Al Molo (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★☆☆☆

It's been a while since I last visited modern Italian restaurant Al Molo at Harbour City. The last time I was here, it was one of our high school reunion dinner that didn't end very well. Some of us were particularly upset with their small portions (I wasn't one of them) and we ended up going to our friend's family-owned restaurant for some late-night snacks afterwards.



Coming back here reminded me of another pretty obvious issue - service. Ironically, this already happened to me quite a number of times from different Dining Concepts restaurants in the past (which explained why I wasn't surprised at all!). I don't want to get into the specifics but let's just say that ordering water and asking for a high chair for my little one should be pretty simple and straightforward so I didn't see why it would drag on for so long that I had to keep reminding our servers over and over again.



After I got everything sorted out, it's time to get down to business. It was a pretty late lunch so some delicious focaccia would most definitely be welcome.



Calamari ($168) - Everyone wanted something a little crispy so I chose to kick things off with some crispy squid rings much to everybody's delight. This was pretty tasty and I particularly liked the thin batter which was very nice. The lemon aioli was alright.



Pepperoni ($178) - They have this pizza which comes with three different types of cheese toppings that used to my favorite here but since my partners in crime aren't as happy with cheesy stuff, I went with something safe.

I thought the pepperoni pizza was a tad better than the calamari. The timeless combination of spicy salami and mozzarella never disappoints!



Spaghetti carbonara ($178) - Then the wheels began to fall off from here. Okay, perhaps I'm exaggerating a bit but there was no question that the last two dishes were trending down and I certainly didn't see it coming.

Everybody knows how Al Molo does their pasta in house fresh daily so my expectation is naturally high for my spaghetti carbonara. There's a lot of eggy flavors in there, which was okay but its soft and mushy texture suggested that it's been badly overcooked.



Pan-seared yellowfin tuna ($278) - This was the dish that really ticked me off. When we were placing our orders, our server (the same one who forgot our water and high chair) kept telling us how adept they're with pan-seared yellowfin tuna. And she specifically pointed out the fact that they always serve their tuna raw inside. But does this piece of tuna looks like it's raw inside?

I actually kind of enjoyed the supporting cast of green asparagus, olive and salmon roes but the yellowfin tuna was way too rough for someone with a set of bad teeth (Me). What a waste!



Food Rating: 4/10
Price: $$$
Address: Shop G63, Ocean Terminal, Harbour City, 17 Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Tsim Sha Tsui
Tel: +852 2730-7900
Website: www.diningconcepts.com/restaurants/Al-Molo