New York Pizza Palace, Makati City

By Judd, Posted Under Food , 16 January, 2011 10:12

Bringing New York to Makati City

New York Pizza Palace, that new pizza and pasta joint at A. Venue Mall along Makati Avenue in Makati City, tries to bring a dose of New York to the Philippines, and in a small room, they were able to pack graffiti on corrugated iron, street signs, brick walls, references to popular New York districts, and a ridiculously nice touch in a scrolling LED board smacked on the ceiling, lined with TV screens showing movies. I absolutely love the interior: on one hand, you know it brings the feel of New York to one single room better than any other place in Metro Manila I know, and on the other, you feel that it’s functional and that it’s very easy to go about.

It’s the sort of restaurant discovery that’ll make you forget a lot of things – like Jen hopefully forgetting about a fight we had earlier that evening we tried NYPP.

I suggest anyone trying out NYPP for the first time should order their signature Suppli (Php 120), or mini rice balls, which comes in three huge pieces with marinara sauce. Their version of suppli are fried rice balls with parmesan and cheddar cheese: simple yet delicious, yes? This snack can serve as your appetizer, and it’s a great way to prep your taste buds for cheesier delights later.

I ordered a slice of their signature NYPP Vodka Pie (Php 155), pizza with creamy tomato sauce and basil leaves. This hand-tossed pizza’s crust is as thin as traditional New York-style pizza’s supposed to be and is meant to be folded when eating. We also got a bowl of good old, traditional House Macaroni and Cheese, which is just your regular mac and cheese with bacon, cheddar, mozzarella, and a crispy herb crust. Both were good choices, we think.

One of the reasons why we tried NYPP out was that a small selection of cakes caught our eye while looking around A. Venue Mall for desserts. While dessert is not exactly the restaurant’s forte, they did serve us a good slice of Oreo Cheesecake (Php 125), which (after an array of cheesy goodness) calmed Jen down following the minor fight from earlier. I thought to myself, “Oreo cheesecake lang pala ang katapat mo! (So all it takes is an Oreo cheesecake!)”

A few minor details I just have to note here: over dinner, I think we’ve heard “Empire State of Mind” play more than five times – cliche, I know, and it’s a good thing we like the song. The members of their service crew were very friendly, and were checking with us if our food was good and if we needed anything. That’s actually nice, because for the price of the food you can order here (it’s cheaper than most restaurant in Makati’s central business district), they pay an awful lot of attention to the customer’s needs. And hey, here’s another nice touch I didn’t see coming: they gave everyone in the restaurant New York Pizza Palace-branded flying discs!

Oreo cheesecake lang pala ang katapat mo! (So all it takes is an Oreo cheesecake!)

Our first dinner at NYPP was positively memorable: great food at affordable prices, superb service, (lots of) attention to detail, and LED lights dancing to Alicia Keys and Jay-Z all make this new attraction at A. Venue Mall worth a visit or two.