A Japanese trattoria comes to Greenbelt 3

For a restaurant to have prospered for over 30 years, and to have managed to expand to over 150 outlets –found in Japan, Guam, Hawaii, Saipan and Taiwan, and now in the Philippines – it’s got to be offering something the public is clamoring for. Capricciosa has accomplished all that, and for Japanese chef/founder Masaaki Honda, the winning formula comes way out of left field – Capricciosa serves authentic Sicilian cuisine, and stakes its reputation on its generous servings, quality ingredients and comfortable, casual ambiance. A graduate of the National Culinary Academy of Italy, Honda introduced his concept of the neighborhood trattoria in the heart of Shibuya, Tokyo, and never looked back.

Located at the third level of Greenbelt 3, Capricciosa (it means "spontaneity" in Italian) tries to live up to its name by creating an atmosphere of the "instant dining party." And in the Philippine and Chinese tradition, dishes are meant to be shared; in fact, the serving sizes promote that notion. Bringing my boys with me for a Sunday lunch proved to be an enjoyable experience and they unanimously agreed the resto now rated high among their favorite eating places in the metro.

For starters, we ordered the smoked salmon spring rolls (fried spring rolls stuffed with salmon, mozzarella and basil leaves), the escargot in garlic butter, and the baked mussels gratin. Needless to say, we shared, and my boys especially enthused over the spring rolls and the escargot! The pasta dishes included a very tasty aglio olio and pepperoncino (in olive oil, with garlic and red peppers) and the current favorite of calamari and onion in squid ink sauce – watch out when eating the latter, though, as the squid ink finds a way to get stuck in your teeth, just as it does with paella negro. The pizzas are also something Capricciosa is proud about. The signature Capricciosa Pizza is a Napoli special, with pepperoni, bacon, mushroom, red, yellow and green bell peppers.

For our main course, the boys chose the rib eye steak – and shared ("fought" might be the better term). Properly grilled at the open kitchen, the slab of meat had potatoes, cauliflower and broccoli on the side. And why was I wondering why they weren’t fighting over the veggies? The spicy grilled chicken with rosemary is also great; make sure you douse it with fresh lemon. I don’t know about you, but when I go to a restaurant, I always ask for the dessert menu, so I can already make decisions about whether to leave room for dessert. At Capricciosa, the specialty is the homemade pumpkin pie. Topped with cream, this pie is a semi-sweet concoction that’s really worth a try!

There are a significant number of seafood dishes on this Italian menu, something that operations manager Will Tan says is a departure from the menus of other Capricciosas. This is because he says it would be criminal to not take advantage of our fresh, abundant seafood. So there’s a tuna calamari, a seafood risotto, and even spaghetti with whole clams, served with a soup-like sauce.

The prices at Capricciosa average around P400 to P500 per person, but creative customers can subscribe to the sharing scheme and find ways to make dining at Capricciosa a very affordable, quality dining experience.