W52   (Closed)

W52 - on Wyndham street, right opposite to the LKF hotel. Easily accessible to and from LKF. Great location for a nice chilled dinner before a good drink!

G/F was the bar area. We arrived at around 8pm and it was pretty packed considering that it was a Tuesday night; good ambience. The lift could bring you to any of the 1/F-3/F (3/F being the "Kitchen Table" - private dinning experience). We were seated on the 2/F.

Service was in general good. They managed to add an extra seat for us (originally a table for 4). Good recommendations of food by a courteous waitress. Wine and water refilled often. Plates changed swiftly. Bill came with no hassle. One slight hiccup - the waiter failed to remove the cork of our red, he had to bring the bottle away to sort it out, it was resolved at the end though



Bread Basket Nice Bread Basket. It was served with some kind of hummus (that did not go well with all types of bread served, but it was nice). Was particularly impressed with the cute mini squid ink roll. It did not just look black for the sake of being black. There was really a nice mild (mild, not in a negative way) hint of squid ink flavour. Grissini was also memorable; super crispy!! Would be even better if served warmer!

Cinta Senese ham served with a fresh tomato and olives bruschetta The ham was very smoky, full-body, flavourful and just romantic . Bruschetta unbelievably crispy! The tomato and olives on top paired up very well; the olives did the magic and brought a whole new dimension and complexity to the taste. Would not recommend having the ham and the bruschetta together though. Both deserve to be enjoyed on its own.

Fresh Burrata cheese / crisp Lattuga heart / Sicilian tomato and olive Burrata means "buttered" in Italian. Solid mozzarella as the thin outer shell. Sliced it open and the creamy cheese ozzed out! It felt so simple, so natural, so fresh - SO GOOD! Came with it: "crisp lattuga heart" which was indeed really fresh and crisp! Tomato - there appeared to be two types, fresh ones and sun-dried ones! Nice and thoughtful offer. Olivers. All went well together!

Fresh Chitarrini / Hokkaido sea urchin / green asparagus This was VERY NICE!! The chitarrini was perfectly al dente (honestly, perfectly al dente) soaked generously with the creamy pasta base sauce. Sea urchin, fresh, creamy and fat. Just the right amount of asparagus. Asparagus has its very own distinctive taste, and it went very well with the whole dish putting the spotlight on the sea urchin. It somehow toned down the strong and yummy pasta sauce (in a good way) bringing a hint of "fresh-veg-bitterness". Then BANG! Reward yourself a bit of sea urchin. It was like magic.

Roasted suckling pig "alla maniera Toscana" / baby potato / Topinambur / Mandarancio sauceThis was my least favourite dish of the night, still ok though. I found the skin roasted more towards the chewy-side than the crispy-side (I personally do not enjoy chewy suckling pig skin too much ). The fat proportion in each piece was slightly too much as well. The mandarancio sauce went well with the dish though; a beautiful balance of taste. Mandarancio is basically clementine. If handled not carefully, it could easily be too sweet and overwhelming.

Scallop RisottoSUPERB!!! The scallop was very fresh and done just right (overcooked scallops are a waste). The heart of it was a bit silky, perfection! The risotto was well-cooked; it was rich and creamy and there was the right amount resistance and bite. It did not only taste nice. There was this hint of zesty tingle while I chewed , and that lasted to a beautiful after-taste! One of the best risottos I have had in Hong Kong!! yumyumyum!!



When I first heard of W52, I only thought of B-52 (the Kahlua, Bailey's & Grand Marnier shot) and immediately I thought it would be more of a "bar" (indeed it has a lively bar area) than a nice restaurant. W52 impressed me!

An enjoyable dinner. This is somewhere I will return.

I understand that I am not a walk-in customer who's wearing an Amarni suit with 15K in my pocket, and order 5 bottles of wine. All I wanted was a coffee to go, I am still a paying customer, But I got 0 service and miss 'Smiley face' receptionist was unbelievable rude.

I ordered my coffee, 5 mins later, no one was making my coffee. and NO staff was willing to help me with the coffee. I got like 5 stares. and 0 service. So I told Miss smiley face I do not want my coffee, and just get the hack out of there. Amazing !

For a lunch date with M, we decided to hit up w52 to make use of the twangoo deal i bought. I have to say, I didn't have high expectations for this place but my view has changed since! For lunch, they have a set menu with an antipasti buffet ($175), and you have the option to add a pasta ($195) or meat/seafood course ($255).

Upon ordering, first to arrive was a....

bread basket
very generous selection, I particularly enjoyed the grissini and the (sun-dried?) tomato-flavoured rolls (orange ones). The balsamic and olive oil that were poured for us were also great...the thick and luscious sweet vinegar - i loved!

dip
this came with the bread basket, and we noticed that each table received different dips. I suspect this was their take on a baba ganoush, but the eggplant was hardly seasoned the whole dip was almost tasteless.... plate of antipasti
this was my first plate from the antipasti buffet, which included some seared tuna, grilled eggplant and squash, sauteed wild mushrooms, salad greens and a cucumber salad that was pre-dressed. Surprisingly, all the items were good, taste and quality wise. I happily polished a second plate of goodies from the buffet.

