I was never the type of student to excel in class or be super bibo during recitations. I'd rather sit quietly and reflect on the different ideas that emerge in class. I like reflecting a lot, which also mirrors the type of adult learner that I am. Now that I think about it, I reckon I somehow missed on a lot of opportunities when I was in school. Opportunity to express my ideas and have it nurtured, opportunity to get on a heated discussion and defend my answers or opportunity to be told I'm wrong so I will be challenged and be more critical, among others. But I also think being more of a reflector growing up helped me in ways I couldn't even imagine. I don't know why I had to say that and have some sort of preface before finally saying why we went to Amici the other day. But I bet you'll get the drift, hehe. 

My younger sisters, who are still in school btw, are currently on vacation. Yay! Cheers to the academic calendar shift they get to technically spend their 'summer' during the rainy season, lol. We decided to eat at Amici the other day to celebrate my youngest sister's little victory. All of us went to UP for college, but never really had the glory and prestige of being a University Scholar. The University Scholar is a merit award for students who attained a GWA (General Weighted Average) of 1.45 (or at least  a Magna Cum Laude standing) and above. My sister's GWA for last semester was, drum roll please, 1.08. I guess you now know what the preface is for, haha. I was overjoyed when I found out. She likes pasta and cheesecake, so I thought Amici would be the perfect place. She lives for food, by the way. 

I've always loved Amici. I was a bit disheartened when I left my previous job because Amici wouldn't be in arm's reach, much like Mister Kebab. Good thing we have Cafe Mary Grace at my current office, which isn't a far second among my list of favorites. Let's talk food!

Food

We ordered Pollo Arrostito (P328), Chicken Pesto Pizza (P395), Prosciutto E Funghi (P382), Linguine Al Salmone Cremoso (P352), Spaghetti White Vongole E Gamberetti (P352) and Rouge (P165) for dessert. Everything was awesome, except for the dessert. I read on their website that the cake we ordered was voted as one of the best desserts by the Philippines Inquirer, but I don't get why. It didn't have a lot of flavor, and the texture was just all over the place. 

Some of my notable favorites : Pollo Arrostito, I always order this when I go to Amici. The different herbs and spices works so well with the chicken. And the vegetables are also always perfectly cooked. Another favorite would be the Linguine Al Salmone Cremoso, it has the perfect balance of creamy and zesty, you couldn't get enough. I was also picking out all the Salmon because they were also cooked to perfection. 

Service and Ambiance

Ambiance was okay, nothing special. Service on the other hand felt a bit off during our visit. Even if we were immediately greeted when we went in, I noticed that the staff were slow to come to our attention when we were asking for something (i.e. water, additional utensils, etc.). We were also informed that we had to leave by 10PM because they were hosting an event for Star Cinema. While we were dining, they were arranging tables and chairs and that made us feel a little uncomfortable. As if we're being told to rush our dinner so they can finally be over and done with their preparation. It felt a little disrespectful to do that since that would disrupt their customer's dining experience, not to mention the annoying sounds brought about by all the chair and table dragging. I'm sure it will be a one-time encounter as I've been to other branches and experienced nothing but awesome customer service. Maybe they can skip all the preparation next time while they still have dining customers. It wouldn't hurt to maybe close shop 20 minutes before the event so as to have ample time to prepare whatever they have to prepare.