St Paul is dropping by Hong Kong for 48 hours to attend to some personal matters over the weekend. It's been two years since I last saw my best friend from Los Angeles so I wasn't going to miss this chance to meet him. This time, he's staying at Ritz Carlton Hong Kong so Tosca di Angelo was a fairly easy choice to make (considering he just checked in at 8am in the morning).
I didn't expect much of a crowd here today considering all the activities that have been going on over every weekend but surprisingly, the restaurant was nearly half full.
Thanks to the good guys here, I was given a table next to the window. That's always a huge bonus when you're dining at Tosca, which is more than 400 metres above the ground.
It was a beautiful day out there though a little bit hazy.
It was nice to catch up with my BFF. A lot have happened since we last met but we both managed to strive in the face of adversity. I guess that's what life is all about.
Some extra virgin vinegar from the chef's hometown of Sicily helped to kick off this meal in style. There were some fruity ones that sounded pretty interesting but at the end, I decided to try the one which has been flavored with artichoke.
Some homemade bread to go with the extra virgin vinegar.
Lunch got off to a flying start thanks to a very refreshing amuse - tomato gazpacho topped with a light cheese foam, raspberry coulis and croutons.
This is a very nice marriage between the gazpacho, goat cheese and raspberry coulis. I thought the sharp, clean flavors from the gazpacho were complemented wonderfully by the richness of the goat cheese and acidity of the raspberry coulis.
I was having something from the sea to start the meal. The Hokkaido scallop wrapped with a thin slice of pancetta was pan-seared to perfection.
The rich flavored scallop was interestingly served on a bed of pumpkin and orange velouté. I have had pan-seared scallop with pumpkin velouté many times before but pumpkin velouté infused with zesty orange flavors?
This was a bit beyond my imagination. The sweetness of the pumpkin velouté was the perfect match for the Hokkaido scallop but the bitterness from the orange flavor seemed to be something that came out of left field.
My Primi Piatti was spaghetti Chitarra Mancini tossed with Datterino tomatoes, with a large piece of roasted langoustine served on the side.
This was very aromatic. I could smell the strong flavors from miles away.
The pasta was very very al dente and the sauce made with Datterino tomatoes and different parts of the langoustine (head, coral etc. I assume) really brought the dish a whole new dimension. My only complaint was its lukewarm temperature. Perhaps it's been parked in front of the kitchen a little too long, so instead of warm, the dish was served lukewarm which wasn't really ideal.
Next up was seared line caught sea bass served with mullet bottarga and variations of topinambur. I would love to have their wagyu again but this was a nice change of pace for me.
Dessert was a no-brainer for me. I'm getting one of my favorite tiramisu in town.
Looks like they have tinkered with this dessert a little bit. There's a small container full of coffee granita served with the tiramisu now.
The same old light and foamy tiramisu. I think I deserve a decadently delicious dessert like this after a hardworking week at work.
Some migrandises served after the dessert with our coffee and tea.
.....including this dark chocolate with the restaurant's name on it.
After our satisfying brunch, St Paul brought me up to his harbour-view room.
The jaw-dropping view is certainly worth the heavy price tag.
It's my second visit since Chef Angelo took over the reigns and I can honestly say that the transition has been rather smooth and seamless.
Food Rating: 7.2/10
Price: $$$$
Address: 102/F The Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong, International Commerce Centre, 1 Austin Road West, West Kowloon, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Kowloon
Tel: +852 2263-2270
Website: www.ritzcarlton.com/en/hotels/china/hong-kong/dining/tosca
Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 2:30pm, 6:30pm - 10:30pm (Mon - Sat), 11:30am - 3:00pm, 6:30pm - 10:30pm (Sun)
For months, I have been hearing about Asia's first Tiffany Blue Box Cafe opening at One Peking in Tsim Sha Tsui but yet no words on when and where the online reservation would start. After patiently waiting for a few months, I finally got confirmation from my Korean foodie friend that online booking has officially started on Chope.
The original Tiffany Blue Box Cafe in New York City is famed for its breakfast and afternoon tea sets but I'm going to check out their dinner set first.
Dinner started off with a playful welcome drink. A ball-shaped marshmallow melted immediately as soon as my server poured the Tiffany blue colored pop into the glass. I didn't even have time for a photo before the marshmallow evaporated in front of my very own eyes.
Just when I was still enjoying my elderflower drink, I needed to get my camera ready again because my hamachi carpaccio was ready to be served.
This was beautifully plated with the bed of thinly sliced hamachi topped elegantly with radish, shallots, fresh chives, wasabi cress and paprika. The colorful dish was finished off with a lemony dressing that brilliantly brought out the sweetness of the carpaccio.
I really like the pacing here. As a solo diner, you really don't want to wait around for 10 to 15 minutes for the next dish.
