Isono Eatery & Bar (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

Our second leg of this year's Restaurant Week has brought us to PMQ's Isono Eatery and Bar for the first time. Right before the meal, I tried to consult my friends who've been here before for some insider information exactly on what type of cuisine we should be expecting. The result was mixed. Some suggested it's Spanish while others said it's a hybrid of French and Italian. What should I be expecting, well I better find that out myself.

One thing I do know is where to find Isono. Located on the 6th floor of PMQ Hollywood, it's the casual sister of Vasco Fine dining which happened to be situated just upstairs.



Both Vasco and Isono are helmed by famed Spanish chef Paolo Casagrande, protégé to one of the best Spanish chef Martin Berasategui in the world but Isono is more of a casual eatery that specializes Mediterranean cuisine with Spanish influences and a bit of French and Italian twist. At least that was how the restaurant manager described to me in summary.



I like the chic design here, along with the super high ceiling. Even on a cloudy day like this, it's still full of natural light.



Some bread prior to the arrival of our starters.....



Beef tartare with organic egg and truffle mayo was supposed to be a house specialty and I can confirm now that they do have a very good one here. Very lovely texture and flavorful. We enjoyed this very much (7/10).



I love anything with artichoke in it and this Jerusalem artichoke and potato soup had very nice and strong artichoke flavors. Serving the soup with emmental croutons was also a well-thought-out idea (5.5/10).



Grilled wild grouper with Mediterranean sauce was another fairly well executed dish. The grouper has good texture to it and that was further enriched by the flavorful sauce (5/10).



I had the half spring chicken with baby bell pepper and espelette myself. It was tender with very exotic seasoning (5/10).



If there's one dish in this meal that failed to impress me, it's our first dessert - chilled citrus soup with lemon ice-cream (4/10).


 
I definitely enjoyed my marsala tiramisu with chocolate crumble a lot. The portion was rather generous and that's always a good sign but what I love most about it was the soft, foamy texture (although a little more marsala won't hurt.) (6/10).



We've been to PMQ many times since it opened last year but it was the very first time that we managed to explore it in greater details and we were loving it. This is truly one of the few places in Hong Kong where we could actually find artworks from local and overseas artists displayed publicly. On this day, it included this exhibit created by renowned Belgian artist Charles Kaisin. It's a giant origami installation made of 13,500 glittering origami horses in the shape of a goat to celebrate the Year of the Goat. It's currently displayed at the Courtyard of PMQ, Hong Kong. Check it out when it's still available!



I was quite happy with the food but service left a lot to be desired. A glaring example came with the constant misplacing of our dishes in front of the wrong person (didn't they jot down notes on who's having what when they took our orders?). These are elementary mistakes that should have never been made at this level.

Food Rating: 5/10
Price: $$$
Address: Shop H601-H608, 6/F, Hollywood, PMQ, 35 Aberdeen Street, Central, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Central / Hong Kong Station
Tel: +852 2156-0688
Website: www.isono.com.hk