Showing posts with label Italian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Italian. Show all posts

Sunday, October 27, 2019

[Review] Said Dal 1923 London

As well as Dark Sugars, Said Dal is another good place in Central London for chocolate.
Said Dal 1923 was established in 1923 in Italy.

You can expect to find thick hot chocolates and desserts covered in chocolate sauces.
The menu:

As it was the afternoon,  I didn't feel like a hot chocolate so had Chocolate Tea with a donut topped with chocolate to satisfy my cocoa cravings.
The donut covered in chocolate was nice and rich with a mix of melted white, milk and dark chocolate finished with a perfect sugarless chocolate tea.



Overall, quite a nice place but the staff could have been more attentive and I wasn't impressed with a big piece of tissue stuck to the fork.

Said Dal 1923 London:
41 Broadwick St, London W1F 9QL

Saturday, October 12, 2019

[Review] Berto Pasta

Went here with a friend who wanted to try Berto Pasta which is a new restaurant that opened in the third quarter of 2019.
It was a nice restaurant with an open kitchen, table seating and bar seats around the kitchen so you can watch the chefs cook.

We got a nice table on the side as we got there pretty early before it got busy.

Interestingly, as a fairly new restaurant, the cup was cracked.

As for the glass, there was a small piece of dried red pepper or chili stuck to it.

Looking at the menu, it was impressive as there was a good range, everything was very different so there was a good variety yet difficult to choose in a good way.


On the corner of the menu, I liked the way they illustrated the different types of pastas.

Although the dishes were different, I thought that dishes had to be chosen with thought as some of the ingredients were repeated in the appetizer and mains like the sardines and buffalo ricotta so if you had ordered the appetizer then you might not want to order the mains that contain that.

The sequence of the pasta dishes were important if you are sharing.
It was good that we had the stronger tasting pasta dish last as it really stole the show.

For appetizers, we ordered Fritti Sardines, Buffalo Ricotta with chestnut honey and mint and for the mains it was the Tagliatelle with rabbit white ragu, capers & black paesane olives.
Now this is where the appetizers affected the choice of our other mains, having ordered the sardines meant that if I ordered the strozzapreti as a main then the sardines would be repeated.
My friend really wanted the ravioli but it had buffalo ricotta which we ordered for appetizers.
In the end we settled for the gnocchi which worked out well for both of us as we love gnocchi.

Starters were fab, the sardines were fried to perfection with a light coating and the ricotta was creamy and velvety.

Next was the rabbit ragu tagliatelle which was delicious because each strand was al-dente and you can taste that it is freshly made pasta as they claim.

Finished with the gnocchi with nduja and melted stracciatella.
This totally stole the show and it was fortunate that we ordered this last as it had the strongest flavour in the sense that it was spicy with a salty kick from my favourite Italian nduja salami.
The creamy stracciatella helped to mellow the saltiness and spiciness of the nduja.
As well as the flavour, the texture of the gnocchi was so damn good, it was soft and pillowly with a slight starchiness from the potatoes.

Overall, we had a great dinner and if I am in the area again, I would probably try the Strozzapreti or Ravioli as they are freshly made!
On another topic, if you are in Hong Kong I would recommend PICI which is also freshly made pasta.

Berto Pasta:
155 Holloway Rd, London N7 8LX

Thursday, September 12, 2019

2/3 Dolci starring at Cafe Deco Pizzeria

Cafe Deco Pizzeria has been around for ages.
There was a branch at Sheung Wan which I didn't get to visit. 

Previously they were on the 1st floor of elements and now they have moved to the 2nd floor next to the cinema. 

When I arrived, I was greeted with a gelato cabinet which happened to be my favourite gelato brand 2/3 Dolci. 

Their pistachio gelato is highly recommended. 
As I was early, I had the salted caramel milkshake which is made with 2 scoops of 2/3 Dolci gelato.




Crostini plate: This was a nice light assortment of crab and salmon on crostini.




Steak Tartare: The steak tartare is highly recommended as there was a nice balanced taste with tart pickles.




Roasted Octopus: Not what I expect to find on the menu but I liked it because of the Mediterranean twist with olives etc.




Pork cheeks cavatalli: It was a creative combination of olives which was really moreish as the sauce was tangy and just the thing for summer.




From the choice of 10 pizzas, we reduced it down to two!
The Japanese free range egg with smoked tuna belly pizza and the M6 Wagyu beef and prawn.

Japanese free range egg with smoked tuna belly pizza:
The tuna belly pizza was really tasty enhanced by the egg and Shichimi oil which gives it a spicy exotic flare.




M6 Wagyu beef and prawn:




Desserts are a must and they have the latest souffle pancakes but my favourite was the cheesecake which was presented in a deconstructed way wrapped in fruit jelly.
The fighting flavours:
Salted caramel mousse with candied peanuts.




