North Beach Italian Restaurants

The North Beach neighborhood is San Francisco's version of Little Italy and is home to many Italian restaurants in the city.

One excellent Italian restaurant in North Beach is the aptly named North Beach Restaurant. It's an institution in the Bay area having opened its doors in 1970. 

North Beach Restaurant specializes in Tuscan cuisine. Food we had was authentic and  very traditional.

Complimentary Bread

Caesar Salad

Pasta Puttanesca

Spaghetti Carbonara

Sotto Mare, a few blocks down North Beach Restaurant, on the other hand, is the go to place for seafood.

Eating at Sotto Mare feels like going home to your nonna's cooking. Staff is warm and friendly and they serve good old comfort food.

Crab Cocktail Salad

Boston Clam Chowder

Linguine with Seafood

Fettucine with Smoked Salmon

Between the two, I prefer Sotto Mare more but I'm not saying that North Beach Restaurant is not as good. North Beach Restaurant is a good place to celebrate birthdays and other special occasions while Sotto Mare suits my preference of a laid back dining experience.

North Beach Restaurant is located at 1512 Stockton St. San Francisco California. For more information, click here.

Sotto Mare Oysteria & Seafood is located at 552 Green St. San Francisco California. For more information, click here.

Classic Italian at La Nuova Pastelleria

San Antonio Plaza in Forbes Park may have undergone a facelift with new dining options, but one restaurant that has stood the test of time is La Nuova Pastelleria. 

Open since 1978, La Nuova Pastelleria has been serving Italian food to its loyal clientele for over 35 years. 

It's a no frills restaurant with limited space and uncomfortable chairs but what makes diners keep coming back is its good food.

Flat Bread with Pate and Tomato 

The liver pate is reason enough for a return visit.

Ravioli Verdi (495php)

House Specialty of stuffed pasta with spinach, ricotta cheese in tomato cream

Profumo Di Tartufo (525php)

Tagliatelle with white truffle cream, porcini mushroom topped with parma ham

Pizza Margherita

Pizza with olive oil, fresh basil, and tomatoes

La Nuova Pastelleria is certainly not the most exciting restaurant out there but for classic Italian food done right, it's the place to be.

La Nuova Pastelleria is located at San Antonio Plaza, McKinley Road., Forbes Park Forbes Park - North, Makati. For more information, call 867-2370.

Carbs Overload at Cantinetta

Update: Cantinetta at the Podium has closed for business.

Another trip to the salon, another Podium restaurant to try.

Cantinetta caught our fancy this time.

Cantinetta is an Italian restaurant with the menu offering soups, salads, pizzas, pastas, risottos, and grilled specialties. Needless to say, we had a carbo overload during our visit. 

Complimentary Bread



With Spreads

Ordinary made extraordinary by Cantinetta’s delicious liver pate.

Bruschette Miste Bread with Three Kinds of Toppings (380php)

1. Beef = Hohum 2. Seafood = Good because of the strong garlic flavors 3. Vegetables = My favorite! Perfect combination of spinach and mushroom. Would not order this next time though because the complimentary bread basket is more than enough.

Tartufo Pasta Truffle Cream Sauce with Parma Ham (550php)

I like Mamou’s truffle pasta better. This is creamy but lacking real truffle flavor.

Margherita Pizza  Fresh Basil and Tomatoes Pizza(380php)  

Nothing special. Dry with not much sauce and cheese. The thin crust is at least crispy. Waste of carbs.

Bistecca Alla Cantinetta Tuscan Style Rib Eye Steak (1,900php)

with Truffle and Pepper Gravy

This is how I like my meat done. Perfectly cooked, flavorful, and with a generous amount of fat. So good that a purist like me didn’t need the gravy. I want more!

Word of Caution: There’s an annoying server at the Podium branch who "critiqued" the food we ordered. He gave unsolicited order suggestions and still pushed when we said we were perfectly happy with our choices. This got me all riled up and somehow ruined the dining experience. I hope I don't see him next time. 

Cantinetta is located at the G/F The Podium ADB Avenue Ortigas Center. Mandaluyong City. Cantinetta also has branches at Rockwell and Pasong Tamo.