La Tegola Cucina Italiana

The place looks like a pub/barrel shape which is quite unique. I got the seafood frutti de mari oil-based pasta and it tastes really good. Probably i will try their other pasta again when i go back to cebu. Servers are also ok. What i didnt like though, is the place itself. The noisy clients' voices are echoing in the whole restaurant.

Their menu price is pretty high but the food presentation and portion is pure satisfaction for both expense and taste. Some staff were just loitering around the restaurant since there wasn't that much customers but for the waitstaff that served was very productive.

Food is good. Ambience is great, gives you that homey feel once you get the bite of their pasta. Authentic Italian dining that will not break the bank.

Meals here are always a treat. I find the price very reasonable for the quality of food and service here. I have to say it is one of the best Italian restaurants in the city.

I decided to have lunch at La Tegola today. I liked and appreciated the interior look and design of it, but had a few issues with the service at certain points. The restaurant wasn't terribly busy, and because I am currently in Cebu on business I typically eat out by myself since there isn't anyone else around I can dine with, and I was a little irritated that the female server who seated me initially seemed to question the fact that I was dining alone a little too much, despite the fact that there were other solo diners in the restaurant. Next, I placed my order of Caprese, Gnocchi ai Fromaggi, and Filetto Voronoff. 

There was a complimentary appetizer of some kind of thin crisp flat bread or cracker topped with tomatoes, garlic, herbs and olive oil, that I tried two of to be polite, but left mostly alone so I wouldn't fill up. It took a while for the food to arrive, and once it did, they served the gnocchi and meat dish at the same time, but not the caprese. I mentioned it to the male server, who said that apparently, the female server, who had taken my order had not entered the caprese as part of my order (she had also failed to repeat my order back to me). He went off to make sure my caprese would be prepared and took away the meat dish so it would stay hot while I got into the gnocchi, which was quite good, if a little salty, I wouldn't mind having it again, but maybe with the tomato sauce instead next time.

The caprese arrived soon after, but I felt they were stingy with the mozarella, which I am used to seeing served as proper slices proportionate to the tomato slice, but were more like thin slivers that barely covered half the tomato.

They returned my meat dish soon after, and I was surprised to find it served not with one but two whole baked potatoes (the dish comes with a choice of sides: pasta, mashed potato, or baked potato), I figured the baked potato would be the healthier option but I didn't think I'd be getting two of them. I didn't even touch the second potato, but the one I did have was cooked through, and there was plenty of sauce. The steak was tender enough, although it got a little chewy towards one end of it, and I would have preferred it medium rather than well done.

Next, I asked for the bill, and took the time to respond to some messages on my phone, quite a while had passed, and I was surprised to see a lady who had arrived later than I receive her bill before I got mine, even though I had asked much earlier. So, I asked for the bill a second time, and it thankfully arrived moments later.

Another annoyance I had was with a table of Koreans, who would not stop being loud and obnoxious the entire time they were there, laughing far louder than they needed to, and making really annoying and inappropriate noises. Not the restaurant's fault per se, but surely a server could have asked them to tone it down so as not to bother the other diners?