The Room
Chef Marco Anzani moved to Cebu from Italy more than twenty years ago and, through the restaurants Anzani and then this new Panorama Heights flagship, is the single figure most responsible for the emergence of fine dining in the Visayas. His current room sits on Nivel Hills in Lahug, a ten-minute drive from IT Park up a switchbacking road that climbs the Cebu ridge, and the view from the terrace — across the entire city, out to Mactan, and on clear evenings across to Bohol — is unrivalled in the region.
The cuisine is Mediterranean in the most expansive sense — Italian at the base, but incorporating French technique, Spanish and Middle Eastern references, and a serious use of Filipino ingredients where they outperform the imports. The osso buco with saffron risotto, the grilled octopus with romesco, the whole sea bass for two in a salt crust, and the rotating house pasta (tagliatelle with Cebuano crab is a seasonal signature) are the dishes to order.
The room splits between an interior dining hall, which is formal and jacketed in the winter months, and a long outdoor terrace, which is the celebrated seating. The terrace runs the full length of the villa and looks directly across the entire city skyline — at sunset, the room takes on a quality that is genuinely difficult to replicate anywhere else in the Philippines. The pianist plays from 7pm; a full jazz duo on Friday and Saturday nights.
The wine list is one of the deeper cellars in the Philippines — Italian at the centre, French and Spanish in depth, a small Filipino experimental section. Cocktails are taken seriously. A reservation for a terrace table at 6:30pm gives a clear run at sunset; for a proposal, request a specific table at the terrace's far corner.
Why It's Best for Proposal
For a Proposal, Anzani's terrace is the Philippines' defining setting. The hilltop location means the view is unobstructed; the sunset is predictable and consistent in the Cebu climate; the pianist provides the background without the intrusion of an active jazz band; and Chef Anzani's kitchen has catered so many proposals that the staff know how to handle the ring, the timing, the champagne, the wordless glance that tells them to bring the dessert course with the small box on the side. Book the terrace for a 6pm arrival, request the corner table, and let a restaurant that has been doing this for twenty years do what it does.
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