Salt & Pepper

Where it can be found: Herrara Street, Makati City

Type of dining place: Semi-casual dining

Type of food served: Italian

Upside:
The place is open the whole day, serving hungry yuppies for lunch and snacks then turning itself into a good place for a semi-quiet night out (the candlelit tables make the place look cozy). The resto is clean and well-designed and there's a separate room for smokers which makes the rest of the room smoke free (thank God!!!). The food is good too. The dishes are good for 2 people and the idea of sharing it with someone makes your experience in that place even more cozy. And the best thing about this place is there's a 30% off the dishes you order after 3pm. Yay for the budget conscious peeps!!!

Downside:
If you and your friends are kind of a loud bunch of people (which my officemates and I usually are when we hang out together) then be prepared to irritate other diners. Hehehe :) The place is a bit warm so in the middle of the meal we were sweating a little bit (sitting in a candlelit table may look romantic but it also makes the place a bit warmer). Also, the big screen on one side of the place that shows some sport coverage/ mtv show does not really match the feel of the place. The place turned into a combination of a sports bar and a romantic place, and it does not work for me. I personally think that the screen is good for daytime customers but not for dinner.

The food is good and there are a lot of food categories available but the selection of dishes per category are few. Except for the dessert list, which was pretty long, there is not much too choose from if you want to have a semi-heavy meal.

Budget for 1 person: Around Php200.

Must try:
I am a huge italian food fan so I enjoyed all the food we ordered. Unfortunately, I can't remember the names of the dishes we ordered because most of them are in Italian and I was also very tired last night. SORRY!!! If I ever get the chance to go to this resto again, I'll make it my mission to remember the names of the dishes. Anyway, what stuck in my mind was the tuna and penne salad I shared with 2 of my friends. The penne noodles were a bit underdone for me but there were no complaints for my friends.

Honest recommendation:
It's a good place to try out with a bunch of friends in the morning and a close friend or two at night, especially if you are more of a dessert lover than an entree fan.