Eat: Mona Lisa Ristorante at Commercenter Alabang

Again, thanks to Deal Grocer, I bought a voucher for Mona Lisa, this much talked about Italian restaurant. I've heard about this from a couple of friends but haven't really gone and ate there. 

Since I was interested in checking out the new cinemas in Commercenter, I thought it was a good idea to try Mona Lisa out.  

Mona Lisa Commercenter Alabang branch

Commercecenter has been a fixture in Filinvest Alabang for quite sometime and slowly its becoming the new go to place in the south. Before it was just the place where there was Army Navy, Yellowcab and Bikram Yoga. Now, its becoming a dining and shopping destination with select specialty stores and up and coming restaurants. To add to that, it opened 4 cinemas to make it more appealing to southerners as an alternative to Festival Mall or Alabang Town center.

Commercenter Alabang

Tree lined street beside Commercenter Alabang

The restaurant opens at 11AM and I called a day before to reserve. I guess because it was a weekday lunch because we were the only diners during that time. I thought it was good because all attention was on us plus I got the chance to take pictures of the place. 

The place has this very bright feel and I also liked the different painting on the walls and the ceilings to channel Renaissance Italy.

The ceiling is nice

Spacious and bright

MonaLisa has an extensive menu and its good because there are a lot of options to suite different tastes. The only thing is that since its our first time to dine there, it was option paralysis. The best way to solve this is ask for recommendations and what are the best sellers.

To start off, some bread and different spreads to get you started.

Menu and some complimentary breads

As recommended, we tried their Gamberetti Pomelo salad as an appetizer. It's a fresh salad with mixed greens, tossed in their special dressing, finished with sauted shrimp, sweet pomelo and shaved Parmesan and vinaigrette dressing.

Gamberetti Pomelo

For the main course, as recommended, we tried the Pappardelle Porcini e Tartufo which was olive oil, garlic and a funghi porcini mushrooms sauce, with a truffle oil. It was a plus that you can choose the type of pasta

Mom wanted to try their Calzone Mona Lisa which came as a surprise because it was huge, definitely 2 people or more can share. It was like a peperoni pizza. It has pepperoni, mushrooms, onions, bell peppers, and mozzarella cheese.

Pappardelle Porcini e Tartufo & Calzone Mona Lisa

The good thing about their pastas is that you can choose the type of pasta: Spaghetti, Fettuccine, Linguine, Spaghettini, Angel Hair, Rigatoni, Pappardelle, Penne, Spiral. For Whole Wheat Pasta: Penne, Spaghettiplus additional Php 60.

After a hearty lunch, it was time to watch a movie. The cinemas has been open for sometime and I was excited to watch a movie there for the first time. I liked that they have this big hall which was spacious with high ceilings.

1st screening starts in the afternoon, so you can catch lunch prior to the movie or catch a movie first then have early dinner or dinner afterwards.

Commercenter Cinemas

I also liked that they had multiple mirrors on each side for some selfies. :)

 

With new cinemas, boutique shops and a growing selection of restaurants, I guess I'll be hanging out more and more here. What's missing... a coffee shop! Til' next time!

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