Wineshark Mystery Restaurant - Spiga

This Italian restaurant is located at 3/F of LHT Tower in Central, right in the most central part of HK. The restaurant is under the direction of Chef Enrico Bartolini, with an outdoor terrace with lounge setting as well. The weather is still too chilly to dine outside, and we were taken to our table, a circular booth facing the large bar counter.

The décor has a cinematic ambience, taking us back to the 1950s, with dim lighting giving a warmth, intimate and cozy feeling for diners. We decided to order the Chef’s Tasting Menu ($698 each) and ordering a bottle of Mindful Sparks ($380), a sparkling tea of white peach and earl grey, to go with the food on the night. 

The first course is Battuta, made tableside. Using Fassona beef from the Piedmont region, the minced beef tartare is seasoned simply with salt, black pepper, and extra virgin olive oil, chives, mustard, and black truffle. With some egg yolk sauce on the side for condiment, there were plenty of shaved black truffle on top to further add to the fragrance. Taste was good, but I think the black truffle had dominated the flavours excessively.  

The second course had two options. I went for Scampo, where the langoustine had a sweet taste, freshly flown in from Italy. On top was a piece of lard that had been deep-fried to give savoury taste, while the sauce was grass pea velouté, with some rosemary to enhance the herbal characters. Decent in taste, but the taste of the sauce was not particularly matched with the scampi. 

My wife had Tonno ($88 extra). The blue fin tuna was cut into a cube shape before searing to lightly cooked it, with some caviar placed on top to add a touch of savoury to the umami of the tuna. Served in a gazpacho sauce, with the tomato and celery taste bringing a freshness and the acidity to match with the tuna. Comparing the two starters, I would prefer this tuna more than the langoustine. 

Next was the pasta Genovese. The ‘Gragnano’ candele pasta has a short candlestick appearance, with a nice al dente texture. Cooked with Neapolitan style ragu, with the minced pork and beef slow cooked to delicious and rich in flavours, the pasta also got some shaved Parmesan cheese, plus basil and crispy leaves on top. Good in taste, and frankly this was my favourite dish in the evening.

For the main, we also ordered one of each. I had picked Agnello, featuring slow cooked Torino lamb neck that was very tender and juicy, and placed on top a potato terrine which has absorbed the jus from the lamb, having nice flavours. On the side was artichokes puree, with the earthy tone matching well with the lamb neck. The quality of the main dish was better than the starters in my opinion.

The other main course was Spigola ($88 extra), featuring seared Mediterranean sea bass together with mantis shrimp, and served in Cacciucco reduction, which is a fish stew originating from Tuscany, with intense seafood flavours. The caponata on the side, some chopped eggplant and tomato, gave a nice sweet and sour taste to match with the fish. Among the two main courses, I would rate this one higher.

For dessert, Ciocco-colato was a warm chocolate mousse with hazelnut ice-cream in the middle. Indulgent but not excessively sweet, the creamy mousse was a good treat, rich in chocolate flavours, and was complementary in taste with the hazelnut in the ice-cream. A happy and complete finish to the meal. 

Service was decent, with the staff attentive and pleasant. Generally, the food quality was good, though some fine tuning was needed for the starters. The bill on the night was $2,223. Considering the overall experience, I would rate this restaurant a Decent 63 points, can visit but nothing to lose if not.