with 12-hour braised lamb shank, Italian sausage, semi-dried tomatoes, and black olives (P460). I always enjoy braised or stewed meat and I love pasta so this was a good combination for me. The lamb was tender and the flavor of the sauce was good.

Pappardelle (P460)

On my next visit, I tried the Organic Eggs Tagliatelle with portobello mushrooms, white wine cream sauce, and truffle oil (P440). I'm a huge fan of truffle oil so I was expecting to be blown away by this but it didn't quite live up to the hype. I thought it lacked salt. (Now that I think about it, I should have just asked for salt; maybe I would have enjoyed it a lot more). In my opinion, Cantinetta still has the best truffle pasta that I have tried.

Organic Eggs Tagliatelle (P440)

Finally, I had the Nonna Gnocchi, which is potato pasta with Italian sausage, portobello mushrooms, prawns, and taleggio cheese (P480). This dish I loved for the most part. Ever since I search gnocchi in the internet because I kept on hearing it in Top Chef and other cooking shows, I've become a fan. This dish was rich and full of flavor and the prawns were perfectly cooked. I didn't really like the crumbled bits of sausage though. I though they were out of place and didn't really add anything to the dish.

Nonna Gnocchi (P480)

Overall, I found Va Bene to be a good restaurant. The pasta noodles are fresh and very well-made (although for me, something about the noodles doesn't allow them to fully absorb the flavor of the sauces they are served with). The service is also excellent. While Va Bene is multi-awarded, I prefer a few other Italian places to it. That said, this is still a quality restaurant and I wouldn't mind eating here again.

Va Bene has been recognized multiple times as one of the best restaurants in Manila.

Va Bene has two locations: Makati and BGC. (Note: there seem to be slight differences in the menu of these two restaurants. I think Nonna Gnocchi is not available in BGC. Check out the menus here.)

Va Bene Pasta Deli
http://www.vabenepastadeli.com/

Makati Branch
2nd Floor Petron Gas Station
EDSA Cor. Pasay Road
Dasmarinas, Makati City

BGC Branch
Cinema Level, 3rd Floor Bonifacio High Street Central Cinemas
Fort Bonifacio Global City (BGC)
Taguig City

Telephone: 02-5569442 / 2169879
Mobile: 09177225780