Lombardi

Had a fast lunch with Anita today at the Lombardi, the pizza restaurant at the ground floor of the Orange Place Hostel on the corner of Santolan Road and Jose Abad Santos St.  I was a bit anxious as we arrived; the parking spaces along Jose Abad Santos were marked slanting the wrong way, and we had a little difficulty parking as there was no attendant to unravel the parking barriers.  But once we entered the restaurant, the clean surroundings and the serene welcome (we were the first guests for lunch) made us feel at home.  While waiting for our orders to arrive, we took a fast peek as some of their rooms, and we found the hostel to be price-friendly (P1,500 a night for a standard room, double occupancy).  Both 2nd and 3rd floors had large waiting areas which could also serve as family gathering areas for chit-chat and kiddie games.  As we got back to the dining area, we watched as the chef made our pizza--their cooking counter and ovens were visible from the dining area, separated only by a glass partition.  We chose their Rustica pizza, which was topped with Parma ham--the thin-crust was just perfect, and Anita was remarked that this evoked memories of her trip to Italy few years back.  I liked the penne putanesca (I'm a sucker for anything with black olives), but Anita found that it lacked the little zing that characterizes excellent harlot's sauce.  Despite that, it was definitely a good place to pause with friends, dine and spend a whole afternoon doing nothing but chit-chat.  About P350 per head.