8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo Bombana (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

Jelloman and I have been talking about 8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo Bombana’s white truffle dinner for years. I have been very lazy picking up the phone (year after year) so it never materializes until tonight. I figure with our wedding anniversary coming up in a few days, there’s another reason to splurge on a big meal in addition to the white truffle season.

Little nugget is tagging along tonight and we all know what that means. We will be expelled from the restaurant’s main dining room. On most nights, it doesn’t bother me at all but tonight, it sucks a little as the lounge was fairly noisy with a couple of customers getting a little, shall we say, pumped up. Normally, I won’t say this but just for my dining privileges, I wish little one could grow up faster so we can all enjoy our meals where we are supposed to (we won’t have such problems if we’re dining in Europe though).

Our amuse bouche tonight was sautéed chanterelles, with mushroom consommé, mushroom foam and shaved white truffle (not sure if they’re from Alba).

This came with a few slices of white truffle. Obviously, they are trying to get this “white truffle” theme into our heads early. Not a bad idea.

The cold appetizer for us was marinated shima aji (striped horse mackerel). This was beautifully decorated with Oscietra caviar in an umami-rich champagne dressing.

Not surprisingly, the combination of flavors and textures worked really well together. There’s the acidity, sweetness, a touch of smokiness and a great temperature and texture contrast.

Our shima aji dish was followed by a warm appetizer, roasted blue lobster and assorted mushrooms served with a slightly briny sea urchin emulsion. The zesty hint from the citrus dressing was a lovely touch but I wish there could be a little more sweetness there for a much better balance. (The slow pace of serving us food was starting to get on my nerve a bit.)

Just before our white truffle pasta arrived, we were offered a bonus dish, homemade pasta with diced tuna and sundried tomato. Obviously, there is reason why 8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo Bombana remains the best Italian restaurant in town year after year. The execution of their pasta is always perfect. Lovely al dente texture and this came with some extra kick (from what I thought was bottarga?) too.

Little one has been waiting for this since we stepped in (so did we!).

Our homemade egg tagliolini!

It was simply tossed with butter and parmesan, and finished with a shower of white truffle from Alba Italy. Let it snow with Alba white truffle!

It's very aromatic! Could smell this from miles away.

We almost couldn't see the tagliolini as they were totally covered by the white truffle. This was very very tasty.

At this point, I decided to ask our server to speed things up and he gladly agreed to our request. I should have done it after the first starter!

My main dish of beef tenderloin and short rib was next. It’s not the first time I had this here and it won’t be the last.

The timeless combination of tenderloin and short rib was simply served with mashed potato and seasonal vegetables in a red wine reduction. The tenderloin was pretty good but the short rib was so succulent! Yeah, it’s a little heavy after two pasta dishes but I guess I’ll just have congee the next two nights to make up for it.

Jelloman instead had the Challan duck with root vegetables and spice duck jus. There’s just something about French duck that I couldn’t resist. Pretty nice.

For dessert, I chose the “millefoglie” with hazelnut gelato and vanilla sauce over the melon soup.

My better half wanted something lighter and more refreshing so with little wonder, she had the melon soup with melon pearls and sorbet. I would have made the same choice if it’s in the middle of the summer myself.

I have only asked for the "Happy Anniversary" wording written next to one of our desserts but the good guys here decided to treat us to a lovely raspberry chocolate tart with the greeting next to it. How nice is that!?

Some petit fours while we enjoyed our coffee and tea.

It was a very good evening full of good food and I’m glad we finally tick Chef Bombana’s white truffle dinner off my long to-do list. Jelloman looks like she’s a happy camper and I’m just delighted that she has stuck by me the last two decades through all the good and bad times. 

P.S. Just one small regret. We didn't get to see Chef Bombana tonight. I guess he must be busy attending his children's Halloween party somewhere.

Food Rating: 8/10
Price: $$$$$
Address: Shop 202, Landmark Alexandra, 18 Chater Road, Central, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Central
Tel: +852 2537-8859
Website: www.ottoemezzobombana.com
S. Pellegrino Asia's 50 Best Restaurants: 32nd (2020)

Pici Pasta Bar Lai Chi Kok (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

My son was off to his Halloween party leaving old dad without any dinner plans tonight. But I wasn't worried a bit since I know I have quite a few options waiting for me. Finally, I decided to pay Pici Pasta Bar a long overdue visit. It's been a while since I last came for their freshly made pasta dishes and to my pleasant surprise, they already have a bar table ready for me after a very short wait.



They were making ravioli right in front of me. 

That would be a fine choice for my pasta dish?

