The Octavium Group by three Michelin starred Chef Umberto Bombana is flexing its culinary muscles again with not one by two new restaurants this month.
The first of the two to soft-open is Venédia, an Italian restaurant on the ground floor of One Chinachem Central where it also houses the group's flagship restaurant, Octavium.
One of the first things we noticed when we sat down were the beautifully handmade chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. They reminded me so much of the glass-making from the island of Murano in Venice. Also reminded me how much I missed traveling!
Apart from the artful chandeliers, another major appeal for us was the food menu prepared by Chef Bjoern Alexander who's been on the move often in recent years (Twenty six by Liberty, Uwe, Petrus and now here).
Grilled octopus salad – We started off with a trio of appetizers starting with this grilled octopus salad. The octopus was a little less charred than I would like but the sliced heirloom tomatoes were really fresh and ripe. The dish was nicely complemented by some acidity from the green olives and crunch from the crisp sourdough. Not bad.
Beef carpaccio – Next up was beef carpaccio topped by a layer of chopped rocket salad, parmesan and onion.
Pretty decent.
Lobster bisque – Mom and little nugget opted for a bowl of lobster bisque instead. The flavorful soup was nicely paired with a pair of Buffalo ricotta tortellini.
Fritto Misto Deluxe – Onto our main dishes, the first to arrive was the deluxe seafood platter with deep-fried dover sole, blue lobster and squid.
I like the thin batter working well with the homemade tartar sauce.
Linguine "Gentile" – The last two dishes were both pasta dishes. More successful was the Linguine "Gentile" tossed in an aromatic bisque sauce which I thought was pretty similar to a lobster bisque but with a bit of spicy kick.
I thought they were going to give us a couple of large and juicy red carabinero prawns on top of the pasta but they elected to slice them into smaller pieces.
Spaghettini "Martelli" – Spaghettini tossed in the same sauce as the previous pasta dish but without the spicy touch. It came with a little bit different supporting cast, this one with lobster from Boston, garlic and dried tomatoes. Both pasta dishes weren't bad but they tasted awfully similar. For that, I blamed our server for not advising us to order something a little more different.
Little guy was overjoyed when our server surprised him with a complimentary vanilla gelato. That's his favorite flavor so he's over the moon!
Anytime you dine at Chef Bombana's restaurants, you're guaranteed to have some of the best (and freshest) ingredients in town. Today's lunch at the newly opened Venédia was no different but unfortunately, our dining experience was slightly ruined by, well an inexperienced server who obviously didn't perform up to the caliber of this restaurant. With the similarities in the three dishes we ordered (Fritto Misto Deluxe, Linguine "Gentile" and Spaghettini "Martelli"), perhaps he should have given us a heads-up like some of the best in the business would do.
Food Rating: 6/10
Price: $$$$
Address: G/F One Chinachem Central, 22 Des Voeux Road Central, Central, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Central
Tel: +852 2851-2303
Opening Hours: 10:00am - 10:00pm daily
