Located at the ground floor of D2 Place Phase 2, Pici underwent a quick facelift and it was an amazing transformation that saw the place turned into a casual and inviting European-style diner in a very short period of time.
We came on a weekend and it was absolutely packed. The weekend lunch set (a starter, pasta and dessert at $248) looked like a decent deal but since my little nugget wasn't hungry, we went with the a la carte menu instead.
Homemade Meatballs ($90) - This reminded me of the delicious meatballs at Posto Pubblico with a very similar recipe of blending both minced pork and beef together and finishing off with a rich tomato sauce and parmesan shavings. Really nice start.
Vitello Tonnato ($95) - A classic Italian dish with thinly sliced veal topped by tuna mayonnaise and Sicilian capers.
The marriage between the umami-rich tuna sauce and veal was just as perfect as it gets.
Pappardelle ($140) - The bread and butter of Pici has always been their homemade pasta which is freshly made daily. Out of the wide variety of pasta offered here, their pappardelle is my favorite and once again, it didn't disappoint.
This was tossed with slow-cooked beef cheek ragu and mushrooms, and finished off nicely with a shower of parmesan. It's my little one's favorite dish of the afternoon (along with the meatballs).
Classic Lasagna ($130) - My first time having their lasagna and while I enjoyed the traditional recipe (with beef ragu, bechamel and parmesan), I was left a little stunned with the tiny portion. We tried to share among the four of us and honestly, the scene wasn't pretty (I know it's only $130 but I doubt that anyone with a decent appetite would be satisfied with this "kid's meal" portion).
Prawn Casoncelli ($170) - This took a while to come but it's well worth the wait.
Casoncelli is a traditional stuffed pasta from the Northern Italian town of Bergamo very similar to a ravioli. There are all these different versions of it served in different parts of Italy, including this one with crab meat and diced prawns stuffed inside the slightly chewy wrappers made with squid ink. They were beautifully tossed with fresh cherry tomatoes and chili while a highly decadent seafood bisque provided a sublime finish. Too bad we only got around six pieces to share.
Tiramisu ($60) - A trip to Pici is not complete without their tiramisu, one of the best in town. It was simply served in a small water glass.
Very light, foamy and creamy. The flavors were rich but balanced all around.
All of us were still a little hungry after finishing up all our dishes but because of the small portions (looks like the diminishing portions to me since my last visit), it really didn't make sense to order more because 2-3 more dishes likely won't help our cause. So, we quickly settled our bill and started planning where to have our big afternoon tea.
P.S. This lunch cost around $800 for the four of us (one was an elderly) and none of us was more than half full when we stepped out of the restaurant. Ordering more likely won't help and I certainly won't spend $400-500 per head here, not when it's still a pasta bar. But what's becoming outrageous was the diminishing size of these (pasta) dishes. I know rents are sky high in Hong Kong but this is Lai Chi Kok for crying out loud.
Food Rating: 6/10
Price: $$$$
Address: Shop G03, G/F, D2 Place TWO, 15 Cheung Shun Street, Lai Chi Kok, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Lai Chi Kok
Tel: +852 2557-7227
Website: www.pici.hk
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