今天午飯時間（~1pm)到來，只有一擡客，我們是第二擡。我們做的時候（~2點半）就比較多人。 餐廳裝修很好，可比美銅鑼灣的日本人的餐廳，很舒服清雅的環境，服務員也很友善。

點了烏冬鍋和角切魚生飯；餐來的時候第一吸引我的是沙拉，顔色好看，又新鮮，沙拉醬又醒胃；烏冬很好吃，有牛肉片，烏冬有點煙齦，鍋正中的那片紅蘿蔔是切花的！魚生很新鮮，不像一般店子那麽樣只給剩下的“頭尾”，除了青瓜，玉子，有三文魚，油金魚，帶子，蝦，還有一種不知名但又很新鮮的白身魚，最後還有雪糕；總的來說價廉物美。

未吃完已想定下一次，一定要再來！

P.s.原來30人就可以包場。

This was my first, and probably only, visit to this restaurant. This is probably the Italian restaurant with the worst service I have ever been to.

We (3 of us) arrived at aboit 1:30pm to find the upper level closed. There were only 4 guests in total dining then. There were nobody greeting us or taking us to the table. The staff were cold and answered us with an unwelcoming tone. Anything we ask, they replied "wait". Even when we only waved to signal for service, the staff replied "wait".

There was no issue with the food. We ordered pizza, penne and a beef sirloin, which were all from the set lunch menus. However, when we were finishing off the food, the waitress came over to tell us that they had given us the pizza of an "a la carte" size by mistake. I noticed one of the tables with two foreigners ordered two pizzas and they were the same size as ours. Another table of local Chinese guests who arrived later than us, got a smaller pizza than ours. What did she mean by that -- charging us extra ? Well, she did not but that was very rude of her.

If not for its poor, pathetic service, this restaurant should have been a success given its highly acclaimed chef and its location. Would its management consider removing their existing staff ? I mean all the two waitresses we met exhibited the same cold, impolite manners and their English were poor. Is the management planning to manage this restaurant in a more up-market manner or downgrade it to the same level as a local teahouse ? Mind you, the service at a local teahouse are already much better than here.

Let's be frank : it is not easy to run a restaurant these days with high rent and food prices, yearning to satisfy the critical taste buds of demanding customers. Seeing that the management of Buono Italiano is combating competition by localising its menu, and being a frequent customer, I feel obliged to write to commend this restaurant and to encourage its management to stick to its aspiration.

We went for early dinner last Sunday at ~6pm; and of course, no other customers were there besides us. We ordered 3 set dinners :
Soups : Minestrone X3

Starters :
Caviar on tomatoe and salad X2
Greens with slice of pig's knuckle in jelly X1

Mains : (excuse my overly simplied description as I have not photographed the menu :-( )
1) Salmon and prawn with fried angel hair
2) Duck's breast on a pan-fried starch vege cake
3) Scallop linguine

Starter : we were particularly impressed with the caviar on tomatoe & salad. As we tucked into the tomatoe, we discovered avocado salad stuffed inside the tomatoe dome ! What a nice surprise !

Mains : the salmon and prawn were fresh and very tasty. It was my first encounter with fried angel hair - a bit like chinese stir-fried noodles; crispy on the outside/edge of the cake of noodles. And I especially like the spinach placed underneath.

I never like duck's breast much, but this duck's breast dish was cooked just right - tender and juice, and no "fowlly" smell. The starchy vege cake (forgot what vegetable it was made up of) was also a nice try. I remember I had something like this in Italy, made with corn. By the taste of this one, it should contain less corn but more on sweet potatoe or yam.

The scallop linguine was also nice (Buono Italiano handles pasta well) - not that it was not good but out of the 3 this dish gave the least surprise.

Overall, it was value for money. One note : the service was a bit slow. We had waited more than 30 minutes between starter and mains. When we left the restaurant at about 7.30pm, there were about 5 -6 customers.

For the many times I have been there for lunch and dinner, I have only seen foreigners looking at the menu and asking questions but not going in. I wonder why Buono Italiano, being the most "western style" restaurant in the Lady's Market, is not able to attract tourists. Should more training be given to the staff on greeting customers and explaining the meu and the restaurant ?

An additional note to restaurant management : I would prefer a former menu in November. I wonder if the management will consider putting it on again ?

這個星期到這家餐廳吃過兩次 :

1) 午市餐套一鯖魚set $36+ $5 轉烏冬(番茄湯) = $41
烏冬相當大碗(對我), 勉強吃完, 質地也有彈性 ; 番茄湯非常豐厚番茄味, 有很多番茄蓉, 但是湯底太鹹..
烤鯖魚(有7英寸長) 新鮮美得很.

2) 下午茶--牛肉烏冬 (日式湯底) $30
食物份量: 烏冬是少於午市餐套的, 湯底太鹹 (again !) 烏冬質地也比上次午市較差一點點 (不明白 )

服務和衛生/清潔也令人滿意. 無加一, 算抵食, 不明白為什麼這麼少客, 但我喜歡靜的餐廳.

整體而言, 還是午市餐套好吃, 也有更多的選擇; 會再去但會試不那麼鹹的湯底.

I happened to pass this part of Elgin Street (about 2 months ago) and was already impressed by the design of this building - being turned around from an old block into a neo-modern design. Finally, I had the opportunity to dine here after a bit of an adventure finding the place. Yes, it was not easy to find if you walked from Elgin or Staunton Street, especially under this heat. One should walk from Hollywood Road instead.

The ground floor of the building was a bar. Dining area was on first floor. The restaurant's interior was nicely decorated, smelt cool and fresh; pity it had so few guests. There were only 5 tables of about 10 guests when we arrived at around 1pm. I was particularly impressed by the decor of its toilette, too. BTW, there were tables set at sofas sitting 5-6 people, and a long table for 12 people, catering for various profile and groups of guests.

My friend and I ordered escargots as starters, wild mushroon risotto, mixed grill, and a chocolate pudding in vanilla cream sauce as dessert. All were very nice, in taste and in presentation. Frist came the escargots, each serving had six and came in shells. I particularly liked them marinated in olive oil and herbs, reminded me of the way they served in Paris. The mixed grill came with a lamb chop, a piece of tenderloin and a sauage. The tenderloin, which we ordered well done and which was served with a piece of herbal butter, was juicy and tender. The lamb chop was one of the best I had recently : rightly spiced and very tender and juicy. I did not try the sauage. Don't be fooled by the presentation of the risotto : it might look small portion but very creamy and filling.

As the portions of the mains were quite big, we ordered only one dessert. I am a chocolate lover and like almost anything made with chocolate. There were two choices but we picked this chocolate cake (both tasted and looked like a brownie) with vanilla cream. The other one was almond criossant which we were not interested in. However, in hindsight, we probably had made the wrong decision.

Coffee was very nice too. A fine note to sign off the lunch.

The chef did come out and look around the restraurant but did not have the time to chat with guests. To me, that was enough to show his care for his guests' enjoyment of his food. I mean, not many chef would do this these days unless you were a VIP or paying VIP prices, right ?

At this price, I would definitely bring friends there again and do some serious word-of-mouth promotion for it. Keep up the good work.