Back at Bellini's

The week before the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) or lockdowns, we were able to do some surveys for a project with a provincial bus company. We were already in Cubao after one meeting and decided to have lunch at the Araneta City (formerly the Araneta Center), which people generally refer to as 'Cubao'. It was a long time ago since I've eaten at Bellini's and one of my colleagues recalled my recommending the restaurant a while back as I shared with my officemates an orange cake that I bought from the restaurant. And so we decided to eat there while also reminiscing the old days for its location, which used to be a hub for locally made shoes - what was the Marikina Shoe Expo.

Menu showing pasta dishes - we usually opt for their handmade pasta

Frescoes in the restaurant

Restaurant interior

They bake really good cakes here, and our favorite is one of their bestsellers - orange cake.

Interior of the main part of the restaurant. This was usually full for weekend lunches.

Another view of the driveway of what was a very busy Marikina Shoe Expo. Most shops, bars and cafes open in the afternoon to night. That includes the second-hand or thrift shops selling a variety of items.

The main door has a scale model of the Tower of Pisa to welcome customers.

Restaurant front

The complementary breads for appetizers

Portobello mushrooms and arugula with cheese

Pasta Al Sapore di Mare - seafood pasta cooked and served in foil

Grilled fish steak

Tartufo Funghi con Prosciutto with hand-made pasta

The box contains a favorite - Bellini's orange cake

There is another Bellini's in Marikina City but I have not gone there preferring, with the wife, to eat at the original restaurant in Cubao. I must say that the food is still of good quality and the prices were reasonable. It seemed to me though that there was something missing despite the familiar ambiance of the place. Much of the Cubao and the Marikina Shoe Expo I had known during younger days and the recent past when the wife and I were able to there for dates seem to have passed. Maybe lunch time on a weekday wasn't the best time to be there? Perhaps other times and days offered a more crowded setting? Perhaps these are reasons to come back and eat there again - for old times sake.

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