The Venice Piazza Food Adventure Guide

The Venice Piazza in McKinley Hill has an interesting food adventure tour, where you can sample 12 dishes from 12 different restaurants every Saturday night.

It is not a buffet but more of a food-hopping, taste-test tour for P550.

But is the P550 worth it?

This guide will tell you:

• which resto dishes are worth the calories (in terms of taste and portions);
• the estimated cost of each sample, deduced by asking the restaurants the ratio of the sample size versus the full order; and
• our recommendation on the flow on how to go about the food adventure because you don’t have to go to all 12 restos.

How the Venice Piazza Food Adventure Works

You are given a passport (worth P550), which entitles you to sample-size dishes at 12 restaurants.

The selection of dishes is based on what the organizers thought would best complement each other — from the Appetizers to the Main Course to Desserts.

The passport is transferrable and can be used on other Saturdays during the duration of the promo.

Drinks are not included in the passport cost.

The Food Adventure Tour Passport is valid from 5pm to 10pm every Saturday until July 30. 

They expect around 100 Food Adventure participants every Saturday.

 

The Venice Piazza Food Adventure Guide

We recommend that you start as early as 6pm. We tried all 12 dishes in 12 restos, and it took us 4 hours. It takes so long because there are some restos that are slow because they are full of regular customers and they are favorites among Food Adventurers. Hopping from one resto to another and ordering from the waiters can eat up your time.

APPETIZERS/STARTERS:

 
★ Old Vine’s Marinated Salmon Carpaccio (1/2 Sample – P130). House-cured and seasoned Salmon in Champagne Vinaigrette.

This salmon carpaccio was good. It had the right tenderness, right amount of salt, basil, and vinaigrette.  The sample size was a bit small and only good for one person.

Old Vine and Kuse have the same owner, so they usually serve the Salmon Carpaccio with Kuse’s Beef Back Ribs Adobado. Be specific in just ordering the salmon and tell them that you will return for the beef back ribs later.

Old Vine Grille, The Venice Piazza
G/F The Venice Piazza, McKinley Hill

From Old Vine, hop over to Little Asia…

★ Little Asia’s Minced Chicken with Lettuce Cups (1/2 Sample – P97.50). Sauteed minced Chicken mixed with Chestnuts, Mushrooms, Carrots and Celery.

You have two options in Little Asia; we recommend that you go for the minced chicken with lettuce. The serving portion was big and can be shared.

Little Asia’s Vietnamese Spring Roll (2/3 Sample – P130). Traditional Vietnamese Fried Spring Rolls stuffed with Glass Noodles, Pork, Crab and Mushrooms, served with Nuoc Cham dipping sauce.

This was also OK; we liked the sweet vinegar sauce. It’s better than Pho Hoa’s sampler.

Little Asia, The Venice Piazza
G/F The Venice Piazza, McKinley Hill
Telephone: +632 798-0354

Little Asia is one of the most popular restos in The Venice Piazza because it offers good value for money in terms of serving size and flavor. During the dinner “rush hour”, your order could take some time to arrive.

Next stop, the twin restos of Blackwood Bistro and Pinchos…

★ Pincho’s Baked Oysters (1/4 Sample – P87.50). Creamed Bacon and Spinach, Spiced Hollandaise Sauce.

Most Food Adventurers love this 2-piece serving of Baked Oysters. 🙂 This is the point when you can order beer to go with your food.

Pinchos Restaurant and Bar, The Venice Piazza
G/F The Venice Piazza, McKinley Hill

Blackwood Bistro’s Crab & Mango Salad in Creamy Lemon Basil Dressing (1/5 Sample – P65). Arugula and Salanova Green Salad, Mango, Strawberry and Lump Crabmeat.

One of the most disappointing samples in the Food Adventure. It was a very small portion and the vegetables looked tired. Maybe they can consider increasing the portion size and not over-wilting the veggies. Nevertheless, it’s still good to offer since it’s healthy.

Blackwood Bistro, The Venice Piazza
G/F The Venice Piazza, McKinley Hill
Telephone: +632 659-4409

FOR KIDS:

Sweet Pea’s Cheese & Peppers Quesadillas (1/4 Sample – P50) served with Guacamole & Salsa and Crispy Buffalo Wings (1/4 Sample – P62.50) with Barbecue sauce and Ranch dip.

The quesadilla is good for kids. The buffalo wings did not taste the way we expected it to — it tasted more like oil.

Sometimes, when there is a big crowd during dinnertime, they serve it on a round plate instead of the wooden chopping board.

Sweet Pea Restaurant, The Venice Piazza
G/F The Venice Piazza, McKinley Hill
Telephone: +632 659-3685

Empire Deli’s Baked Macaroni with Orange Summer Salad (1/2.5 Sample – P74). Parmesan, Bolognese sauce, Cheese sauce.

This was just OK. You can opt to skip it and return one Saturday to try it for merienda.

