Honest Review of Villa Parmigiano in Alabang West

I saw an influx of reviews and features about Villa Parmigiano on my newsfeed for the last two weeks and so like any other consumer, my interest was piqued. 

It was a standalone restaurant in the middle of Alabang West. It was spacious, looked inviting, and it had pizza and pasta, two things that our family loves. 

I said to myself, "We need to try this place." 

Earlier today, I decided that my family and I would here for dinner. I had visions of great food, wonderful ambiance, and lots of laughter in between dishes. 

Sadly, this was not the case. 

I wanted to like the place. I wanted to recommend it to people but there were just too many oversights that didn't sit well with me. 

Now don't come for me because I am talking based on what I experienced. It may not be the same for you (I truly hope it's not) but for us, it was a comedy of errors. 

I made reservations which was a good thing because the restaurant was almost full on the first floor. We were given a good spot to sit though it was a bit tight. This was a little bit of an issue because I specifically requested a spot where we can comfortably put my son's high chair. 

My son is big for his age and doesn't fit in a normal restaurant high chair so we bring our own. The spot we were given wasn't spacious but we made do. I didn't make a fuss about it. 

We didn't receive our complimentary bread basket and had to ask twice for it. This matters because it speaks of their service and because the cooking time is 25-35 minutes. The complimentary bread basket would have helped lessen the impact of the cooking time. 

I ordered their cheese board but when our starter arrived, it came in a plate and it did not look appetizing at all. Now some may say, it's just a plate. However, with a place like this, with a price point like this, the experience also matters. The overall impression matters. 

I would understand if they had run out of boards but we could clearly see the boards piled up on the counter. When we asked the staff, she couldn't answer why they didn't use the boards that they were supposed to. 

The one thing that truly irked me was how they would serve the hot food. For some reason, they would always pass the food in front of my toddler. We all know how toddlers have no complete control of their actions right? 

It was an accident waiting to happen. The first and second times they did this, I was nice and redirected them to pass it to the other side. The third and fourth times, I was really near snapping but managed to not say anything mean. I did let them know that I was not pleased about it because they could potentially burn my son's skin or my son could end up breaking things if he flails his arms all of a sudden out of excitement. 

Another thing that I noticed was the fact that all servers looked unhappy or mad. I don't know what it was but they just didn't look happy. They didn't give off a welcoming vibe. Maybe they were tired but it was just off. 

You also need to be extra patient because every single time we had to call a server, we'd need to do so at least 3x before someone would notice us. Mind you, I'm not a slender gal. I'm very easy to spot coz there's a lot of me to spot. 

If they can fix all of these mishaps, that would be great. 

As for the food, most of it was great! 

My husband loved the Rigatoni which was cooked on a cheese wheel by the in-house Italian Chef that they flew over all the way from Italy. 

It doesn't look appealing but thankfully, my partner who is a cheese lover loved every single bite. My kids loved the pesto pasta and the authentic carbonara. Apparently, carbonara with cream is not authentic carbonara.  

The pesto that was for sharing was only this big. I felt like it's good for 1-2 persons at most or maybe, we're just voracious eaters hahahaha. 

This was the other dish that got my attention. The buratta pizza was pretty good but for me, it was so-so. I had a better one from another pizza joint near Crimson Hotel. 

Now this, this was the real winner for me. First, I love arugula and this was one of the freshest I've ever had. The flatbread was also baked / cooked to perfection. It was overall heaven in a bite. 

Overall, it was a good dinner in terms of food but not so good in terms of service. 

Would I go back? I'd say for now, it's a no for me. There are better Italian places with really good food and great service. I hope they improve because price point is not that budget friendly so there's an expectation that needs to be met.