Tosca (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

I have been hearing about the departure of Chef de cuisine Nikita Russo from Tosca for months and finally, they made it official. It was announced on the hotel’s website a couple of weeks ago that Chef Angelo Agliano has taken over the reign as their new culinary director. Chef Agliano worked for years under Joël Robuchon both at L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon Hong Kong and Taipei before striking out on his own with the opening of Angelo Restaurant in Taipei (in 2014 I think). He returned to Hong Kong to open Locanda Dell'Angelo, a quiet 28-seater in Happy Valley two years ago. I have not tried the food there personally but based on some trusted sources of mine, it's been largely mixed bags.



I have come at worse weather conditions so this view under the dark clouds didn’t disappoint me a bit.



Lunch is the same usual format, a choice between two ($448), three ($508) and four ($698) courses. It was really nice to see all the signature dishes still there, beef carpaccio, tiramisu among others.




Some welcoming bites to get the ball rolling. Here we have a variety of chilled vegetables from the farm including carrot, turnip, celery, cucumber and cauliflower. It was accompanied by a bowl of zucchini cream that came with a hint of mustard.



I decided to skip antipasti and go straight to my pasta dish. The chef’s signature dish, potato gnocchi emerged as the obvious choice and it certainly didn’t disappoint. The potato gnocchi was soft, delicate and the melt-in-your-mouth texture was exactly what I looked for from a perfectly prepared gnocchi.



This was wonderfully paired with red shrimp, homemade pesto and a delicious tomato coulis. So gooooood!



I was tempted to go with the chef's signature pork belly but since I'm still on my self-imposed meatless diet, I reluctantly went with the black cod instead.



This was a beautiful dish with the black cod fish roasted to absolute perfection. The duo of fennel (fennel purée and poached fennel) provided some lovely complex flavor notes to complement the sweetness of the cod fish.



I was torn between the traditional Limoncello tiramisu and duo of chocolate cakes but at the end, my love for a hearty tiramisu prevailed. I always thought Tosca has the best tiramisu in town and it was at its usual best again.



Soft, light and foamy with the perfect touch of liquor. Noticed they've added a little more amaretti (Italian almond cookies) in there to give this more crunch too, which was a really nice move.



Despite the change of guard, everything looked and tasted more or less the same as it was when Chef Pino was here. The presentation and flavors were noticeably simpler but that didn't take anything away from the quality of the dishes. That's the most important part.



Food Rating: 7/10
Price: $$$$
Address: 102/F The Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong, International Commerce Centre, 1 Austin Road West, West Kowloon, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Kowloon
Tel: +852 2263-2270
Website: www.ritzcarlton.com/en/hotels/china/hong-kong/dining/tosca