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2012-01-29
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Time for some good food again to celebrate Chinese New Year! This time, a food buddy and I picked Italian and decided to visit Bella Vita at Cubus. Bella Villa means Beautiful Life in Italian, we were in high spirits when we arrived at the restaurant, hoping to enjoy the most of the it.The ambience was very cosy, modelled like a house with shelves full of wine and books about Italy and Tuscany. There were only around 10 tables and we could sort of watch what was going on in the kitchen through t
The ambience was very cosy, modelled like a house with shelves full of wine and books about Italy and Tuscany. There were only around 10 tables and we could sort of watch what was going on in the kitchen through the little window in the middle of the shelves. Having looked at the menu, we also went through the special dishes written on the chalk board. We decided to go light on the meal and waved to ask a waiter. It was a little weird though one of the waitresses kept seeing us wave but did not come by and offer help. She sort of hinted at the manager and he came over and suggested some dishes.
First came were our appetizers. We picked three. I started with Cod cooked with Scrambled eggs and white truffle. It was the only hot appetizer that we ordered. The cod was wonderfully blended with the egg and the white truffle was an additional sprinkle to make the dish perfect. The truffle smelled good and quite intense but did not cover the light taste of the rest of the food. Both Cod and Scrambled eggs were my favourite ingredients which Chef Francesco has made me reluctant to slur the dish, hoping there would be more.
Moving on, I started to work on the Grilled octopus with black pepper and green apple salad. Unlike most salads, there was no dressing but actually all the ingredients were already rich in flavor. I was delighted to realize the Octopus was not overcooked and rough but still managed to remain its chewiness. Green apples were refreshing to the taste buds and made room for me to move to the third appetizer.
The third appetizer was Duo of scallops: “Galera” with pancetta and rosemary, topped with truffle caviar. Scallops were lightly pan-seared, which went well with the caviar. Maybe this was more common than the other two dishes, so maybe next time we could go for some other interesting appetizers.
We shared a pasta for the main and this was definitely a good pick - Orecchiette pasta with Sicilian red shrimp and date tomatoes. It was one of the best pasta I have had here in Hong Kong. Orecchiette was very small, maybe because of this reason, they absorbed the sauce well that the pasta was rich in tomato juice while it was still al dente. There was a tiny of spiciness in the sauce but it did not thwart me from literally cleaning the plate! The red shrimps were fresh and the texture was 'al dente' as well! loved it
Saving up space for dessert, we ordered two. We started with Apple tarte tatin and vanilla gelato. Apples were very thinly sliced and spread over the tarte. Reminded me of the good and homey apple strudel I had back in Europe. Would be better if the gelato did not melt so fast.
The second was Tiramisu! This was really really good, had I had enough space in my tummy, I would have finished the whole thing. You could actually taste the real mascarpone cheese. The cheese layer was very smooth, and the balance of coffee and amaretto was perfect in the cake layer. It was moist but not overly soaked. Sometimes I had Tiramisu at other restaurants and found it too strongly soaked in amaretto. This Tiramisu Bella Vita had everything ingredients precisely blended in harmony.
It was a great dinner for the start of Chinese New Year, with good company and good food. Would be better if service quality was up to the food standard as well. I am not saying service was bad, but there is room for improvement if the waiters can be more proactive explain the menu and give suggestions accordingly. Space between tables is a little tight, more privacy is appreciated given the price and the ambience of the restaurant.
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Since one of selling points of Bella Vita is homey authentic Tuscan cuisine, I think it would be great if Chef Francesco can come of the kitchen from time to time, talk to diners and offer recommendations directly. think that might help improve service quality as well and leave diners a better impression of the restaurant.
(The above review is the personal opinion of a user which does not represent OpenRice's point of view.)
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