This Italian bar/restaurant is located in Sheung Wan, on the 'other end' of Hollywood Road from the busy Soho area. Coming in early evening, we were seated on the ground floor where the bar is located, but for diners who prefer a better dining experience I would suggest asking for tables on the first floor.
The decor is hip and chic, with loud music playing in the background giving a good vibe. Unfortunately for us coming for dinner it would be a bit noisy and distracting. I like the ceramic wall tiles depicting traditional Chinese paintings, successfully integrating the neighborhood antique shops with the restaurant.
I ordered a mocktail to start, called Safari ($88). Mixed with coconut water with some banana, it is further topped with some lime juice and then adding some spices on top, including cardamom, star anise, cinnamon and mint. The intense note from the banana is surprisingly good match with the coconut water, with the lime juice giving the acidity to balance the sweetness of the syrups. A nice cocktail.
We ordered two appetizers to start. The first is Parma Ham and Burrata ($208). A large portion to share with 4-6 people, the ham is thinly sliced, with nice savory note and not too salty. The burrata cheese is soft and has a nice milky taste, good for anyone who even might not be particularly fond of cheese. I found eating the cheese and ham together brought a nice match of the two. Something to try at home.
The other appetizer is Japanese Scallops ($208), with Porcini Mushroom, Potato, Chives and Porcini Stock. The scallop is cooked beautifully with a slight caramelized golden surface, with a soft and juicy interior. The finely chopped chives on top gives a delicate fragrance to further enhance the enjoyment. The mushroom is very good too, with the earthy and intense flavors complemented by the stock, which is a tiny bit salty but not a big problem. The tiny diced potato gives some contrast on texture. Overall a nice dish.
We always would try out a pasta in an Italian restaurant to see how authentic and great it is. The Boston Lobster Spaghetti Martelli ($288) with Italian Cherry Tomato and Basil. The specialty of the spaghetti is that it is made from semola, a type of durum wheat, giving the spaghetti a rougher texture and more porous to suck up pasta sauce. A bit raw maybe in my opinion, nevertheless the sauce is great and the lobster jus enhancing the taste tremendously. The lobster is chopped to pieces to allow easy eating, and overall the pasta is nice, but can see a bit less salt.
Then we have Black Cod ($288) for our main dish. The fish fillet is put in a pan together with Fresh Tomato Sauce and Pesto, Capers, Mashed Potatoes, and then wrapped in a Pizza Crust to bake. The manager came to cut away the crust for us, and advised us to use it to dip with the nice sauce on the pan. The fish is nicely seasoned, juicy and moist, with the sauces both appealing in appearance and taste. The mashed potatoes are another feature, creamy and smooth, with a nice buttery note. A very nice dish.
For dessert we ordered each a 208 Tiramisu ($88). Nicely presented, the tiramisu has a whipped cream sprinkled with chocolate powder, topped with a piece of mocha cracker and physalis. The marcapone cheese cream is rich and sweet, and while certainly it is delicious in taste, I felt that the lack of the ladyfinger biscuit giving a bit of the substance in the dessert is like missing something. But if you like mousse this one is very good indeed.
Service is good, and the bill on the night was $1,457 which is reasonable. Frankly if it is not because of the noisy ambience and the people who had been drinking heavily behind us saying loudly, with many of them walking around to the toilets, the overall experience would be much nicer. So do remember to ask to sit upstairs, which unfortunately the restaurant did not offer us.
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