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My friend Dan texted one day, asking me if I have been to Il Pirata. He had been so impressed by it that he excitedly sent me the restaurant’s URL while telling me that they have weekday promos. Pizzas become half-priced during the window period on weekdays.

I checked out the website and it reminded me of Pirates of the Carribean. Not the movie, but the Disneyland ride.  When Dan, Caloi and I got there, that atmosphere was what exactly what greeted us.  I immediately thought, “I just have to blog about this!” Problem was…well, we only had Caloi’s trusty old Nokia camera phone.  Test shot:

Hm. I think, for this purpose, Caloi’s phone did a pretty good job.  It looks like a scene from an old horror movie, creepy lighting and all.  He tried to take photos of the chairs and the ceiling and the pirate decor but…well, the cam-phone had its limits.  *Sigh* Makes me wish I had an easy-to-carry camera. (My dSLR is such an effort to carry and set up, so I’m actually selling it today. Will probably contemplate on what my next perfect travel/blogging cam would be for the next six months.)

Ok, of course, we came here for the food.  When Dan said, “Let’s go get one pizza each!” I was aghast.  I could not imagine finishing off a whole pizza by myself, especially not if it’s the same flavor. I’d get tired of it.  Caloi had the same thoughts. But since we couldn’t agree exactly on what to order, we really did end up ordering one type of pizza for each. We just agreed to share so that our taste buds wouldn’t get exhausted.

I ordered Gamberetti (regular price at P345, promo price at P170), which consists of tomato, mozzarella, shrimps and garlic.  The taste reminded me of old Amici, when Don Bosco still owned it, and Nuccio’s, an authentic Italian restaurant that used to reside in Jupiter Street.  I love the little bursts of flavor — not overwhelmingly saturated with MSG — that the shrimps and garlic provide.  In fact, upon first bite, Caloi declared: “This makes me not want to go back to Yellow Cab.” To which I replied with, “Yellow Cab? Hallo? MSG galore! Every time I eat at Yellow Cab, I’d feel so dehydrated that I’d chug down three pitchers of water!”

Okay, sorry about that half-eaten Gamberetti photo.  We were so hungry we nearly forgot to take pictures!

Dan ordered Del Pirata (regular price at P395, promo price at P195), which is something a little bit more creative than your run-of-the-mill pepperoni pizza.  It has tomato, mozzarella, four kinds of cheese, spicy salami and Italian sausage. I’m guessing one of the cheeses is blue cheese. Yum!  I don’t like pepperoni pizza, but this one had a kick that had me coming back for more.

Caloi didn’t like what he ordered, which was Del Capitano (regular price at P365, promo price at P182.50).  Del Capitano has tomato, mozzarella, pesto sauce, arugula and parma ham.  It was beautiful! Literally!

Caloi didn’t know that it had vegetables and he wasn’t exactly a fan of the green stuff. I, for one, appreciated its mild flavor.  It tasted like a welcome break from all the meat, cheese and seafood.  It’s like having your salad without the bitin factor. I actually had more of this than the other two.

Oh, and um…I’m ashamed to say we ate every last bite.

Dan pointed out that you can watch while they bake, which reminded me yet again of Nuccio’s.  I remember the restaurateur Nuccio touring us around his place; he had proudly shown us the huge traditional oven. Alas, that pizzeria is now gone.  Il Pirata didn’t have the same Italian home cooking feel, but my palate detected the similarity. Of course, what I wouldn’t give to see artichoke pizza on Il Pirata’s menu…

Are we coming back? You betcha! Caloi also wants to take better pictures!

Il Pirata Ristorante & Pizzeria is located at:
Citywalk 2 Eastwood
Citywalk 1 Cyberpark, Eastwood City
Libis, Quezon City, Metro-Manila Philippines
Phone: 63.2.421.1994 to 95
Fax: 63.2.421.1996
Official Website: http://www.ilpirata.ph

Photos by Carlo (Caloi) Cruz.