It's been a while since I last received an invitation to a new restaurant that I didn't end up turning down. Located on the 10th floor of Cubus in Causeway Bay, Castellana Restaurant serves regional Piedmont cuisine in collaboration with Chef Marco Sacco from two-Michelin starred Piccolo Lago. It's a brand new opening that's been on my radar screen for some time and definitely a place I won't mind paying for a meal.
The bespoke multi-course lunch menu at Castellana allows diners to mix and match their own starter, first, second course and dessert. Since we knew nothing about Piedmont (except their hazelnuts) and its cuisine, we decided to take on a longer culinary journey with its 7-course tasting menu designed by Chef Sacco.
Lunch started off brilliantly with some soft ricotta cheese mousse topped by Piedmont almonds that was finished off with bell pepper flavored sponge and basil dust. Right from the start, we got a taste of the contemporary approach of a pretty exciting brand of Italian cuisine that's fun to watch (and eat!).
Our amuse bouche was immediately followed by some homemade bread to get our appetites going.
Our first dish of the tasting menu was smoked lake trout which has been smoked for 3 to 4 hours. Dusted with spices and beautifully decorated with edible flowers and raspberry gel, the smoked lake trout came with this really nice wobbly texture. It's not as smoky or flavorful as most smoked salmon so we could still taste the naturally rich flavors of the trout. Not a bad start at all.
Things continued to get better with the upcoming dishes. First, it was Fassona beef tartare served with a clear beef broth and pickled vegetables.
Fassona beef is a Piedmontese cattle from the northwestern part of Italy born fawn colored and turns grey-white as it matures. It is renowned for its unique muscular structure, resulting in excellent texture, tenderness, juiciness, and a rich, sweet flavor.
Obviously, the chefs here are very confident in the beef's unique texture and flavor, which is why they've only added sparkling water and spring onion while they prepare the tartare. It was a great way to preserve the natural flavors from the cattle and I was really impressed with the tenderness, juiciness and sweet flavors of the beef. It's also one of the leanest cut I've ever seen, which for me is just perfect for a tartare.
Risotto with black garlic and river prawn was next. The artful presentation was complete with dabs of weed jelly and white cheese.
This was one of the most delicious risotto I've ever had the pleasure of enjoying. The creamy and silky risotto was brimming with sweetness from the black garlic, matching well with the freshness of the river prawn while the weed jelly and white cheese sauce provided some earthy and cheesy notes to the mix. A really well-designed dish with the perfect execution.
Following the risotto was Chef Sacco's signature Carbonara "au koque", the chef's modern take on the classic spaghetti carbonara. The secret of success to this popular dish might be attributed to a special ingredient to the eggy Carbonara sauce - gin, an element that the chef thought would make the sauce more delicate on the palate.
Our fish course today was Corregone lake fish from the cod fish family, finished with a blackberry glaze. I thought the fish came with much less fat content than the usual cod fish but with noticeably stronger flavors. And those flavors were wonderfully enhanced by the fruity notes from the blueberry glaze. A simple yet sophisticated dish with a well-balanced mix of flavors.
It was served with a mixed berries salad and warm kale on the side.
Our meat course saw us going back to the prized Fassone beef again, only this time the tenderloin was seared to medium-rare, and matched with foie gras and a tangy, intense red wine sauce.
This looked absolutely beautiful. Succulent with perfect tenderness and juiciness. The presentation didn't jump out immediately but it was a superb dish with terrific textural contrast. The excellent combination of flavors and textures didn't just stop with the wonderfully cooked beef tenderloin, foie gras and red wine reduction but carried over to the rest of the dish that also included potato purée, baby spinach leaves and bread crumbs (love the crunch there!).
Dessert was the evolution of tiramisu - past, present and future (from left to right).
This was a stunning display of imagination and creativity. On the left was the classic tiramisu we have all grown to love with ladyfingers, mascarpone cream and cocoa powder.
The "Now" version was an innovative interpretation of a tiramisu comprising of a vanilla pudding with coffee flavored cream filling, and topped with a cocoa nibs wafer and scoop of mascarpone sorbet (Call me old-fashioned but I still love the classic one more!).
We also took a glimpse into the future on how a tiramisu might look like. Here we have a chocolate infused with tiramisu flavored liquor to complete the journey into our tiramisu evolution.
I didn't expect such a brilliantly executed meal from this small and cozy restaurant so it was all a very nice pleasant surprise. The smoked trout and Carbonara weren't bad but it was the two beef dishes and risotto that really stole my heart. I'm definitely going to come back and check out the other set menus real soon.
