Chef Lavarra brings along a fairly impressive resume that includes two Michelin stars from his stint at Palazzo Sasso. His style of Southern Italian cuisine features dishes that utilizes classic ingredients and presents them in a contemporary and innovative manner.
A 2-course lunch set at Tosca comes at a price of $378 these days while the 3-course and 4-course are set at $418 and $480 respectively. But on Saturdays, only the 3 and 4 course sets are available. Fairly reasonable prices considering that it has just re-gained its one-star status.
Through the passage we go and it didn't take long for us to arrive at the spacious main dining room.
It's been a long time since we last dined here and the dining room seemed to look so much better this time around under natural light.
The high ceilings, water fountains and chandeliers all contributed to the atmospheric setting.
And if you want a little more privacy, private dining sections are available upon request.
We all went for the 3-course set and and I couldn't wait to get things started with my quail egg salad.
Apart from the playful presentation with the tomato and quail egg, the salad offered quite a remarkable start to this meal. I especially liked the anchovies and bread pillows bringing a different flavor and texture to the mix (6.5/10).
We don't see cod carpaccio here in Hong Kong very often so once we saw it in the menu, we jumped all over it. The slightly salted cod carpaccio was served with caper berry, fennel curd and sun dried tomato salad. It was another impressive starter (6.5/10).
Slow braised oyster blade with sauteed semolina, pickled vegetables and sun-dried tomato sauce was next and I thought it was the best of the three main courses.
The lovely texture of the oyster blade was very enjoyable with the sun-dried tomato sauce balancing the richness of the meat beautifully (7/10).
The nicely decorated salmon was another above-average dish. Salmon fillet was slow cooked to just medium and served with warm mussel stew, saffron potato, salad of borage and bottarga egg (6/10).
Even an ordinary roasted chicken showed some class with the kitchen preparing it in two ways. The chicken breast was roasted and later served with a deep fried chicken leg over a bed of shallots and lemon scented spring mushroom (6.5/10).
I have always liked the traditional tiramisu. The ones from Amaroni Little Italy is one of my all-time favorites for its perfect balance of sweetness, bitterness and liquor.
And this one was equally as good. The texture was nearly perfect too (7/10).
I had the white chocolate panna cotta with the simple garnish of cherries, rhubarb and peanuts cookies myself. It was a refreshing end to a surprisingly good lunch (7/10).
The least impressive dessert was the highly regarded hazelnut and apple parfait with calvados cream sauce. Well, it's highly regarded according to our server mainly due to its apple-like presentation but it tasted nothing more than a simple parfait (5/10).
A very simple petite fours.....
Tosca is touted for its stunning view over the Victoria Harbour but on this given day, I guess we had to use our own imagination.
Food Rating: 6.5/10
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 2263-2263
Website: Link
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