fino deli

i celebrated my birthday with my friends here in fino deli. i booked a table through zomato and their staff called me to confirm my reservation on that day. we ordered pastas (seafood aglio olio, truffle mushroom, chicken pesto, and spaghetti and meatballs), pizzas (cinco queso and classic pizza), pumpkin soup, coldcuts and cheese platter #1, grand sausage platter, and two bottles of romanian wine. i wasn't able to taste everything but the ones that stood out for me are the cinco queso (to die for!!!) and the wines. (no photos tho, sorry.)

i also commend the service of the staff. they always alert when we need their assistance especially in pouring the wines. we weren't familiar with the location of these wine place even though it was near my former school. good thing it's waze-able. i hope they extend their operating hours til around 2am hihi. overall, it was a nice wine-drinking experience for me and my friends.

went here with mom for a pre-valentine lunch and had a wonderful meal. we adored their brie brulée coupled with sangria. she enjoyed her lengua estofada and i loved my pork fennel. the pumpkin purée and orange salad balanced the richness of the pork. we were so full, there was no room anymore to try their desserts. the staff was also attentive and courteous. we'll come back here again to try their other dishes.

everything is great!
ambiance, food, customer service, pricing.
i definitely recommend this with my friends, including special celebration like with me (my birthday!)
thumbsup!
i’ll definitely go back again.

located in one of the quiet streets of marikina heights, fino deli is a gem that's worth discovering. from the ambiance, to the food, to the service, everything is just on point. the place is very romantic and cozy, making it perfect for date night. here are my favorites:

brie brulee, p520 - what's wine without some good cheese? we started our meal with fino deli's famous brie brulee and 7 miles wine.

tomahawk porkchop, p540 - the photo doesn't give justice to how good this was!

cinco queso pizza, p500 - we are so not settling for 3-cheese pizza after having a taste of this.

we also tried the carbonara souffle, which i found kind of dry for my preference. their paella valenciana was also really good, and i enjoyed it even though i wasn't a huge fan of the dish. for dessert, we had canonigo and creme brulee which tasted good but nothing special.

the resto also has its own wine cellar, making it the only one in the city to offer imported wine from countries such as spain and russia. all in all it was indeed a very good dining experience and the team super loved it.

if i could give 0 rating, i would have. 

on to the story/review/rant...
we were searching for the perfect location for our year-end party and we happened upon fino deli marikina. as soon as we saw the photos of the place on their fb page, we loved it and immediately booked their private dining area for our party last december 22, 2017.

we called and was courteously answered by their manager, i think his name was shernan, had our dinner reservations for 20 pax booked for that date, and promised to pay a 50% down payment a week before our reserved date. all was well, or so we thought. a week before our party, we sent them our chosen menu (we chose the buffet option because that is the best bang for our buck) and awaited their confirmation. no one got even called to confirm that they received our request so we assumed that they were okay with it.

however, come monday, december 18, 4 days before our reservation, they told us that they cannot accommodate our buffet request since we did not meet the minimum number of guests for the private dining room (which was 40 pax). i then asked the manager why they offered the buffet option in the first place if they would not keep their end of the bargain. we were infuriated with this and to add fuel to the fire, they informed us that they will charge a weekend rate for our room reservation. from the 10k minimum we agreed upon reservation over the phone, we had to pay a whopping 20k for the weekend rate. since when did friday become "part of the weekend"?

with just 4 days before our event, we had to make decisions fast. after quite a lot of arguments and concessions with the manager, we compromised with a 15k minimum consumable and a plated food service instead of the buffet. we were not happy with this decision but we had to make do since it was too late to change locations. so as promised, we sent our plated orders the morning of our party so it would be ready by the time we arrive at 6 pm.

we thought it would go smoothly by then. but we were oh so wrong.

we fell in love with the place as soon as we arrived on the day of our party. with excited hearts and tummies, we entered the private dining area, went on with our program, and asked them to finally serve our dinner at 7pm. while waiting for the food to arrive, we did some more games and talked our hearts out. the food arrived in bits and portions, starting 7:30 pm. we thought it would come in quick successions. but it did not! it came in slow trickles. one soup, then a salad, then our main dish, etc. we were starving by the time they finished serving all of our orders. the serving started at 7:30 and ended at 9:30. imagine how hungry we were by the time they finished serving. to make things worse, all the food they served were colder than the room we were at.

after many complaints in between servings, asking them so serve faster and serve warmer food, we've had enough and had some "serious talk" with the manager. we asked for an extension of our time and for a little bit discount for the inconvenience we experienced. they agreed and even gave complementary mozzarella dishes of some sort, which if i may say, just tastes like salted flour.

our year-end party was fun but that is excluding the hellish dining experience, cold and small food portions, and slow serving time of fino deli marikina.

p.s. pre-ordering will not ensure quick serving. even if you've reserved their private room weeks before, they will always serve walk-in diners first. great job fino. great job.

good food
friendly staff
good wine selection
but...
slow food service. we had to wait literally one hour for our dinner to be served. hopefully the management will add more staff on the floor & in the kitchen. also, it would be great if they would add more spanish wine to their cellar.

we tried their french onion soup, squash soup, and their paella negra. the french onion soup was just so so, the cheese wasn't baked enough for my liking, just charred on top, and the cheese is a little too much of a low moisture cheese for it. the soup itself was a little bland for my taste, and the squash soup was a little too thin. i don't really think i'd have either one again. the paella was okay, it's got a very nice crisp rice at the bottom, though maybe a little too crisp. flavor-wise it was okay, but could use more seafood and an aioli.