Food Rating: 7.3/10
Price: $$$$
Address: 10/F, Cubus, 1 Hoi Ping Road, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Causeway Bay
Tel: +852 3188-5028
Website: www.castellanahongkong.com
After two weeks of non-stop western food in La-la-land (well, there was this one Chinese meal at Din Tai Fung.), we promised ourselves that we'd get a run of Chinese food when we come back to Hong Kong. We first kicked off our parade of Chinese cuisine this weekend at 1935 壹玖叁伍, a modern Chinese restaurant at M88 near Lan Kwai Fong.
As I stepped into 1935 壹玖叁伍, there was a sense of nostalgia of the Old Shanghai back in the French concession days (my recollection from old photos and movies). I immediately made an educated guess that it had to be a Shanghainese restaurant.
But I was wrong! It was actually a restaurant serving Sichuan cuisine with a bit of modern twist.
It was getting a little late for lunch (2:30pm) so we quickly ordered a few dishes to share among the three of us.
Crispy bean curd skin mille crepe (香酥軟枕) ($75) - A little like the Vegetarian Goose (素鵝) from Shanghainese cuisine but it was a better interpretation with layers of bean curd stacked up in the middle like a mille feuille. There's a slightly more crispy bean curd on the outside to give it a bit more texture. Very tasty.
Braised winter melon, conpoy, double boiled chicken stock (金絲和田玉) ($95) - A beautifully presented dish with scoops of braised winter melon dressed like a bunch of green grapes. The winter melon balls were really sweet and flavorful thanks to the double boiled chicken stock which was spot on without going over the top (some chicken broth tends to be a little too rich or sweet).
Judging from his smile, I'm guessing that my little nugget must be enjoying this dish a lot.
Fried king prawns, vermicelli, homemade mustard (白雲芥末蝦球) ($105) - Another dish that impressed me a lot with its design and execution. The king prawns were fried to absolute perfection and finished with some homemade mustard and a layer of crispy vermicelli.
Very delicious.
Fried mandarin fish, sweet and sour sauce (糖醋桂花魚) ($250) - Pretty nice balance of sweetness and acidity. Not bad.
Wok fried free range chicken, nuts, Sichuan dried chili (辣子雞) ($165) - I was a little worried about this dish when I placed the order but luckily it didn't show up with lots of dried chili like some of the ones I had before (actually you won't be able to see any chicken because they were all covered by a sea of dried red chili.). Both the free-range chicken and cashews were quite nice and tasty. Now, if I could get a bowl of steamed rice, it would be perfect!
Poached cabbage, superior soup (上湯娃娃菜) ($130) - Something nutritious to stay healthy after all the seafood and meat.
This relatively new Sichuan restaurant in the heart of Central caught me a little by surprise with a number of these amazing dishes. I'm really interested in coming back to check out their week-day lunch which is comfortably priced at $168 per head.
Food Rating: 5.5/10
Price: $$$
Address: 19/F, M88, Wellington Place, 2-8 Wellington Street, Central, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Central
Website: www.facebook.com/1935restaurant/
1935 壹玖叁伍 Hong Kong new restaurant good wonderful Sichuan cuisine Central near Lan Kwai Fong nostalgic vibe
Last week when I was picking up my little boy's birthday cake at D2 Place ONE, I saw this banner there that said Si Simply Italian at D2 Place TWO is presenting a special 6-course menu designed by 1-Michelin star chef Stefano Masanti until the end of the month. It got me curious enough that I eventually decided to come over and have a look this week.
Chef Masanti was nowhere to be found in the open kitchen but still I decided to give this special menu a shot.
My last visit to Si was about a year ago and I still remembered they had some really nice homemade pasta. Tonight though, I will set the bar a little higher since they have a Michelin starred chef putting this special menu together for them.
The first course to warm up our palates was vension carpaccio served with juniper and gin butter, black truffle pearls, confit lemon and edible flowers. I thought the texture of the carpaccio was really nice. The vension was flavorful yet not overpowering like I originally suspected and those flavors were neatly backed up by the black truffle pearls and confit lemon. Pretty good start for me.
Second course of the tasting menu was chestnut cream which was almost like a velouté. Creamy chestnut combined surprisingly well with parmesan foam, poached egg, Sassella wine, vinegar and caramel (Yes, caramel!) forming a wonderful marriage of flavors.
This was seriously good. Not your typical chestnut soup with all the complex flavors but I like the way they've come together and harmonized each other.
Another enjoyable dish was skillfully cooked fresh capunti pasta. It was served with an assortment of mushrooms.
I thought this was really delicious. Apart from their cute appearance that looked like an open pea pod, the pasta had really nice bite to them.
