Replacing Japanese restaurant Kikuzen on the fourth floor of Harbour City, Giancarlo Perbellini and his first overseas venture La Locanda officially opened its door last week and we were on hand for a sneak preview.
La Locanda (Italian for "The Inn") serves up classic Italian fare with Northern Italian influence. The setting is more of the casual and relaxing variety so if you are looking for a dazzling fine dining experience, this is probably not the place for you.
The first dish to arrive was a fried squid with marinated peppers and emulsion of eggs and pickles ($208). As a main course, I thought the portion looked more like an appetizer (4/10).
Carbonara Di Gamberi ($188) was next and it was a well prepared dish with homemade rigatoni, smoked pancetta stock, scrambled eggs and roasted prawns. A slightly different interpretation of the traditional carbonara and the delivery was excellent (7/10).
Our other main course was one of chef Giancarlo Perbellini's favorite dishes - Maialino ($238) or crispy suckling pig with sprouts, onions and liquorice.
Unfortunately, the pork skin was not as crispy as advertised and looked slightly overcooked although the meat remained tender and flavorful (6/10).
Chef Giancarlo Perbellini comes from a family of pastry-makers and his family is considered as one of the best Italian confectioners in the country. With that alone, we had high hopes for a good dessert to wrap up our dinner.
We ordered one dessert to share and it was a semifreddo al pistacchio containing slices of frozen pistachio cream with patches of raspberry sauce ($88).
It tasted a bit like having frozen ice-cream. Very refreshing (4.5/10).
Salad, pasta, risotto and pizza, the menu looked strikingly similar to another Italian restaurant in the same shopping mall - Al Molo, which is under the same group. But Al Molo's food was slightly better in my opinion.
Food Rating: 5/10
Price: $$$
Address: Shop 402, 4/F, Ocean Centre, Harbour City, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Tsim Sha Tsui Tel: +852 2785-9600
Website: www.diningconcepts.com/LaLocanda/
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