AN ECLIPSE IN LUNA
by Louie P. Oviedo

I was ready to give this place a negative write-up. I had an appointment with Annie Cacho and she forgot all about me. Nobody in the place knew about it and they acted like they do not care whether I wrote a good or a bad review. It was a good thing Vanna Calalang, the chef of Luna and I recognized as one of the models for the Piattos commercial, entertained me and offered me samples of their food. But, what a waste! All these delicious Spanish and Italian dishes put to shame because of bad service.

These were some of what I tried in Luna Pizzeria and Tapas Bar: Croquetas de Jamon, Croquetas de Pollo, Menfis, Tigres, and Salsicce. My compliments to the chef since they were all good.

The Croquetas de Jamon and their Croquetas de Pollo are crispy outside, creamy inside and very tasty---probably because of the chopped onion and parsley. I find the Croquetas de Jamon tastier than the Croquetas de Pollo.

Menfis falls under their Spanish tapas category---it has bread, smoked ham, cabrales (blue cheese), roasted green peppers and marinated smelt. According to a friend of mine, in Madrid, they serve tapas for free with your first glass of beer then you pay for it with your next order. In Spain during the olden days, a bartender would place a slice of ham and cheese over the container of wine or beer---although tapas has become a tradition in Spain---in olden times the primary intent was to keep flies out of the drink.

Tigres are stuffed mussels chopped, mixed with herbs and spices, topped with cheese then baked. Aside from Menfis, this is also good for pulutan.

Their Salsicce with fresh basil, Italian sausage and a light tomato-cream sauce is creamy and cheesy. According to Vanna, what she gave me was half of the original serving yet I felt full afterwards so better have somebody to share it with.

Going back to their service---let me put in a warning---never leave a writer in the middle of the room, alone, her eyes tend to wander and will notice all the gory details.

I have been sitting there for ten minutes waiting for Vanna to emerge from the kitchen, but none of the waiters asked me if they could be of help. I already went to their ladies room, by the way it was clean, and wandered on their second floor. I sat down again and the waiters passed by me again so I called his attention and reminded him about my request. After that, Vanna appeared.

They have a weird arrangement for the first floor. All the tables and chairs are left on the sides of the room leaving a large space going towards the door. My table was the only one placed in the middle of the room thus forming an inverted "U". Why was I sitting there? Purely coincidental but it made me prove a point---that table should not be there. Everytime the waiters and the customers passed by, they kept bumping my chair. Imagine the place full, that was the only table left, and you were on a first date. As for the large space leading to my table, I asked the waiter if chairs and tables used to occupy it. He pointed out that, "Daanan po kasi iyan."

One of the dating couples I was observing---the guy had to go to the men's room and asked for the bill along the way---I saw the waiter handing the bill to the girlfriend and waiting at the table expecting her to pay for it then left when he saw it was futile.

Another group came in, they were sitting there for about five minutes and the menu had not been handed to them. Vanna, aside from being the chef, came up to them and took their orders. They asked what she can recommend---pizza, pasta, tapas, and the dessert---same question I asked her if she could give the specific names of the dishes she was recommending.

A lot of people were coming in, asking if they could take a look at the menu. They would hand them the menu but would not entertain these people. So what these would-be-customers do, they would give back the menu then go out.

And as Vanna whips up another desert, she will ask for a knife, they will hand it to her then they all stand there-the waiters and the cashier---marveling in her magic. No doubt, the food is great but better ask for a take out.