Canto Fresco

If you are looking for the one foodie spot at the Astrodome, WarayClub would only recommend one place – the Dome’s “Fresh Corner”. Get serious pizza and pasta, and definitely check out the creative cocktails that have wittily been dubbed with names of liquids we’ll never drink – Premium and Unleaded.

The Canto Fresco menu offers Italian-influenced creations by its owner/manager, Eb Wenceslao. A Dumagueteño who comes from a family of foodies and artists, Eb “trained in his mom’s kitchen” and started in the Tacloban food business by putting up the Mexican-themed resto, Sunzibar. Their family’s artwork adorn the walls of Canto Fresco and gives it that character which is unique to the Wenceslao restaurants.

I dropped by for dinner with friends and Eb recommended their newest pizza  – Bacon and Mushrooms, and for pasta – Mariscos, which is linguine, seafood, capers and olives in pesto sauce. We got their fresh salad, a default order, and one of the best in town.

A relatively recent addition to their growing menu are their unique cocktails, Premium and Unleaded. Colored red and green respectively, their names are playful references to the fuel. The cocktails are rum-based, with bits of cucumber, lemon and a salty note (a Canto Fresco secret) – an interesting combination that has given rum that refreshing hint.

The price range is reasonable – not cheap by local standards, but definitely bang for the buck. Salad, pizza, pasta, and a pitcher of Unleaded cost us Php595 and filled three happy campers!

Canto Fresco is open Tuesdays through Sundays, 6pm-12mn and is located at the Tacloban City Astrodome (3rd shop to the left of the entrance).