Wineshark HK Restaurant Review - ORO

This Italian restaurant is located on 30/F of 28 Stanley Street in Central. Stepping out of the escalator is the grand entrance, with the name of the restaurant, meaning ‘gold’ in Italian, depicted on the stone tiles on the ground, welcoming guests in.

The interior décor is very nice, with soft lighting, wooden floor, and full-length windows on two sides overlooking the busy Central skyline, as well as a glimpse of Victoria Harbour between the buildings. Wrinkle-free white tablecloth, comfortable seatings, its ambience has scored a high mark.

Instead of the CNY special menu, we opted to pick the normal a la carte. To start, we have Tartare Di Gamberi Di Mazzaro ($308) to share. The chef has wrapped the Sicilian red prawn tartare with tomato jelly, fresh and has nice umami flavours. Together with avocado purée and paprika sauce on the side, with some greens to decorate, it is both pleasant on appearance and taste. Good.

Next, we have the soups. My wife had picked Zuppa Del Giorno ($158), the vegetarian soup of the day, which was a mushroom soup. Rich and flavourful, it had good mushroom flavours, with a bit of truffle oil to further enhance the taste. Very good.

For me, I had Zuppa Di Pesce E Crostacei ($188). The mixed fish soup was just warm in temperature, and as a result was a tiny bit fishy. The mussel, clam, squid, octopus and lobster meat were decent, but not getting warmed up sufficiently also. With garlic croutons to complement, the soup could taste better if serving at the right temperature. Decent.

The pasta we ordered to share was Chitarra Abruzzese Al Granchio Reale, Datterini ($438). The handmade guitar pasta was fair, but not as al dente as I would expect. The lobster sauce, together with king crab meat, was lacking in the vibrancy of acidity of the tomato while also not showing much of the delicate flavours of the crab. As a signature it was a bit disappointing. Decent.  

Coming to the main course, my wife had Filetto Di Cernia Con Algae ($408). The grouper fillet was coated with a layer of herbs crumbs, pan-fried nicely to golden and crisp on the surface, while still moist inside. Paired with asparagus and a seaweed sauce, the umami notes of the sauce helped to enhance the lighter taste of the fillet. Very good.

I have chosen Arrosticino Abruzzese ($548), with the New Zealand lamb loin cooked medium rare, tender and juicy. The lamb jus was delicious, full of the essences and flavours, with the deep-fried pepper on the side. The pepper was actually good in taste, but also super spicy so I could not finish all. Very good.

For dessert, I picked Tiramisu ($128), with the homemade ORO tiramisu having the multiple layers of coffee-soaked ladyfinger biscuit on the bottom, the sweet mascarpone cheese cream in the middle, and the cocoa powder on top. Nicely done and not heavy. Good.

My wife had Meringa al Muscovado ($128). The crunchy homemade meringue was not too sweet, very appealing on appearance, reminiscent of a flower ring, with strawberries and vanilla cream between the layers. Very good.

Service is impeccable, with the staff friendly and very courteous, offering to hang our coats and checking in with us repeatedly on the taste and flavours. I would like them to also focus more on the introduction of the food though, which was a big piece in my opinion for any good restaurant. The bill on the night was $2,618.