DELIRIOUSLY DELICIOUS
by Louie P. Oviedo

Ratsky, located at Bocobo Street in Malate, Manila, houses the total entertainment for all, fit not only for the young but for the old as well, from party-goers down to hearty. Thus, of the three doors which welcome you when you reach the place---one goes into Café Razzo, with its bibingka and puto bumbong in front, the main entrance going to Ratsky's Malate, and the last one the entrance that leads to Zarafisimo, their semi-fine dining place---if I were you, I'll choose the last one.

You can also opt to pass by inside Ratsky first, tour their Earport and their Big Smoke room. Then, should you decide that you'd rather eat than watch the show or eat than sing in the Karaoke room, then what are you waiting for? Order some of the house's best and taste what they have to offer on their menus.

You can use the front door that leads toward it should you decide to pass by their open air restaurant that leads into a glass-walled restaurant that seems to make passers by notice you since they can see you from inside out. Very transparent windows that leaves you with nothing to hide.

Zarafisimo is a short cut for "Sarap mismo," it came from the rich, witty, and creative vocabulary of Randy Santiago, he's an actor, a singer and one of the partners for Ratsky.

These dishes we've tried would make you exclaim Zarafisimo as you bite your way into these delectable meals.

Their Carbonara with its white sauce, flat white noodles, mushrooms and meat---the serving was almost good for two, considering that I had my friend tagging along with me and we still had leftovers to take home with us. The sauce was creamy, with that very distinct cheesy taste that is left clinging up to the ends of your tongue. And even if you're already full, you'll keep on taking that bite after bite after bite because you cannot get enough of it, of course with my case, I had to limit my bites as I still have two more dishes to sample.

Another friend informed me that the pizzas at Ratsky's are to die for. It proves that he's not the only one who thinks Ratsky's pizza in the same way. "People come all the way from Makati to Malate just to order our pizza," Vivian Te, Ratsky's General Manager informed me. Since they opened around nine months ago, their Marco Polo pizza has been their bestseller.

I can understand why.

From a distance, it looks like your ordinary pizza. For me, almost all pizzas look alike. But, once you bite into one of these---you'll certainly feel like you're Marco Polo circling the entire globe with a handful of continents or countries visited. With the case of the pizza, even with just a tiny bite it felt like you've eaten a mouthful. It had lots of pineapples, lots of pepperonis, lots of cheese, lots of everything else they had to put on top of this pizza. Even that piece of meat which we are still deciphering if it is an Italian sausage or whatever---it tasted more barbequey compared to other pizzas.

And as proof of how loaded their pizzas are, try holding one piece parallel to the ground and it would surely bend. If you're not fast enough to straighten this piece, you might end up with all your pizza toppings on the floor. But then, their crust was so crunchy (or should I say crispy) that even if you failed to rescue your pizza toppings, due to gravity, you'll still enjoy the pizza. Besides, even if your toppings fell off, there would still be left on your crunchy crust. This is one fully-loaded pizza pie.

With the Carbonara and the Marco Polo Pizza, it was only by stroke of miracle that my tummy still had some space left for their Chimmy Changgas. Now, these are ground beef wrapped in what I can see looks like lumpia wrappers. Then you dip into in the salsa mix or sour cream or cheese or all of the above just like what I did. Very barbecuey, mildly spicy, very Mexican.

Just the recalling and reiterating all these food has made me hungry again---I have to stop writing and get myself something to eat. I think I've become delirious talking about their food... wait till you taste it yourselves.