The best of both worlds (cheesecake):




Souffle pancakes: Original and Matcha.




Tuesday, July 30, 2019

A tasty Piedmont food journey at Castellana

Castellana Restaurant is no ordinary Italian cuisine because they specialize in dishes from Piedmont in Italy.

Piedmont cuisine is so different to your usual Italian fare like pizza because of its location and climate. You won't find olives growing well there hence root vegetables are used and you will find risotto cooked with butter instead of olive oil.

I  had the 7 course set which meant I could try more variety and all the courses on the menu were worth trying.

Started with their house made crusty bread:

^^^^^^^^^^
Roasted Pepper with Parmesan Cheese:
This was a nice appetizer to tease the palate.

^^^^^^^^^^
Smoked lake trout:
The first course started well with the smoked lake trout which I found it comforting because I always have that in UK and it is rarely served in Hong Kong unless some restaurant imports it. The trout was not overly smokey complemented well by the berry gels on top.

^^^^^^^^^^
Fassona beef broth and vegetables:
Next was the soup which was warm soup with beef tartare on the spoon. The tartare was the finest I have ever had, you begin with the beef tartare, then the soup and finish with the pickles. I loved it the way the tartare was not over seasoned so that you could taste the beef and the warm soup adjusts your palate with savouryness and then the pickles get you ready for the next course.

^^^^^^^^^^
Risotto with black garlic and river prawns:
As mentioned earlier, many dishes use butter instead like this one so the risotto was very rich but the black garlic was a good element in mellowing out the butter with its sweetness.

^^^^^^^^^^
Carbonara Au Koque:
Homemade taglioni and Vigezzo valley cured ham. This was no ordinary Carbonara, I loved the way the sauce was poured on when it was served. The best thing was the cured ham on top which was crispy and thin. Every mouthful was sinfully delicious with creamy strands of pasta and the saltiness from the cured ham crisps.

^^^^^^^^^^
Corregone Lake fish glazed with black cherry:
Again, this another dreamy moment, delicate fish in an aromatic sweet black cherry sauce. On the side was rainbow chards which I haven't had in ages, again another vegetable that I always take for granted in UK. On top there were fresh blackberries and raspberries.

^^^^^^^^^^
Fassona beef:
The last main dish before dessert was the beef which was soft and supple in a bed of silkilicious mash with crumbs. It was definitely a satisfying main before dessert.
^^^^^^^^^^ 
Tiramisu:
Dessert was a playful twist of the past, present and future in the form of Tiramisu. My favourite was the middle one which was sweet and creamy, while the chocolate bonbon had a bitter twist. 

There was more to come with hazelnuts and truffle chocolate which was a perfect ending.

I would definitely recommend this place as every course is a surprise and it is helmed by Marco Sacco.

CASTELLANA:
10/F, Cubus, 1 Hoi Ping Road, Causeway Bay

Saturday, June 01, 2019

Best Pastas in Lai Chi Kok by [PICI]

Business is booming in Lai Chi Kok and so is the demand for good food!
Pici started off in Wanchai, Feb 2017 and now has five branches with the fifth branch in Lai Chi Kok. Last week, they were doing a pasta giveaway but unfortunately I had other plans that day.

I like the way, all the branches have the same style an alfresco bar, dining area and a bar table where you can watch the pasta chefs make the pasta.



The menu at Lai Chi Kok is slightly different.

Green Ravioli and Tuna Tartare are exclusive at this branch while the popular favourites like truffle pasta, meatballs and tiramisu are all on the menu.

Started with the Sicilian Sunrise which was a vibrant sweet start with citrus flavours.

Green Ravioli [LCK exclusive at the moment]:
The green ravioli was new and I love ravioli so tried it.
It has broccolini, peas and asparagus which were all my favourites.
The ravioli was fresh with the crunch of the vegetables topped with ricotta which gave it the saltiness.

My friend had the lunch because you get salad and a dessert.
The truffle pasta was on the lunch menu so how could you not order it for HKD148!!!

Radicchio Salad [Part of the Lunch Set]:
There were so many options to choose from ranging from Hams to Burrata cheese but we chose the Radicchio salad which was healthy and light topped with delicious hazelnuts and tangy vinegar.

Taglioni with shaved fresh truffle [Part of the Lunch Set]:
Less is more and this was simply delicious because it was just freshly made pasta with freshly shaved truffle and truffle sauce. The pasta was silky yet al dente.

Tiramisu [Part of the Lunch Set]:
For dessert, the Tiramisu is a must as it is thick and creamilious.
PICI's Tiramisu is unique as the mascarpone is visually yellow like custard and it tastes so delicious with the soaked layers of ladyfingers.


With freshly made pasta, PICI never fails to impress.

PICI, Lai Chi Kok
Shop G03,
D2 Place TWO,
15 Cheung Shun Street, ]
Lai Chi Kok.

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