Next up was roasted polenta gnocchi served with a ragout made with pork ribs and finished with a bit of lentils over the top. I like the texture of the gnocchi which was a little crunchy on the outside while soft and moist inside. I didn't think I have ever had a gnocchi as big as a jumbo fish ball before so this was a whole new experience for me all together.
My last savory dish was slow-cooked veal cheek served with potato cake and endives.
The veal cheek was meltingly tender and I thought the endives did okay to cut through the richness of the cheeks.
Finally, it was time for dessert which was a simple semifreddo served with raspberry sauce, mixed berries and chocolate to wrap up this wonderful dinner.
The kitchen's ability to deliver high-quality pasta was again in full display tonight as I thought both the capunti pasta and gnocchi were two of the best dishes of the night. The chestnut cream dish was another pleasant surprise with the way the parmesan foam and poached egg (egg yolk in particular) elevating the flavors of the creamy chestnut to another level. All in all, it was a very entertaining night full of good food in a nice friendly setting.
Food Rating: 6/10
Price: $$$
Address: Shop G03, G/F, D2 Place TWO, 15 Cheung Shun Street, Lai Chi Kok, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Lai Chi Kok
Tel: +852 2370-9022
Website: www.sirestaurant.hk
Si Simply Italian modern Italian restaurant D2 Place Lai Chi Kok special dinner menu Michelin star chef Stefano Masanti best pasta Hong Kong
I got an unexpected early release from work today thanks to our training instructor finishing a little before scheduled time. Instead of going to the gym, I decided to check out some early bird deals on Eatigo. Interestingly enough, I was able to find a number of 50%-off deals, including one from Japanese fusion restaurant, Fumi. I remembered coming here about 2 years ago when the place was still called Ore-no Kappou (俺の割烹). A recent change of ownership led to the name change but I was happy to see the food menu remaining largely the same.
I didn't expect the restaurant to be 70% full this early (6:30pm). I'm wondering if everybody is getting the same great deal as mine.
Sea urchin with chicken consommé jelly and soft tofu skin - It looks like the change of ownership has no domino effects on the food menu at all. At least not yet as everything looks more or less the same since my last visit. Starting things off for me was a small glass of chicken consommé jelly with layers of soft tofu skin nicely topped with sea urchin. A very nice refreshing start.
King tiger prawn tempura - I believe it's my first time trying out the restaurant's tempura and this king tiger prawn tempura was excellent. Perfectly crispy batter and the tiger prawn was so meaty. One of my favorite dish tonight without a question.
Assorted skewers - I decided to sample a few of their skewers tonight. A bit of mixed results from these as I really liked the ox tongue and sweet potato but the Miyazaki sausage and Japanese small onion were just OK.
Grilled foie gras marinated with Saikyo miso and green tea wine sauce - Next up was grilled foie gras which the chefs had marinated with Saikyo miso. This was very very nice. I like the way they complement the richness of the foie gras with the earthy flavors of green tea and sweetness of Saikyo miso. A bit of apple slaw and apple purée helped to offset the rich flavors from the dish.
Grilled Miyazaki sirloin in Sukiyaki sauce - My main dish was a no-brainer for me as I went with the same grilled Miyazaki beef I had on my last visit though with a totally different interpretation. This one was simmered in a rich and flavorful sukiyaki sauce and served with a Japanese style poached egg as the dipping sauce on the side.
The marbling here was perfect and the sirloin was sooo tender and succulent. I guess with such a well-marbled and tender piece of beef, a simple supporting cast of shittake mushroom, tofu, enoki mushrooms, zucchini and Miyazaki tomato was already more than enough to do the trick.
Miyazaki Jitokko free-range wild chicken, Miyazaki chestnut and steamed Japanese rice in mini-pot - I thought I couldn't pour any more food in but a dish with two of my favorite ingredients (chestnut and chicken) changed my mind.
This was my first experience with Miyazaki Jitokko free-range wild chicken and I thought it tasted a lot like French chicken. It had incredible depth of flavor (and a little gamey) but at the same time, a little more texture. Not bad.
I wish I had more room to fit in their pineapple creme brûlée but I've had a lot of food already. So, I guess I will leave it until next time.
Before I step out of the restaurant, I had a quick chat with my server and he was hinting about a revamped menu on the way. Instead of all the fusion dishes currently on display, they're leaning towards a more authentic Japanese cuisine and dining experience. This is going to be interesting and I'll definitely come back in a few months to check out their new gig.
Food Rating: 6.5/10
Price: $$$
Address: 6/F, California Tower, 30-32 D'Aguilar Street, Central, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Central
Tel: +852 2328-3302
