影片
更多
2010-01-21
4 瀏覽
I was looking for a place to celebrate my girlfriends Birthday, and was originally planning something more quiet, romantic and perhaps less generic than an Italian restaurant (fusion-ish) restaurant in the middle of Soho! However, my sister (who has exquisite taste) strongly recommended Vivo as the place to eat... and so here we ventured.The first thing that struck me was that the setting was comfortable, and not pretentious. It seemed a little oddball-ish, with the carved wood pillars covering
The first thing that struck me was that the setting was comfortable, and not pretentious. It seemed a little oddball-ish, with the carved wood pillars covering the lights and the (fake) plants hanging. But it was strangely calming.
The missus and I start out with a glass of champagne each. We supposedly ordered Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label, but since the waiter did not take the bottle out to pour, I was not able to verify this (bad service mistake). It tasted fine though.
As we toasted to another year's past and munched on bread (it was warm!), we decided on the Caesar Salad (I remembered that Cecconi's next door had a great salad and wanted to see how they compared) and two pastas: Duck Confit Risotto with mushrooms and parmesan cheese, and the Seafood Linguine.
The salad was a little disappointing. The veggies were fresh, and they went light on the dressing, but it was really just... caesar salad. The croutons were stale, and they were a little stingy on the cheese. Not at all memorable.
The risotto was a dish recommended by my sister. When it came it really didn't look like much. It looked like Italian style watery fried rice...but the taste was great! The tangy taste of the duck complemented the cream of risotto, and the mushrooms were not too pungent. The texture of the duck (which was cooked perfectly) worked to counter the mushiness of the pasta too. A great dish that I would love to have again
My sister had also enthusiastically recommended the Wagyu Beef Cheek Ravioli. However, they did not have it on the menu that day, so we settled for the seafood linguine, which was also a pleasant surprise. The noodles were cooked al dente, and there was no shortage of ingredients, with salmon, squid, mussels and clams. The taste was actually very good, there was a tinge of fishy taste, but not enough to overpower the aroma of garlic and white wine.
It turned out perfect, since I enjoyed the risotto more, while the dear birthday girl enjoyed the linguine more =) We cleaned up both dishes pretty well.
Then came dessert. Knowing the missus' affinity for dessert (and it being her birthday), I offered to let her choose two sweet dishes. She kindly refused, and so we ended up getting a Valhrona Chocolate Fondant, and a cheese plate. Sadly to say, I don't remember the exact cheese I got (it was blue), but in general it was good and strong, and there was a lot of it. The plate came with a honey-soaked apricot and water-thin wafers.
The birthday girl seemed to really enjoy the fondant - basically a hot chocolate cake, as it was rich yet not too sweet. I can't say it was amazing, but as dessert it really hit the spot.
The service was great, everyone was very helpful (aside from the champagne miss) and all in all it was a very good meal. Compared to Cecconi's, I would rate this place just as highly (might have been even higher had there been wagyu ravioli), with a similar value-for-money experience but a much more relaxed atmosphere. Come here for good fusion fare, as you can't go wrong with the pastas, but like many Soho restaurants, prepare to pay a pretty penny for it!
張貼