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2009-09-12
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Came here to try out the buffet. Management is defintely serious about how this big "flagship" store is doing, as Massimo, the purveyor of all good things from Italy, was there to oversee operations. The head waiter is also an Italian guy I think, plus the chef Massimo (another gentleman by that name) was at the buffet station cooking. So definitely very Italian from the the looks of things.The small space on the second floor of the building was almost full. I am not sure what it was, it could h
The small space on the second floor of the building was almost full. I am not sure what it was, it could have been the various "professional-looking" people who greeted us on entry, the two-flight upward climb on pretty narrow wooden stairs, the low ceiling, brick floors, or cramped tables (I had the leg of my chair kicked/other patrons scraped pass several times). It was just the feel of the place that reminded me of a youth hostel/community hall/boarding school dining room. Light italian music was in the background, but it did almost nothing to lift that uneasy feeling. I sound like a whinger and maybe I am one, but it's something that flies in the face of Italianess, the quintessential cheery and homey cuisine.
The food, I am relieved to say, provided much more comfort. To sate my craving for proteins, and because the crowd at the salad/cold dishes section was pretty daunting, I made a beeline for the hot dishes. There were three on offer: small rectangles of cut-up lasagne, a roulade, and a cheese frittata with tomato sauce. I especially savoured the fact that they put a generous bowl of shaved parmesan next to the lasagne, very thoughtful indeed. The lasagne was the best of the lot, seasoned well with rosemary, layered with a good amount of meat and even some green peas, plus it was piping hot. The only problem if at all was that the lasagne pasta was a bit too soft for my liking, but of course it's difficult to bake and keep lasagne warm and not have to sacrifice the texture of the pasta in the process. The roulade (I suspect it was a braciola?) was the next good thing - tender but without losing it's meaty texture, and with an egg filling in the centre. The cheese frittata was the weakest, I couldn't discern any cheese in it and the outside was also a bit fried too brown, at least my piece was.
For the cold dishes, the leafy salad was the best I've had for a long time. The leaves were extremely fresh and crispy, and the rocket I think was the Italian variety and not the Australian one that has less bite. With a bit of balsamic and oil dressing, this was simple yet nice to eat (I wouldn't say delicious, but for just a few leaves it was close lol). Even the presentation of the salad bowl was very inviting - a good job of the person who put it altogether. Another winner was the onion soup - it was laden with onion and some potato cubes, and I was offloading the shaved parmesan into it I only wished it was hotter and therefore even heartier. I also had two thin slices of garlic bread, one with black olive paste and a meaty paste (I couldn't tell what it was). I recall from my Italian classes long ago that this would be known as spuntini eaten in the afternoon, no matter, the taste of the olive paste was pretty decent, so I was not complaining. The seafood potato salad was also ok, with pieces of calamari, mussels and small prawns. The tomato pasta salad (trofie pasta) was the least impressive, although the texture was a perfect al dente.
This is however not the place if you are a sweet fiend. They had but only three dessert chioces, and I wouldn't count melon as one, so you only have two: a slice of plain cake and mini ramekins of panna cotta with a bit of strawberry. Despite the narrow choice, the panna cotta was probably one of the best I've had in Hong Kong - very creamy, quite some vanilla, and not too wobbly so that it was really a pudding, a fault I find with a lot of local renditions. Consistency was just right, and even the size was justifiable, as the taste was strong and rich. The cake was also not bad, very eggy and a bit retro - it reminded me of local bakeries way back when they used real eggs in their baking lol. Coffee was a crowd-pleasing "bimbo" blend (coffee drinkers would probably know what I mean here hehe), but at least the crema was quite respectable, although there was only a very weak/no after taste.
Still, the seriousness of the place was stifling - maybe because the big boss was there? I find this quite difficult to get over. At $130 with 10% service charge, it's not unreasonable to expect a few more warm smiles, more types of dessert (perhaps some biscotti?), and no one kicking the leg of your chair.
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