Aria Cucina Italia, Fort

Aria Cucina Italia has made its mark in Boracay shores and it’s aiming to bring the same success to Manila when they opened a branch at the Fort last January.  The light and airy ambience of Aria Cucina’s interiors brings the same summery vibe it has from its first store, including a wooden web-like net that serves as partition of the dining area.

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Chef Marino Leonardis who originally was from Leguria, Italy was flown in by Aria Cucina’s owners Juan Elizalde (husband of Bianca Araneta-Elizalde) and Paolo Occhionero to head the kitchen ensuring that only the freshest of Italian fares are always brought out.

It was the first restaurant that Bubba and I checked out in the recently opened East Superblock at Fort a few weeks ago.  It was a beautiful Saturday morning that weekend of March 10^th.  We stopped at Ethan Allen first to drop off the items I used for the challenge and then we headed to Aria Cucina Italia for a quick lunch before heading to Kids Ministry orientation at the Church.    

On the Table

Tagliatelle con Tartufo Asparagi e Prosciutto di Parma PHP 460

Homemade tagliatele with white truffle, asparagus and parma ham

I love truffles and anything with truffles so it wasn’t really hard to like this al dente pasta.  I wish I had the pasta changed to spaghetti or something else because Tagliatelle doesn’t really absorb much of any flavor.  The asparagus was blanched well retaining its deep green color and crunch while the slivers of Parma insert the salty element in the pasta dish giving it a good balance.

Capricciosa PHP 580

Fresh cherry tomatoes, artichokes, farmer’s ham, mushroom, kalamata olives and mozzarella

The thin pizza was fantastic with a slightly toasted crust just the way I like it.  All the ingredients for toppings tasted fresh.  I requested the ham to be removed since I’m not a big fan.  The mushroom, cherry tomatoes and artichokes added texture and taste.  I’d definitely order this again at Aria.

Costicine di Agnello PHP 980

Oven-baked lamb cutlet with garlic and rosemary served with roasted potatoes

For the price, I expected the lamb cutlets to be more than 3 pieces –probably 5 pieces.  The lamb cutlets were seasoned well and the meat was tender and brimming with its natural flavor appended with hints of garlic and rosemary.  We were expecting it to be served with roasted potatoes AND spinach but only the spinach came out. 

Initially, the waiter didn’t want to accommodate us at 10:58am because they open at 11am.  We asked if we could wait at any table and he hesitated quite a bit and when the clock struck 11, I pressed on.  I had to ask for the menu too.  That wasn’t a great start at all.  But the service picked up halfway through our meal. 

Aria Cucina Italiana

East Superblock, 30th Street, corner 7th Street

Bonifacio Global City, Taguig

623.0119

Open 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. daily

Aria Cucina Italiana Album