Vitello Tonnato - I'm starting things off with their classic Vitello Tonnato as usual. The thin slices of veal were perfectly smothered in the pool of tuna mayonnaise, with the Sicilian capers providing some lovely acidity to the dish. Pretty nice.

Homemade linguini with mussels, prawn and pesto sauce - The freshly made pasta was tossed in a herby pesto sauce with prawn and mussels. The pasta was perfectly al dente; though I'm not a fan of pesto sauce, this was working much better than I have expected. Not bad. 

I'm cutting down on desserts these days so there will be no tiramisu for me tonight. Shame~

P.S. My digital camera hasn't been working properly the last little while so I have been substituting it with my iphone these days. Obviously, it's not working that well (as seen in the less-than-perfect photos above). Looks like I needed to act fast and get myself a new camera soon.

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

Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 3:00pm, 5:00pm - 10:00pm daily

Popinjays at The Murray (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

Believe me, I have tried for the longest time to check Popinjays, a contemporary rooftop restaurant, bar and terrace on top of luxurious The Murray Hotel off my list but it just wasn't meant to be. The closest I got was a dinner reservation in May which was abruptly cancelled thanks to the government's suspension of dinner dine-in service. Little that I knew, it would take almost six months for me to finally get another crack at it.

This time, I decided to take advantage of a special deal from Restaurant Week's Winner Edition. A very special price on their holiday brunch; needless to say, I wasted no time gathering mom and Jelloman's parents for this occasion. Too bad with the current ban on groups of more than four, we had to sit across the aisle from each other while we enjoy today's brunch.

The only time I visited The Murray was a previous lunch at The Tai Pan so this marked the first time I set foot on their rooftop terrace. I have to admit, the facility looks far better than I imagine. 

Everybody loves bright and airy rooftop restaurants especially with those floor-to-ceiling windows.

After spending some time checking out the bar and terrace, we finally got seated in the main dining room.

I love the sleek all-white design with the occasional gold and blue. Very elegant and modern at the same time.

The paintings did look a little cheeky but what do I know about interior design!?

Little nugget couldn't wait to see what's available at the semi-buffet bar so we went out for a quick look.

There were two stations here. The first one came with all the savory dishes including salad, charcuterie, cheese and a small selection of seafood.

5J Jamon Iberico de Bellota? Some of us were eager to find out.....

Sitting right next to the savory dishes were the assorted fruit, pastries and more.

This is likely going to be the main event for me!

My first of many savory dishes to start the meal.....

These tomatoes were so ripe and juicy! I ended up having at least three plates full of these.

I didn't have a close-up photo of the smoked salmon nor salmon gravlax but like the different types of tomatoes, they were so gooood!

Also included was unlimited supply of prawn gratin with baby spinach and lobster bisque.

Little nugget showing off his plate full of Iberico ham and melon.

Obviously, he's not done!

I had my ham with melon and strawberries.

One last Caesar salad before my main course. Of course, I couldn't resist the urge to grab a couple of macarons.

The first of our two main dishes was lobster linguine and sliced lobster, which was tossed in its own bisque with medallions, Thai basil and tarragon.

Honestly, I was almost full by now so this had to be almost perfect to impress me and it wasn't. I thought the bisque could have been a little more creamy and richly flavored.

The "paella style" saffron risotto with scallop, stone bass and prawns was just OK as well. The shellfish emulsion in particular was a little light in flavors.

We had an early start at noon time so by the time we finished our main dish, it was only 1:30pm. That means I got exactly an hour to tame my sweet tooth! But where should I start? Their freshly made madeleines?

How about these mini baked lemon tarts?

For a macaron lover like me, it's like a dream comes true. All-you-can-eat macarons (vanilla and pistachio the best!)!

I thought the cassis (I think) religieuse was pretty decent.

More successful was the mille feuille but I only had room for one.

I really got more than I bargain for. The semi-buffet portion of the meal was simply excellent. They didn't have the widest selection but the quality of ingredients more than made up of it. We all agreed that the main dish was really just there to fill the gaps (between starter and dessert). It wasn't bad but I could almost do without it. Almost.

After the meal, we brought little one to his favorite place in Admiralty, the Bird Garden inside Hong Kong Park. That was the end of our day capping off a rather busy long weekend for us.

Food Rating: 6/10

Price: $$$

Address: 26/F The Murray Hong Kong, 22 Cotton Tree Drive, Central, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Central

Tel: +852 3141-8888

Website: www.popinjayshk.com

Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 12:00am (Sun - Thu), 12:00pm - 1:00am (Fri - Sat)