Mamma mia! Salsa Rossa is very good
February 6, 2002 | 12:00am
Add one more restaurant to the trendy row of eating places on E. Rodriguez Ave. in Quezon City. Salsa Rossa is now serving its brand of original Italian dishes, something that diners in the Ortigas Center have already discovered at its original branch on Pearl Drive.
As in the mother branch, the new restaurant offers everything that Italian food lovers are looking for – the taste and range of an Italian banquet that varies from pasta, pizza and salads, through the secondo piatto of meats or seafood, and, before you can cry "Mamma mia," desserts of creamy, mildly sweet crepes and the popular tiramisu al cacao, which is cocoa topped with cherries and chocolate syrup. Some diners may choose from a healthy feast of mozzarella or just settle for a plain simple cup of cappuccino. Others may venture into sausages to go with their crispy salads. Whatever their choices, the experience is pure pleasure.
To digress a little, the long row of establishments on E. Rodriguez Sr. Ave., which connects to C-5, has changed from its former industrial and commercial makeup to one of food and dining places. The latest cluster of restaurants is in Eastwood City, a condominium district of sorts, with its well-paved walks and restaurant row open non-residents. Evening diners park around the circle and walk to their favorite restaurant at Eastwood. Still more car-riding patrons park on both sides of the avenue to try a new eating place that seems to rise every couple of weeks. With the lights on starting at 6 p.m., the avenue sparkles like a huge belt of colorful gems.
"There’s a great possibility that this area will be the trendiest eatery and entertainment row on this side of the metropolis," says Salsa Rossa owner Sonia Adea. "We can feel the growing excitement among diners over this prospect."
Sonia added "entertainment" to the description of the avenue, noting there are now a number of clubs catering to the younger set in the area. And in a few weeks, even homeowners from the subdivisions nearby will be trooping to a supermart, just across from where Salsa Rossa sits.
"True Italian taste presents itself in our special dishes," Sonia says. The decision to set up the new outlet was intended to satisfy the growing appetite of Metro Manila gourmets for Italian food.
Although authenticity is not an issue, Salsa Rossa’s claims of true Italian cuisine are clearly demonstrated by the dishes that its chef, Saldo Gologabin, so carefully prepares.
Each order matches the demand and discriminating taste of diners. Likewise, the use of imported ingredients assures diners that only the best produce go into each order.
The result is always an excellent feast, if excellence means an exciting, almost sinful dining experience.
Customers can relish spaghetti al pesto and other varieties, apart from classic putanesca and other tomato-rich pasta dishes.
Try and enjoy to the fullest a few of the finest on their menu: nachos or tortillas, served with a choice of spicy marinara sauce, melted cheese or drizzled pesto, calamari fritti, gambaretti, smoked salmon, among a selection of antipasti.
Soup is a choice of minestrone alla Genovese, classic Italian vegetable soup and zuppa del giorno. For salads, try insalata mista, caprese, or di Cesare.
For a fuller dish, there’s the pollo marsala, chicken breast sautéed in wine and topped with mozzarella, anchovies and capers, and osso bucco Milanese, stewed tender beef shanks with barolo wine sauce.
Customers who want something light can choose from the foccacia sandwiches, which include fillings of smoked ham and mozzarella, grilled chicken Caesar, barbecued chicken, mozzarella and tomato, grilled eggplant, tomato, zucchini and red bell pepper, and Italian sardines.
The new Salsa Rossa outlet in Libis is roomier than its outlet in Ortigas. It can seat 85 customers comfortably and has a bar that offers a wide selection of wines and liquors.
A European traveler once said that you could take Italian food out from Italy, but you could never take Italy out from Italian food. That’s the kind of Italian food waiting for you at Salsa Rossa.
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