Pinto Art Gallery Cafe: Food Art

Who would have thunk it?

This weekend, my friend and I went to Pinto Art Gallery which was located smack dab in the middle of a neglected subdivision in Antipolo. It wasn't impressive at first but as we explored it more, I grew to like it.

simple facade

The place is big. It has several beautiful gardens, the building architecture evokes the feeling of a small Mexico community and they also have several interesting arts and exhibits.

who wouldn't want to see this?

or this in the morning?

What was surprising was that they have a gallery cafe catered by Bizu. Yes, the same company that has several swanky Patisserie in the city.

Gallery's Cafe

open courtyard leading to the cafe

"Crazy Mind" 

They only have a limited menu; 3 pasta dishes, 3 main entrees and 3 dessert. No appetizer. For the entree, it comes with soup of the day, rice/couscous and dessert. We decided to be good and order a pasta and 1 entree to be split into two.

Soup of the Day : Tomato Soup 

The soup was very tomato-ty (if there is such a word), very rich, very thick but ...... unfortunately reminded me of spaghetti sauce from one of the famous fast food chain. Don't get me wrong. It still had some good flavors but if you put some noodles in, you can already have meryenda :D

Shrimp Gnocchi - Potato Gnocchi Pasta, Fresh Shrimps, Garlic
Tarragon, Buerre Noisette

For our pasta, we decided to try the Gnocchi. A gnocchi is basically a type of pasta/dumpling made from flour, egg, semolina, potato, cheese or a combination of these ingredients. Since this was my first time to taste gnocchi I was pretty excited. The dish smelled amazing. However, the gnocchi was not as fluffy as I thought. It was pretty dense and I could only taste a little of the potato but the shrimp was fresh and they used plenty of good olive oil. I did wished they would have pumped up the flavor more like maybe add a dash of balsamic vinegar or even salt?

Herb Crusted Sole - Fried Sole and Saffron Buerre Blanc

The fish was served on this huuuuge plate and it looked so polished and pretty. The fish was fried nicely - not oily at all, crispy and tasted fresh. The sauce was excellent. Wish I had more ;-)  Buerre Blanc translates into white butter in french (Yes, I googled). Its a butter sauce made with a reduction of vinegar or white wine and shallots. What can I say? Butter always make things more delicious. The rice was a bust and it tastes more like malagkit (glutinous rice) and beneath it was this very tasteless pureed thing which turns out to be polenta. Also, where's the saffron?

So nice to eat in this kind of setting

Finally dessert. They did have chocolate molten cake and yema tarts but we decided to go with the server's suggestion which was the 3-1 dessert of vanilla ice cream, cheesecake and banana brulee. Among all the things in the menu, dessert was the one I was so looking forward to since it is Bizu, right?

awwww, how pretty and artistic!

Loved the plating, I must say. So unexpected and special.

The brand of ice cream was not one we recognize so it might be home made? Not as creamy as the commercial kind but good vanilla flavor. The cheesecake was very dry and not good at all. The half banana was very ripe and mushy but the caramelization on top was okay. Overall, the dessert was a bust and very disappointing.

babae sa bintana

Final Verdict?

The food is expensive. Expect to pay around P1,200 for two. The menu was limited and I wish they would have offered something light like a sandwich or a salad - everything was a bit heavy (duck confit? lamb shank?)The food was not all that bad but I expected more since it was Bizu. However, the food presentation was spot on and dining inside a beautiful garden was a very nice experience.

I was told that the menu hasn't changed for a year and that it's the same choices for dinner. But for a minimum number of guest and advance notice (I did not ask for details, sorry), Bizu Catering can make you a special menu for a special date/party. Nice place to relax, unwind, feel more cultured and have a bite.

The place itself was an unexpected pleasure and posted additional pictures here.

Pinto Art Gallery
1 Sierra Madre St
Grand Heights 
Antipolo City, Rizal
Tel: 6971015

Open from Wednesdays to Sundays
9am - 6pm

Direction: Coming from Ortigas Extension, go straight towards Antipolo. Once you reach the fork where the Capitolyo and Ynares center is located, stay on the right side. Drive for about a 100 meters and you will see a Sr. Pedro Lechon Manok stand. Turn right on the first road after that. There will be a small sign for Pinto Art Gallery. Drive through Grand Heights road until you reach a guardhouse, pay P20 and turn right on the first corner and you will soon see the gallery.

FYI when you go to the Antipolo/Taytay intersection, you won't be able to go straight to Antipolo since there is a barrier. You will be forced to go to the right side (going to Taytay). That is fine but do a U-Turn at the first available slot so you can go back to the right direction.