Empire Deli and Restaurant, The Venice Piazza
G/F The Venice Piazza, McKinley Hill
Telephone: 836-3677

PALATE CLEANSER:

Yoswirl’s Soft-Serve Yogurt (60g Sample – P36.40) Mango or Chocolate flavor.

In the middle of your resto hopping, we recommend that you cleanse your palate by ordering the Mango Yogurt flavor. The fruity taste will refresh your taste buds and prepare you for the main courses.

It would have been great, though, if they served lemon or kalamansi flavor. 🙂

Yo Swirls by BTIC, The Venice Piazza
G/F The Venice Piazza, McKinley Hill

MAIN DISHES:

Kick off the second half of your Food Adventure tour with…

★ Ramen Bar’s Kakuni Buns (3/4 Sample – P135). Melt-in-your-mouth Pork Belly wrapped in a special white bun and Karaage (1/3 Sample – P51.70). Fried boneless Chicken with salt.

This was our favorite dish because the portion was good value for money and the food tasted great. (Although, if I were to design the food tour, I would have included a sample portion of their best ramen. This would have been the soup portion of the tour.)

Ramen Bar, The Venice Piazza
G/F The Venice Piazza, McKinley Hill

★ Red Crab’s Butter Ginger Crab Claws (200g Sample – P250.

The Butter Ginger Crab was quite good. Thing is, it was small and only good for one person.

The Red Crab Alimango House, The Venice Piazza
G/F The Venice Piazza, McKinley Hill
Telephone: +632 403-8011

★ Kuse’s BBQ Beef Back Ribs Adobado (200g Sample – P123.75).

Everyone loved this main dish because it was served with two generous slices of beef back ribs — and it came with rice!  The meat was tender and marinated well (but just a bit too salty for me).

Kuse, The Venice Piazza
G/F The Venice Piazza, McKinley Hill
Telephone: +632 836-4966

Kuse has its share of foodie fans in The Venice Piazza because of the big serving size of its Filipino dishes.

DESSERT:

★ Sol Gelato (equivalent 1 Scoop – P95). 3 Flavors in 3 smaller sample scoops.

Finally, end your meal at one of the best gelato places in town. You will get three little scoops of gelato in different flavors.

We recommend Dark Chocolate Guiness & Ferrero/Hazelnut Chocolate.

Tip: Most people order their gelato starting at 9pm. There is a big chance that the best flavors will be sold out at around 10pm.

Sol Gelato, The Venice Piazza
G/F The Venice Piazza, McKinley Hill
Telephone: +632 798-0411

 

Overall, we love the concept of the Food Adventure Tour! It is a different bonding experience with family and friends.

It would have been nicer, though, if some of the restaurants had highlighted their best dishes and not just any sample for the sake of participating in the promo.

Bottomline: Is the P550 worth it?

YES, if you order our favorites:

★ Old Vine’s Marinated Salmon Carpaccio (1/2 Sample – P130)
★ Pincho’s Baked Oysters (1/4 Sample – P87.50)
★ Little Asia’s Minced Chicken with Lettuce Cups (1/2 Sample – P97.50)
★ Ramen Bar’s Kakuni Buns (3/4 Sample – P135) and Karaage (1/3 Sample – P51.70)
★ Red Crab’s Butter Ginger Crab Claws (200g Sample – P250)
★ Kuse’s BBQ Beef Back Ribs Adobado (200g Sample – P123.75)
★ Sol Gelato (equivalent 1 scoop – P95)

Total Food Adventure Value is P970.45.

Here are some final Food Adventure Tour strategies:

• Couple Food Trip: If you plan to finish all the dishes, 2 adults can share one passport.
• Father & Son: You can divide the dishes between an adult and a child.
• Go for the Best: If you only have 2 hours, I suggest you go for the best dishes.
• Your Own Strategy: Please share your own strategy in the comments section. 🙂
  

Live an Awesome Life,

 
Founder, www.OurAwesomePlanet.com
Call or Text Me: +63917 5683-627 (LOVE-OAP)
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Full Disclosure: We were invited by our Friends from Eastwood to try out the Food Adventure for us to give feedback on the overall food tour.

P.S. To complement the Food Adventure, they have a Food Adventure Cookout where you can buy fresh food from the wet market and then the Chefs of The Red Crab will cook it for you. You have to pay extra for the cost of the fresh food and the cooking charge.

Also, they have a Food Adventure Extreme market where you can try Deep-fried Frogs, Fried Antik (giant ants), Eggcheflan, and Fried Crickets. You have to pay extra for this as well.

We did not try the Cookout or the Extreme adventure anymore because the concept and actual food presentation were not that appealing to us.  Also, you’ll feel full already by just trying out the 12 dishes from the various restos.

P.P.S. We don’t recommend this…

 
Pho Hoa’s Cha Gio Viet (1/2 Sample – P85). Fried Rice Paper Roll with Pork and Vermicelli.

This was too commercialized in taste. Maybe they can improve on it or offer something else for future promos.