A business meeting with some friends was scheduled at the Ortigas area, and one of my buddies suggested Balboa, an Italian restaurant at the new wing of the Shangri-la Mall. I kinda figure that the name is a tribute to the Rocky movies, in which Sylvester Stallone plays Rocky Balboa, the unlikely world boxing champion. Well, if you think about it, the other prominent Balboa, the conquistador of Panama, was a Spaniard, and the restaurant served Italian food.
No qualms at all for the Osso Buco, which was done in the new age fashion, with tomato sauce (I've been looking for a good restaurant that does it the traditional way, rubbed in gremolata without the tomato sauce). The meat was soft and the sauce was flavorful. The accompanying risotto was also done right.
The risotto that we ordered, however, was very limited in quantity. It was cooked nicely, but I think the portion size was overly controlled. We got a pizza that had chicken shreds--this was something different and wasn't bad at all. Overall, it was good dining experience, and our meeting carried on for probably an hour more than we had planned. Expect to spend something like P700 to P800 in the restaurant, but if you go fancy (e.g. steaks and wine), prepare something like P1,500 per head at the least.
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