As soon as they took away the plate from my starter, it was almost immediately swapped with my main dish. Meet my roasted Spanish pork loin, wonderfully complemented by bean sprouts and variations of carrot. This wasn't bad at all, albeit a bit heavy-handed with the sprinkle of fresh pepper.
I was really looking forward to dessert coz after all, this branch of Tiffany Blue Box Cafe is in collaboration with the Upper East Group, who's behind the local Lady M franchise and the upcoming opening of Dominique Ansel Hong Kong. Needless to say, they should know a thing or two about desserts.
I popped a tricky question to my server when I was placing my order. "What's your best dessert?" I asked. After pausing for a few seconds, he looked me straight into my eyes and said, "Caramel popcorn chocolate tart, our most popular dessert". Well, that's not my question, is it? Popular doesn't always mean best but in this case, I would take his word for it.
This is a pretty instagrammable dessert for the ladies but for me, it's just a typical chocolate tart with some funky toppings. On top of the chocolate tart was a tower made with chocolate ganache, praline royaltine, mascarpone cream and caramelized popcorn, served with mascarpone ice-cream on the side. I have to admit, the texture and flavor profile wasn't bad but it was hardly the sophisticated dessert I was expecting from the brain trust behind Lady M.
It's unfair to judge Tiffany Blue Box Cafe at this point since it's still very much in its infant stage. But early results (from my dinner) were promising and once they iron out some of their issues (like the heavy-handness with fresh pepper), they should be a safe bet for a hearty meal (style-wise, expect something along the line of Dalloyau Bistro).
P.S. The 3-course dinner set cost $458. Not exactly cheap.
Food Rating: 6/10
Price: $$$$
Address: Shop#207-208, Lobby Floor, One Peking, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Tsim Sha Tsui
Tel: +852 2362-9828
Opening Hours: 8:00am - 10:00pm (Weekday), 9:00am - 10pm (Weekend)
After spending nearly 3 months on a facelift, Grissini, the beloved Italian restaurant at Grand Hyatt Hong Kong has quietly re-opened its doors in September. It’s been over a decade since my last visit so I could hardly tell what has been changed at first glance.
Turns out there were only a couple of minor changes that took place during the brief renovation. First, they've added a lounge area in front of the reception which is used as an extension to the dining room during lunch hours but at night, it transforms into a bar area where diners can grab a drink or two before kicking off their dinner. An open kitchen design has also been adopted to provide diners with more transparency into what's happening behind the scene.
The rest is just about the same. The same old luxurious ambience.
New Chef de cuisine Marcello Scognamiglio has arrived just in time to put his stamp on a brand new menu that features rustic and authentic Italian dishes. Originally from Naples, the coastal city in southern Campania, Chef Marcello aims to bring in new flavors from his home region to tame the spoiled taste buds of Hongkongers.
The facelift, a new chef and revamped menu have obviously breathed new life into the old Italian fine-dining institution. I made a last-minute lunch reservation yesterday and looked where I was seated. Just a few steps away from the lounge (and miles away from the harbour view since the restaurant was packed).
My afternoon started off brightly with their giant grissini breadsticks freshly made in-house. That was so so good.
It was immediately followed by my starter, bonito tuna tartare, perfectly layered with sheep ricotta cheese, fresh figs and croutons.
A pretty refreshing dish to start off the meal although I thought the balance was a bit off. Way too much ricotta cheese on the bottom so a little too cheesy for the fresh bonito. For me, just a thin layer of ricotta underneath the silky tuna tartare would have done the trick already. Less is more.
For the same price, sea bass and veal cheek would have represented much better value for money but I really wanted to try their freshly made pasta so I went with their spaghetti dish.
With the abundance of cherry tomatoes and capers, I knew it was bounded to have a fair amount of acidity and I was right. This certainly wasn’t bad but nothing that blew me away. The pasta was really al dente and there's a tiny bit of hamachi crudo there for decorative purposes but was it better than any typical spaghetti dish (tossed with tomato) in town. I honestly couldn't say that was the case. In fact I could argue that the tomato spaghetti I had at the new Dalloyau Bistro a couple of months ago was a little bit better.
Before dessert, a nice cup of tea with an almond cookie to sooth my palate first.
Tiramisu was next. It was perhaps the lightest tiramisu I have ever had in Hong Kong. Very creamy and a little foamy at times yet the flavors all combined well together.
It's definitely one of the top 10 tiramisu in town. Now, I just need to revise my top 10 list.
Food Rating: 6.7/10
Price: $$$$
Address: 2/F Grand Hyatt Hong Kong, 1 Harbour Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Wanchai
Tel: +852 2584-7722
Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 2:30pm, 6:30pm - 10:30pm (Mon - Sat)
