Villa Mauri
All the rave about good italian food... all that hype.. maybe if i did not live in Italy ever summer for four years and maybe if I did not study there for the better part of a year in Milan...
Dont get me wrong.. italian food isnt just about good food.. its also about the hospitality.. which Maurizio has.. and lots of it too if he isnt too busy running around during the busy times.. but good food.. that is another matter. Maybe if the patrons did not know what good italian food is.. yeah.. maybe.. unfortunately, during my years there, I learnt much of their culture and acquired much of their disdain for poor excuses for things italian. Italians are a very family oriented race.. much like our culture here in South East Asia.. their love for la mamma's cucinare... (the mother's cooking). Their use of the freshest and finest materials ensure that their families are healthy and well fed. In fact.. if one were to visit them during Christmas or Easter.. oh my.. be prepared to bring along your extra stomach. They can eat for hours on end. In fact, I remember its an average of 4 hrs of non-stop feasting... wave after wave of superb antipasti, prima pasti, etc.. ending with gelato (ice cream) and ultimately, cafe' (called short expresso here) to help the digestive tracts. Hence one can understand their love for food. Now.. here's the beef.. I've been reading Reeda (anakbrunei)'s rave on and on about the great italian food there so being a latino lover of all things italian, my mates and i dropped by tonight to try it out. Hmm.. what a disappointment. I was never satisfied with spaghetinni's nor with Fratini's no matter how they try to call themselves with fancy italian names. Well, I'm not satisfied with the food at Mauricio's either.. most of them that we tried anyway.. except maybe for one plate.. which.. Maurizio cooked himself.
1) Pizza. The bread itself was good.. the ingredients that went on it.. disappointing. I saw they served something called Pizza alle cipolla which is essentially pizza topped with onion rings.. the ones i tried had in italy was superb.. to the point i kept going back to the same tavolo and ordering the same thing for weeks. Well, the one here.. had a few slices of onions... on tomato sauce! Argh.. its not suppose to come on tomato.. disgusting..
2) Beef medallions. I didnt even finish the little piece i tried. Enough said.
3) Antipasti. The olive oil they used must be extra extra extra extra virgin coz we all felt it had this stench of gas. Seriously.. the parmegiano was weak and mild.. tasted very commercial.. the mozarella was ermm.. for lack of a better word.. weak... good mozarella cheese has a nice tender taste with very very mild tang to it.. this one.. well.. just felt like tasting chalk.. but that said.. I do know how hard it is to get good italian cheeses here. So.. these things can be forgiven.
4) Spaghetti with spicy garlic olive oil. Now this one was interesting.. the first plate.. tasted like crap. No taste in the olive oil and the chilli used was fresh.. looks like everything was just thrown in together in a hurry. As the italians put it, merde.. One of my friends said something to Maurizio about it.. and he came back with a 2nd plate.. which was so much better.. Way better... which made me think.. who actually cooks this? And it seems those that cook it apart from the head chef know nothing about italian food.
5) And finally, the cafe. I didnt even bother to sip it. One look and i knew it was a waste of time. The so-called expresso was watery and without the creamy head. My friend tried it and immediately put it down. Making cafe is an art.. too bad nobody there know how to do it.
How can italian restaurants have italian names and cannot even serve proper italian cuisine? Even one with an italian chef! And people hype about it like it was the next best thing since polyester. Sheesh.
Ok.. sorry.. believe me, i would not even bother writing like this about this if this was chinese or japanese food..
mi scuzi Maurizio.. amo la cucina italiana.. veramente.. ma.. penso che hai piu potentiale per improvare il cibo alla restaurante tuo. Perfavore? Update: My italian is so rusty, its not even funny.
Dont get me wrong.. italian food isnt just about good food.. its also about the hospitality.. which Maurizio has.. and lots of it too if he isnt too busy running around during the busy times.. but good food.. that is another matter. Maybe if the patrons did not know what good italian food is.. yeah.. maybe.. unfortunately, during my years there, I learnt much of their culture and acquired much of their disdain for poor excuses for things italian. Italians are a very family oriented race.. much like our culture here in South East Asia.. their love for la mamma's cucinare... (the mother's cooking). Their use of the freshest and finest materials ensure that their families are healthy and well fed. In fact.. if one were to visit them during Christmas or Easter.. oh my.. be prepared to bring along your extra stomach. They can eat for hours on end. In fact, I remember its an average of 4 hrs of non-stop feasting... wave after wave of superb antipasti, prima pasti, etc.. ending with gelato (ice cream) and ultimately, cafe' (called short expresso here) to help the digestive tracts. Hence one can understand their love for food. Now.. here's the beef.. I've been reading Reeda (anakbrunei)'s rave on and on about the great italian food there so being a latino lover of all things italian, my mates and i dropped by tonight to try it out. Hmm.. what a disappointment. I was never satisfied with spaghetinni's nor with Fratini's no matter how they try to call themselves with fancy italian names. Well, I'm not satisfied with the food at Mauricio's either.. most of them that we tried anyway.. except maybe for one plate.. which.. Maurizio cooked himself.
1) Pizza. The bread itself was good.. the ingredients that went on it.. disappointing. I saw they served something called Pizza alle cipolla which is essentially pizza topped with onion rings.. the ones i tried had in italy was superb.. to the point i kept going back to the same tavolo and ordering the same thing for weeks. Well, the one here.. had a few slices of onions... on tomato sauce! Argh.. its not suppose to come on tomato.. disgusting..
2) Beef medallions. I didnt even finish the little piece i tried. Enough said.
3) Antipasti. The olive oil they used must be extra extra extra extra virgin coz we all felt it had this stench of gas. Seriously.. the parmegiano was weak and mild.. tasted very commercial.. the mozarella was ermm.. for lack of a better word.. weak... good mozarella cheese has a nice tender taste with very very mild tang to it.. this one.. well.. just felt like tasting chalk.. but that said.. I do know how hard it is to get good italian cheeses here. So.. these things can be forgiven.
4) Spaghetti with spicy garlic olive oil. Now this one was interesting.. the first plate.. tasted like crap. No taste in the olive oil and the chilli used was fresh.. looks like everything was just thrown in together in a hurry. As the italians put it, merde.. One of my friends said something to Maurizio about it.. and he came back with a 2nd plate.. which was so much better.. Way better... which made me think.. who actually cooks this? And it seems those that cook it apart from the head chef know nothing about italian food.
5) And finally, the cafe. I didnt even bother to sip it. One look and i knew it was a waste of time. The so-called expresso was watery and without the creamy head. My friend tried it and immediately put it down. Making cafe is an art.. too bad nobody there know how to do it.
How can italian restaurants have italian names and cannot even serve proper italian cuisine? Even one with an italian chef! And people hype about it like it was the next best thing since polyester. Sheesh.
Ok.. sorry.. believe me, i would not even bother writing like this about this if this was chinese or japanese food..
mi scuzi Maurizio.. amo la cucina italiana.. veramente.. ma.. penso che hai piu potentiale per improvare il cibo alla restaurante tuo. Perfavore? Update: My italian is so rusty, its not even funny.
posted by DC at
8/15/2008 12:58:00 AM
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