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

Anyone familiar with fine dining in Hong Kong should be no stranger to Chef Umberto Bombana. He was the acclaimed chef at Ritz Carlton Hong Kong's famous Italian restaurant Toscana before its closure in 2008. In 2010 after months of preparation, he officially launches his own restaurant, 8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo Bombana in Central.

This latest venture by Chef Umberto Bombana sports a very cozy interior decor while the tables are generously spaced.

This is not the typical seafood salad you see every day. Lobster, squid and a white fish made up this exquisite salad that was further complemented by ratte potato, parsley and extra virgin olive oil dressing. It was a refreshing starter perfectly designed to kick off a wonderful lunch (7/10). 



When we first saw this appetizer on the menu, we thought it would be a boring dish with slices with parma ham and melon. But it turned out there's a catch to this.  

The parma ham riserva was not only served with slices of sweet cavaillon melon. Instead there was also a little cup of melon velouté to go with it.

So I followed the instructions carefully by first wrapping the melon with the parma ham and then dipped them into the velouté. That was sweet like a dessert (8/10)!



There was a bit of regression starting with the main courses. Our traditional veal scaloppine with white wine and capers sauce was slightly on the rough side. We expected more from a 3-starred kitchen (4/10).



The roasted black cod fish was better but still lacked the creativity shown in our starters. I liked the black olive, tomato confit and oberico ham bits on top of the fish. It added extra bite and flavor to go with the fish and the extra virgin olive oil and lemon dressing (6/10).



Dessert was the "8 1/2" chocolate tart served with a chocolate-flavored ice cream and a small cup of warm chocolate macchiato. Unfortunately I am not a big fan of dark chocolate (5/10).



Serviice was definitely top of the class. Food was also well prepared but I thought there was a lack of creative flare and wow factor missing from certain dishes.

Food Rating: 6/10

Price: $$$$

Address: Shop 202, Landmark Alexandra, 18 Chater Road, Central, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Central
Website: www.ottoemezzobombana.com

Madam Sixty Ate (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

The never-ending carousel of new restaurants on Ship Street welcomes its latest member in Madam Sixty Ate early this week. Located on the first floor of the J Senses complex right next to The Pawn on Johnston Road, Madam Sixty Ate is a modernly designed kitchen serving a modern cuisine with a blend of French and British inspiration.

The kitchen is headed by Chris Woodyard, the former Culinary Director of the W Hotel Hong Kong. From the decorations such as the paintings and wallpapers, we knew this would be a fun and exciting dining experience. And it better be, coz I have come a long way to Wanchai for this, with heavy rain pouring over my shoulder.



My starter was a slow-cooked salmon fillet served on a bed of barley. The salmon was slow cooked with olive oil to near perfection with the olive oil providing that extra flavor and texture.

I won't consider it a brilliant dish but nevertheless a good start to this meal.



Despite the good start, things started going downhill from here. My main course was a hanger steak served with some sprout in a creamy mustard sauce.

Hanger steak, prized for its natural flavor, was always a tough one to deal with. The cooking temperature had to be almost perfect and in this case, it was not. The result was a very chewy hanger steak that I barely finished. 



I would expect a little bit more than just a very tiny cup of hazelnut mousse since dessert was not complimentary.

Although the restaurant is still at its infant stage, I'd expect a bit more from a kitchen of this caliber.


Food Rating: 4/10
Address: Shop 8, 1/F The Podium, J Senses, 60 Johnston Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Wanchai

Website: www.madamsixtyate.com.hk

Tin Lung Heen 天龍軒 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

Tin Lung Heen (天龍軒) has been my "preferred" Chinese restaurant for occasions ever since it opened its doors to customers a while ago. Situated more than 100 floors up in the Ritz Carlton Hotel, it might not have the same pedigree as 3-star Michelin Lung King Heen (yet) but it certainly sits on top of my list.

 

They have this narrowly shaped dining room but you can get a piece of the harbour view from almost at every angle of the restaurant.  



The view is mostly on the Tai Kok Tsui side so unlike Tosca, you can't see any fireworks from here.



This is my first time having dinner here and I have a feeling it won't be my last.

Our amuse bouche came in a tiny little bowl in the form of a deep fried wonton served with a sweet and sour sauce. The acidity kind of woke up my taste buds almost instantly.



Char-grilled barbecued Iberian pork (蜜燒西班牙黑豚肉叉燒) - Every Chinese restaurant in the city is doing their char siu with Spanish Iberico pork these days and obviously, Tin Lung Heen is one of them. This is pretty fatty and super tender. Too bad the portion was a little small so we had to fight for that extra piece.



Deep-fried crab shell filled with crab meat and onion (炸釀鮮蟹蓋) - I stopped ordering this dish after realizing that most restaurants would put way too much onion and not enough crab meat in there. But this is not the case here at all. Every bite contains chunks of fresh crab meat and this is just pure joy.



Double-boiled chicken soup with fish maw in baby coconut (原個椰皇花膠燉雞) - The star of the night without question. The double boiled soup here never fails me with its great depth of flavor. The chicken, fish maw and coconut combined for a real nice symphony of flavors that was very enticing for our palates.



Stewed chicken with preserved vegetables (家鄉梅菜雞) - Didn't expect this from a top-notch hotel restaurant as it's more of a household dish. But this is seriously good again with the chicken being some of the sweetest and most tender one I've tasted for a while. The homemade sauce made with Chinese preserved vegetables, was served on the side to provide yet another dimension to the chicken.



Pan-fried garoupa fillet with green onion in superior soy sauce (醬油葱花煎斑柳) - Perhaps the least successful dish of the evening. The deboned garoupa was way over-seasoned with the superior soy sauce.



Braised assorted vegetables and deep-fried shredded mushroom in superior sauce (蜜味花菇三色蔬) - A nicely presented vegetable dish with all kinds of vegetarian ingredients that include bok choy, mushrooms among other stuff. This is the entire opposite to the previous dish in the sense that they could probably put a bit more seasoning in there to make it more interesting.



Pan-fried vermicelli with scallops, green onion and ginger (薑葱帶子煎米粉) - The vermicelli was pretty "al dente" which was nice. Not bad.



Double-boiled Tienjin pear with sea coconut (海底椰燉津梨) - More double boiled stuff, but this time it was our dessert. It's just the perfect dessert for the summer with the pear soup playing a great nourishing role. I'm feeling like a different man after washing this down (with a better lung and all according to Chinese medicine).



This is a very impressive debut, especially with the double boiled soup, char siu and chicken. I am planning to do this again sometime soon.

Food Rating: 7/10
Price: $$$$
Address: 102/F, The Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong, International Commerce Centre (ICC), Elements, 1 Austin Road West, West Kowloon, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Kowloon Station
Tel: +852 2263-2263
Website: www.ritzcarlton.com/en/Properties/HongKong/Dining/tin_lung_heen