it's an okay restaurant, there aren't really many other places near the area, so i guess it stands out. kind of pricey, one would probably be better served to sticking to their pastas as well as the wine and cheese.

this is a hidden gem in marikina, we had a post valentine date here a few months back, romantic ambiance and great for a date with your special someone. awesome service and great food. kinda pricey but will definitely come back when budget allows. we ordered a special dish for valentines and the cinco queso. this was the best cheese pizza i had ever.

i love everything about this restaurant. the selection of wines, the meals, the price, serving everything. the ambience and servers are also superb. we’re from marikina bt rarely dine here since we always get dissappointed. this resto however, changed our life. hahaha!

ambiance of the place is amazing. ample parking space and great service as well. food and drinks selection is good and quality is great. will definitely go back.

so glad to know there's a very nice fine dining place in marikina heights...less than 5 minutes drive from our place! table setting, warm lighting, rustic seats, accomodating waiters, wine selection and food presentation make you feel you're dining in a 5-star resto in makati. we enjoyed their cheese and sausage platter and carbonara souffle. will definitely be back.

fino deli is one of the few fine italian-spanish style restaurant offering imported wines in marikina heights within marikina city. the restaurant used to be a large residential house converted into a fine dining place about 20 months ago.

the restaurant is getting positive reviews and accolades from food and wine connoisseurs.

it had a large indoor dining area with a sitting capacity of between 70 to 80 people and a private room which have a sitting capacity of between 35 to 50 people at any given day . there is also a patio area which can sit about 20 people.

there is a glass enclosed wine cellar , where temperature is controlled at 19 degrees celsius so that the taste of each wine is preserved . the wines are imported from spain , romania , italy and other parts of the world .

castel starmina and terase danubiene are wines from romania, the restaurant is one of the exclusive philippine distributor of these wines . one interesting wine is made from roselle flowers ( relative of hibiscus / gumamela) this had a mild fruity taste. fino deli offers fine wines , imported cheeses , patas , cold cuts , sausages , pastries , pizza, pasta in classy setting.

wines are best paired with dutch aged gouda and italian salami with olives (p 345), dutch goat cheese and spanish salami with olives (p 355), and dutch maasdam cheese and spanish salchichon with olives (p 365).

truffle mushroom pasta (265) pasta with fresh wild mushrooms drizzled with truffle oil, topped with cheese and fresh basil leaves. the pasta is also paired with garlic bread. this can be shared with 2 persons.

cinco queso pizza (p 499) this is a type of thin crust pizza topped with creamy white sauce and five kinds of cheeses. the five cheeses are mozzarella, cheddar, parmesan, blue cheese and cream cheese. the taste of 5 cheeses are infused when the pizza is baked .

great food, great place and great servers. the vibe of the place is soothing to the eyes. has a large parking space. affordable food and good taste. highly recommended!

great place to chill and unwind. :)

for our 2nd visit, my husband and i ordered cold cuts and cheese platter no. 1, rib eye steak, truffle mushroom pasta and a bottle of 7 miles merlot classic. we were not familiar with wines, so we asked a fino deli staff to help us choose a red wine that's on the sweet side. she recommended 7 miles merlot (p955) since it was specially blended to suit asian taste. true enough, we loved that wine -- so much so that we finished 1 bottle in less than 2 hours. it was a bit sweet, tasted better when cold, and most importantly, it went well with our other orders. 

as to our food, i think we got more than we paid for, especially considering the quality and serving size. for one, their rib eye steak (p899) was huge, tender, juicy and flavorful. it was cooked just the way my husband wanted it (i.e. medium) and he finished this on his own with a big smile on his face. also, their truffle mushroom pasta (p280) was rich and aromatic with generous pieces of mushrooms. i usually share half of my food with my husband. but this time, i only gave him a few forkfuls. (he only gave me a tiny slice of his steak anyway. haha!) that was how much i liked it. 

if there's anything that needs improvement, fino deli should add more desserts to their menu. although we were satisfied with their creme brulee (p99) and pana cotta with dark chocolate (p99), it might be better if fino deli offers desserts like gelato, cakes and sweet breads. (i'm not sure if they plan to permanently add this to their menu, but fino deli offered cinnamon rolls to us for take out at a discounted price of p15 per piece. it was reaaaaaally good. it was (not overly) sweet, chewy and perfectly paired with coffee. if anyone else gets a chance to buy this, i strongly suggest that you get the whole batch. you won't be disappointed.)

overall, we were very happy with our dining experience at fino deli. this is another gem in marikina, and we will keep on visiting it.

if you want to impress your date. fino deli should be on your shortlist.
food - 9/10 tip. the pizza is the best, and sausage match well with our white wine.
ambience - 10/10 perfect! for all season.
service - 10/10 kudos to our server, very attentive and polite plus very knowlegeable with all the wines. (me@ not) i only choose red or white.
setup- 9.5/10 i bought flowers and they arrange the table well wow!
price- 9/10 a bit pricey, but you want to impress her right? ladies take note
dessert 8/10 you can only pick 3 from the menu.
coffee - yes they have.
beer - check! but wine is better

overall, 9.9/10 they deserve it. we will revisit