C Italian Dining - Pampanga Food Trip

If asked for words starting with C, a food fanatic might say: cake, crepe, calzone, carpaccio, confit… chiz curls, chippy =).  For those who have tasted the hybrid Italian dish called panizza, C is a restaurant tucked away in the distant land of Angeles, Pampanga (yeah 2 hours of travel is far for us).

We arrived early for lunch and were fortunate enough to be the first guests of the day.  Fortunate because we were able to take pictures shamelessly and for some time had the undivided attention of the staff, who had their hands full when the diners started pouring in.

Pretending to be health buffs, we decided to order Insalata caprese.  It is a combination of sun-ripe tomatoes, fresh basil, olive oil and 120 grams of mozzarella cheese.  Ok, I admit we ordered it because of the cheese. Hehe.  We were a bit disappointed because we were expecting cherry tomatoes and not the big ones.  Chef Chris Locher, who checked on us, was kind enough to offer cherry tomatoes, but we were too shy to accept.

Panizza is the specialty of the house, so it is a must to order it.  It is a very thin pizza cut into strips, topped with arugula and alfalfa and rolled up with the same technique as you would roll up a newspaper.  Like ice cream, panizza comes in different flavors. Being meat lovers, we decided to get Escapadia, which comes with salami, bacon, ham and gorgonzola.  This dish definitely did not disappoint.  If pizzas have souls and if they believe in reincarnation… then panizza was one hell of a good fella in the past to deserve this good karma.

We also ordered Risotto con fruiti di mare.  It was actually good and the chef did not scrimp on the ingredients.  The fish chunks (salmon & marlin according to the menu), prawns and  mussels can actually be seen without the use of a magnifying glass.  Too bad we were not able to enjoy it because we were already full when it arrived.

For dessert we decided to get gelato and panna cotta.  Unfortunately this two did not give us the sweet ending we were hoping for.  They were forgettable and not quite at par with the ones that came before them.

Is the experience worth the hassle of going up north?  Yes it is. The panizza alone is worth the trouble.  This is one place you should try to visit especially when you are in the area.

 C’ Italian Dining

1210 Don Juico Ave, Clarkview Malabalas, Angeles City

tel:  045 892 4059