Once touted as one of the sexiest restaurants in the city with a towering and jaw-dropping harbour view, Aqua Roma and Aqua Tokyo has enjoyed a very successful run on top of 1 Peking Road for more than a decade. Now with their recent relocation to H Zentre, they're hoping that it will help them reach new heights.
Like their Peking Road location, diners are led through a mysterious (and dark) passage before reaching the main dining area.
Waiting on the other end is again sweeping view of Victoria Harbour. It's still a panoramic view but not as stunning and towering as it was back at Peking Road.
Here's another look at the view from a different angle.
On the other side of the main dining area is a small bar, followed by a couple of private dining rooms, all equipped with ceiling-to-floor windows.
On the other side of the main dining area is a small bar, followed by a couple of private dining rooms, all equipped with ceiling-to-floor windows.
With the restaurant still in their soft-opening phase, I wasn't a bit surprised that not many people have heard about this new location. As a result, I had no problem securing a table by the window a day in advance.
The food menu is again a marriage between modern Italian and Japanese cuisine. So, I thought I was going to get miso soup and focaccia bread to start off the meal but no, it was miso soup and sourdough bread.
The set lunch comes with two appetizers and a main course (dessert is extra). My first starter was burrata cheese served with two different types of tomatoes that were really fresh and sweet.
It was followed by one of my favorite Italian starter, Vitello Tonnato.
The famous Piedmontese dish of cold, sliced veal was again paired with a creamy, mayonnaise-like sauce that has been flavored with tuna. Not bad.
For my main dish, I elected to go with their grilled Angus rib-eye with teriyaki sauce on the side.
I thought the portion was a bit on the small side and just two pieces of mushrooms and pepper but no rice. Needless to say, I was only half full when I finished my rib-eye steak. But it was already after their last order time so too late for me to get more food in.
While the sweeping harbour view looked great from a few metres away, it was a little disappointed from up close because of the distraction from a nearby billboard.
The view would have been perfect if it's a few floors up.
Like my previous experience at Aqua Roma and Aqua Tokyo back at Peking Road, service was a bit flawed at times. They tried to be attentive with their service but it felt a little cold and robotic. And when the restaurant is still in soft-opening stage, you see a lot of things with room for improvement. Take the air conditioners for example, they were sometimes louder than the music (which was already pretty loud) but even with the amount of noise generated there, the dining room was so warm by the window that you thought the air-con wasn't even on!
Food Rating: 5.5/10
Price: $$$$
Address: 17/F H Zentre, 15 Middle Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Tsim Sha Tsui East/ Tsim Sha Tsui
Tel: +852 3427-2288
Website: www.aqua.com.hk
Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 3:00pm, 6:00pm - 12:00am daily
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