Bobo’s Pizzeria Review – Value Italian on Maginhawa St.

Last week, I was invited to have dinner at Bobo’s Pizzeria along Maginhawa St. in Quezon City. This was my first time to explore the Maginhawa area which has become a food street in the past few years. We just never got around to going there because it was a bit out of the way for us, and when we talk about eating in QC, the places that come to mind are Banawe and Morato.

Anyway, I was so happy to finally see Maginhawa! There are so many new restaurants to try out! Most of the places are small, seating maybe 10-30 people on average.

BOBO’S PIZZERIA

Bobo’s Pizzeria is literally a “sidewalk” restaurant – they have tables and chairs set up on the sidewalk in front of their little hole in the wall along Maginhawa St. in Teacher’s Village in Quezon City.

They offer Italian-inspired dishes like pizza, pasta, risotto. I was able to try several pizzas, but the one I liked the best was their Margherita Pizza (P175), which was really delicious. Bobo’s has a brick oven which helps in producing a wonderful pizza crust.

Their toppings were generous by the standards of thin-crust pizza, however, I thought the meat toppings lacked some flavor – the pepperoni and other meats were not as salty nor as flavorful as I expected them to be.

For the pasta, I was able to try the Puttanesca (P145) and the Aglio Olio Tuna Pasta (P145). The pasta was cooked al dente, however, I think both dishes still need a bit of fine-tuning. The tuna pasta is hot & spicy, FYI for those who might not expect it to be.

For the risottos, the ones I liked were the Meat Balls (P135) and the Salsiccia Tomato (P145). The Meat Balls actually taste more Asian than Italian, but it was good. The Salsiccia Tomato is Italian Garlic Sausage in tomato sauce, I kept going back to get another taste of this dish! It wasn’t too spicy and I liked the rich tomato sauce.

Take note of the rice used – it is a short, round rice that is used for risotto, and not the regular rice we are used to. Risotto is also cooked differently than regular rice. The way risotto is cooked results in a creamier, plumper, more flavorful rice.

The Osso Buco Saffon (P185) was also good (this is a slice of beef shank, including the marrow, in a tomato-based sauce) and you’d be hard-pressed to find any restaurant selling Osso Buco and Saffron Risotto at this price.

Servings of the risottos and accompanying meats were generous – enough to fill up a hungry person. For the meat balls, I count at least 7 pcs! The Salsiccia has 2 whole sausages.

For dessert, Bobo’s has Apple Cinnamon (P145) and Choco Peanut (P145). They were both delicious, the Apple Cinnamon was my favorite that night, the pizza crust so thin it was delightfully crispy! I do hope that they offer other desserts as well, because even though the dessert pizzas were good, at that point, I was getting tired of eating pizza again (I never thought I’d ever say those words). 

For drinks, they have Sola Iced Tea and the local Stellina’s Lemonades. 

SUMMARY

Bobo’s Pizzeria offers Italian dishes at affordable prices – most of the pizzas are priced below P200! Risotto meals, yes, it’s not regular rice, but risotto, are priced around P150. For the price range, there is no cause for me to complain about the food at Bobo’s Pizzeria; the Margherita Pizza was actually quite good. They use a brick oven and that does add some points in Bobo’s favor. I also liked the Salsiccia Tomato (Italian Garlic Sausage and Risotto) – I would recommend this if you like a hearty sausage and rice dish.

However, the set up is al fresco (open air) – the tables and chairs are set up on the sidewalk. This may appeal to you, making the ambience feel more like authentic street food. Or not. Personally, the challenge of dining al fresco, on the sidewalk, in humid Manila weather, detracted a bit from my enjoyment of the meal. They have an evaporative cooler to help keep their customers a little cooler.

We also had to be extra alert regarding our personal belongings since it was an open area where other people could come and go and walk by. To be fair, the staff of Bobo’s Pizzeria do look after their patrons and steer any vendors away.

During that meal, we used plastic utensils and paper plates. I get that using disposable utensils is more hygienic and there is no need to wash things, but just FYI so you won’t be surprised when you go there.

Parking is available and free, if you can get a spot on the street 🙂 It’s a busy place.

Bobo’s Pizzeria is a good value Italian-inspired al fresco dining option for those who don’t mind the lack of amenities and are okay with being “cowboy”. 

Bobo’s Pizzeria
84 Maginhawa Street, Teachers Village, Quezon City
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BobosPizzeriaPH/
Hours: Tues, Wed, Thurs, Sun 12 NN – 10 PM
Fri, Sat 12 NN – 11 PM ; Mon 3 PM – 10 PM