Risotto Gamberi @ Acqua, Shangri-la Mactan

Last weekend, I flew back to Cebu, Philippines for a quick weekend holiday with the family. It was my first time back in the Philippines since I turned into a "pesce". And believe me when I say it was d*mn hard to resist Cebu's world-famous lechon, Cafe Laguna's crispy pata, Harbour City's pork steamed rice and Jun-Jun & Malou's barbecued chicken. But I survived! After all, Cebu also had the best seafood in the country.

Over the weekend, we stayed at Shangri-la Mactan and one night we had dinner at their Italian restaurant called Acqua (yes, with the "c"). I had the Risotto Gamberi with Asparagus Cream Sauce.

The risotto was a bit undercooked. It felt more like I was eating rice smothered in cream sauce rather than getting the creaminess of risotto. However, the serving had a lot of prawn bits mixed into it and that made up for the undercooked risotto. I am usually not a fan of asparagus but in this dish, it was a perfect complement to the cream and prawns.

If I do go back to this restaurant, I may order this dish again or maybe one of the other risottos. If I remember correctly, they had one with truffles. And I'm a sucker for good risotto.

Oh! And I almost forgot, they also had a great vegetarian section on their menu with some sounding very appetizing.




Acqua Italian Restaurant
Poolside Ocean Wing
Shangri-la Mactan Resort & Spa
Punta Engano Road, Lapu-lapu
Cebu 6015, Philippines
T: (63 32) 231 0288
www.shangri-la.com