Jamie's Italian at Harbour City (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★☆☆☆

It's nice to get a day off once in a while and I took the advantage of the opportunity to go do some shopping at Harbour City without the weekend crowd. But first, time to pick a spot for a quick lunch. Épure would be a nice fit but unfortunately that did not fit the bill for a quick meal so we ended up going to Jamie's Italian instead.




Didn't know they have this "Jamie's Super Lunch" offer on weekdays from noon to 6pm. It's a seriously good deal with 2-course starting at $128 and 3-course at $148 (only $20 more for dessert! WOW...). The deal looks too good to turn down.



Fritto misto - crispy fried fish and squid tossed in fennel spiced flour with garlic and lemon aioli. This tasted a lot like our own deep fried seafood "typhoon shelter" style (避風塘海鮮). Some of the crispy fried fish were a little fishy but the squid was OK. I like the garlic and lemon aioli though.



Truffle tagliatelle - handmade pasta in a luxurious, silky black truffle butter with aged parmesan, nutmeg and shaved black truffle. One of the house specialty supposingly. But the pasta wasn't done properly as half of it was still hard and undercooked. This was a complete fail especially considering that it's supposed to be a special dish here. 



Penne carbonara - crispy pancetta, sweet leeks and creamy parmesan sauce. Another pasta but this one was a main dish. I don't know how one could fail making a carbonara but this one also didn't get a passing grade from me because of one simple reason. I can make a BETTER carbonara than that at home! Yes! The parmesan sauce was really bland and even with the pancetta and shaved cheese, couldn't save the day.



Gennaro's chicken club sandwich - soft seeded bun stuffed with chargrilled marinated free-range chicken, crispy pancetta, spicy 'nduja mayo, fontal cheese, tomato and rocket leaves. A very busy dish with a lot of ingredients and out of the four savory dishes, the only one that managed to pass. The charcoal grilled chicken fillet was pretty nice and so were the soft-seeded bun, spicy mayo and fontal cheese.



Raspberry rippled pavlova - light and gooey meringue with whipped cream, macerated raspberries and smashed honeycomb. For $20 more, it's a huge bargain but pavlova is pavlova right? Not much surprises there.




Orange blossom polenta cake - light and fluffy polenta cake served with creme fraiche and pomegranate. This was as good as advertised. Light, fluffly, spongy and not too much acidity (from the orange). Easily the best dish of the meal.



I have been to Jamie's Italian on a number of occasions and often found them to be a fairly reliable source for some hearty comfort food so this was a big surprise for me. I did sense that because it's a set lunch, the cooking could be done by some of the less experienced chefs and that could explain all the hit-and-misses. If not for the two desserts, I am sure the food rating would be much much lower.

Food Rating: 3.5/10
Price: $$$
Address: Shop 412, Level 4, Ocean Centre, Harbour City, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Tsim Sha Tsui
Tel: +852 3758-3333
Website: www.jamieoliver.com/italian/hongkong

Emack & Bolio's (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

Of course just a quick lunch at Aberdeen Street Social won't keep me happy very long these days so afterwards I took a slow walk down to Cochrane Street for more sweet stuff.



Last time I visited Emack & Bolio's, the famed American ice-cream parlour had just arrived from United States and the place was totally packed with ladies but a few months removed from their grand opening, it's seen a lot quieter than expected. 



I really wanted to try their milkshake or better known as their Boston ice-cream frappe ($62) last time but opted to check out their special ice-cream cone instead. This time around, I made sure that I did lay hands on one of these babies.

Picking the caramel moose prints ice-cream for my milkshake seemed like the right choice. Very rich and buttery flavors coming from the caramel and peanut butter although the price was a little steep (comparing to other places like Chips Republic, Triple O's etc. but of course those were not made with ice-cream.).



Food Rating: 4.5/10

Price: $$$$

Address: 26 Cochrane Street, Central, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Central / Hong Kong Station
Tel: +852 2505-6626

Website: www.facebook.com/emackandbolioshk


 

Aberdeen Street Social (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

It's been a rough few weeks for me so I decided to wander a little further for lunch this afternoon. There are a few intriguing options on my mind and after narrowing things down to ON Dining and Aberdeen Street Social, I wasted no time heading over to Central. I kept walking out of IFC until my feet stopped moving near the PMQ.



I've always been a huge admirer of Chef Jason Atherton's contemporary cuisine and it's a real shame that I didn't get to visit Aberdeen Street Social as often as I should.




As quick as I could roll my eyes, a little welcoming dish of nori crackers along with a nice loaf of bread (warm too!) was already waiting on deck. The nori crackers were really nice and crispy. Interesting to see how they pair it with a special squid-ink dip.



First up for me this afternoon was roasted scallops with apple crumble and parmesan cheese foam. I am not quite sure if apple crumble was the right term to describe this dish as I would rather call it an "apple lasagna". 




Anyways, they have this really delicious scallop, roasted to golden brown color, wrapped around with a "sheet" of granny smith apple. The acidity from the granny smith was perfect for the sweetness of the scallop and I love the parmesan cheese foam, crushed hazelnut and dill providing the finishing touch. What a way to start this meal!



It's going to take a lot to impress me with this second dish coz I've never been a big fan of fish but they managed to surprise me with a well executed dish of roasted halibut. The texture of the halibut was nice and buttery, the way I like it. The squid ink risotto was a touch over-seasoned but nevertheless a very enjoyable dish without a question.



For dessert, I was having the caramelized apple "lasagna" with black honey ice-cream, green apply jelly and hazelnuts. Not to be mistaken with my scallop dish earlier, this one also features granny smith and hazelnut. I thought it was quite a pleasant dish. Although I didn't quite see the lasagna in play, I did enjoy the mix of sweetness and acidity.




A very simple petite fours presented with this really strange-looking wooden container. 



I haven't had such an impressive meal for a while (mainly coz I haven't been out a lot lately). There was no doubt in my mind that I would be back here very shortly.



Food Rating: 7/10
Price: $$$
Address: PMQ, 1/F, JPC, 35 Aberdeen Street, Central, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Central / Hong Kong Station
Tel: +852 2866-0300
Website: www.aberdeenstreetsocial.hk