MANILA FIND: A RESTAURANT WHERE YOUR TODDLER CAN MAKE HIS/HER OWN PIZZA

The other night, our toddler suddenly told us: “I want to eat in a restaurant.”

It’s a good thing we really weren’t planning on having Daday cook dinner for us because she had to go somewhere, so we asked him what he wanted to eat: “Pizza and Fries”, he said.

We finally got to eat in Amare La Cucina in Baguio last December (it had been there quite a while, and had been on my list forever – but only finally got to visit a few weeks ago) and remembered that they already have a branch in Manila. It’s not too far where we live and I wanted to provide the good kind of pizza for my son, so off we went to the restaurant.

When we got there, our toddler was immediately drawn to the huge window where you could watch them make pizzas (thankfully, no one was sitting on the chairs outside). He watched for awhile before we went inside to sit. After we ordered, the waitress asked if we would like to cook our own pizza. Cool! Definitely a fun experience for our toddler so we said yes.

When they called us for our turn, they asked us to wash our hands first. And then they put a chair for our son and began working on our pizza.

I have to give a shoutout to Kuya Jesus for being so patient. He held our son’s hand to guide him from the dough to the spiral motion for the sauce to the sprinkling of cheese.

And after that, they even moved the chair so he could push the pizza (with their help) into the brick oven.

We watched our pizza for a while then went back to our seats. Plus points for having a high chair (while I thought this was the norm, the more we eat out, the more I realize how many restaurants or eateries don’t have high chairs, too. Or have just one or two), AND plus points for their paper placemats — they provided crayons and that kept our toddler occupied while waiting for our meal. After a few minutes, we had our meal (brick oven is set at around 900C, and pizza is only left there for around 3-5 minutes).

Helping them make your pizza doesn’t have extra charge. You just pay for your pizza. Their margherita (my fave) costs PHP 340 (PHP 285 in Baguio if I remember correctly) and it’s big enough for sharing! Their pizza prices range from PHP 340-PHP750++. Most are in the PHP 400-500 range. Not bad at all especially for the experience — just not sure if they allow this when they’re full as it slows them down for sure.

We also ordered their Aglio Olio (spicy and good!) and truffle fries (so-so), too. Interested in trying our their raclette dip next time. Oh, and yeah, adding a photo of this one here though we ate this in Baguio: their dessert pizza: Roasted Mallow Speculoos Pizza! Yum! And yes, you may help cook that, too!

JUST A SPECIAL NOTE: Our son doesn’t really have allergies, but right after making his own pizza, he started getting some sort of hives – on his elbows, nape, legs, some parts of the back, etc. and it’s the first time for us to experience that. He felt so itchy, so after eating and settling the bill, we went home, then immediately gave him a bath (made him soak in a basin full of water and baking soda) then I breastfed him to sleep. We tried giving him anti-histamine to help with his itch but he hated the taste of the medicine so much that he would rather stand the itch than drink the medicine. Since he seemed fine other than the itching, we let it go. His hives were all gone the next day. We’re thinking it could be the flour. He’s used to eating food with flour, but it was the first time for him to work with raw flour (with its particles everywhere). We are of course not sure, but it seemed to be an immediate reaction from something, and apparently, flour can be an allergen, so anyway, just writing this here to tell you to bring an anti-histamine/ anti-allergy medicine with you if you decide to let your child do this activity. Good for us that our son’s allergy was only physical, but I know that for some, it could involve breathing problems – so better be safe than sorry. We would still do this activity again for the experience. 🙂