I don't know why but I always crave pasta. I love every dish that has pasta in it. I sometimes think I was born in the wrong country. Can any of you relate?
For this month of November, me and my boyfriend had several dates. We have simple dates after our internship work. We eat street foods on our way home. We eat empanadas on street side stalls. We eat at fast food restaurants because we just crave it. But, we also go with much more special dates in cafés.
And when we go to cafés, I can't help but look first at the pasta menu they have. I can't really cook because I don't have the time and skill so I try to eat my favourites outside. Let me share with you these pasta dishes we ate for our dates.
(But, just a little warning. These pasta dishes may not be as authentic or as elegant as those Italian pasta dishes so please don't attack me for it. We cannot really afford expensive ones and cafés and restaurants here know that they should keep their dishes affordable to fit the market.)
Shrimp Scampi and Carbonara
This date of ours is for my boyfriend's birthday. We wanted to celebrate it with a simple date on a cafe. At first we planned at a different cafe, but there were too many people there so we had no choice but to look at another one. We walked on the famous heritage in our city and found a cafe we planned to try before but never did.
We looked at their menu and my boyfriend got intrigued with the shrimp scampi. We both had never tried this dish before so he ordered it. I ordered a simple carbonara.
The shrimp scampi came with shrimp on top and a lemon on the side. My boyfriend really liked it. I tasted it and I can say that I like it too. It has a kick of spiciness and the flavorful shrimp hits you nicely. The lemon adds a little freshness to the dish. I would probably order it the next time we go there.
The carbonara I ordered was not something out of the ordinary. It tastes like the usual carbonara from other cafés. I think it is a Filipino-style carbonara that doesn't really use the egg and parmesan sauce. Filipinos use cream sauce with ham or bacon. I really liked it but I wanted something fresher like a marinara pasta.
Good thing we ordered fruit teas to go with our pasta dishes. Savoury foods like these go well with refreshing drinks rather than iced coffees or milk teas in their menu. My boyfriend got a honey peach milk tea and I chose the passion fruit one. I can say my choice tasted better.
We watched an episode of Chainsaw Man while eating. Probably not the most appropriate anime to watch when eating.
Lasagna and Pesto Pasta
This was our monthsary celebration for November. We went to the café we always go to before. I have been craving lasagna for days and they have one on their menu. After doing some school work, we went there to celebrate our 10 months of being a couple.
I ordered this lasagna that I've been craving for. Their lasagna was so meaty and tomatoey. I really liked that the pasta was cooked nicely. I think their meat sauce has some vegetables in it. I taste celery but their menu says cabbage. Maybe I was wrong. I just wished it had more cheese. But, overall it was really good.
My boyfriend is an adventurous one. He would always choose a dish he never tried before while I choose something within my comfort zone. He ordered pesto pasta since he never had it before. He wanted to try it. I never tried it too but I was scared I might not like it.
The pesto I see on recipe videos was a lot greener but the cafe served as a pesto dish that isn't really that verdant. He tasted it first and said he liked it. He said it was creamy and delicious. I tried it, too. And I guess I liked it too. I can taste the basil in the creamy goodness of the sauce. I never thought I would like pesto but I did. Hopefully, I can be like my boyfriend who is not afraid to try new things.
And those are my food reviews for this week! Stay tuned of our next dates and our food adventures.
(First photo is edited in Canva. Other photos are mine. I used my phone camera (realme 6i).)