"Hand-made taglierini with cauliflower ragout, anchovies and pecorino"
This dish tasted incredibly light and healthy, not really what I'd like if I were ordering pasta but this was M's choice. Home-made pasta does not necessarily mean it is better than dried varieties, and I actually don't see anything wrong with using dried pastas, unless its a filled-pasta like ravioli. Having said that, I equally don't mind hand-made varieties so long as they retain a bite to them, or is 'al dente'. W52's did not disappoint in this matter, and I would happily return to try out their other pasta selections....
This particular dish was studded with cauliflower and the anchovies and pecorino were too subtle, which resulted in the above-mentioned too-light-a-flavour."Roast stuffed turkey with almonds and pomegranate"
This was a turkey roulade served with mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce. It was only two days till Christmas so I'm guessing this was put on the menu in light of the holidays. I love turkey and for some unknown reason this protein is harder to find in Hong Kong than, say in the US, so I went for it.
This roll of turkey was half-white and half-dark meat, and rolled together with the roasted skin as the wrap. On top were some pomegranate seeds which didn't make much sense for me though I didn't mind them as a bit of textural difference. The meat was seasoned, so it was very flavourful and most importantly, moist. Now only if the skin was crispy....
The cranberry was studded with whole cranberries, and was very sour/tart which was quite nice together with the turkey if you like that sort of combination.

I was treated to lunch today at W52 by the restaurant, who extended the invitation to me so that I could sample some new dishes by Chef Francesco. This was a totally new experience for me, and I've never accepted an invitation from a restaurant for a free meal in a blogger's capacity.

I started with a selection of antipasti, including some nice cold cuts and 36-month Parmigiano-Reggiano that was just so delicious.

Cuori di carciofo ripieni alle erbe e pecorino - these artichoke hearts stuffed with Pecorino were pretty nice. On its own I could have found the artichoke a little too bland.

Insalata tiepida di polpo e gamberi / Cannellini cipolle ed ed olive verdi - I am normally not a fan of octopus - nor of white beans - but this was done pretty well. The consistency of the octopus was just right.

Zuppa di zucca/mozzarella di bufala Campana, mandorle e melograno - pumpkin soup in winter is de rigueur, although the combination with Mozzarella and pomegranate seeds was unexpected.

Risotto ai funghi porcini/code di scampi dorate - the risotto was really delicious, if perhaps slightly more al dente than I had expected. The interplay between the savory flavors and the acidity was really interesting. Eating langoustines is always tricky, as I find many of them to be less than perfectly fresh - including the one I had at this very restaurant last year. The one I had in front of me was left a little raw so the texture was nice, and I was starting to feel happy about this when I was interrupted in my thoughts by the distinct taste of ammonia. Now there are times - for me very few at that - when the right amount of ammonia taste in the particular food item can be enjoyable. This isn't one of them. Langoustines aren't meant to taste of ammonia...

Capretto stufato alle erbe/ cavolo nero toscano/ castagne croccanti - I love goat so this was a natural choice for me. It was done very well, with the meat being moist and tender... and of course the layer of fat on the rack was just delicious. Cavolo nero is a wonderful veggie, and I honestly haven't had it since I was first introduced to it at Michael Mina two years ago. Chestnuts remind us of the season we're in.

This was a lot of food, and we've already asked the kitchen to cut down a little. I do have to say that overall the food was excellent, and a clear improvement from last year. I must give thanks to Chef Francesco for the treat, and of course Celine for her wonderful company.

original blogpost with pictures: http://www.diarygrowingboy.com/2011/01/who-said-theres-no-free-lunch.html

I have to confess...I really didn't have any expectation on W52 before I went...then I have to say, it's really a great dining experience from the ambience to service to food to everything. W52 is a 3-storey building with an enchanting pub located on the ground floor - very clean design & it's homey. You have to take the mini elevator to go up to the fining dining area on the 2nd floor. I have to complement them on the table setting, very spacious & sound proof that you won't have the embarrass moment of overhearing (should be FORCED hearing) conversation of the people sitting only from an arm's length.

A great dinner at W52 last night.

1)


The bread is warm and declcious , great! Waiter served with olive oil & balsamic vinegar.

2)

half portion of squid noddles taste is special.
3)

The dish is i like the most, it's a kind of italian rice.
4)

Fish- fresh and taste good. Almost melt in my month.
5)

millefoglie al Marsala ed Amaretti- excellent dessert i ever try!
6)

Chocolate Soufflé ,

I seldom dine in LKF/ Soho. To me, the restaurants in these areas don't serve good food. They are only for drinks and parties, which I am not fond of. Thanks to the group-buying promotions, I recently got the incentive to break my prejudice and try a few places around these areas.

I purchased this 3-course buffet lunch offer, $215 nett for 2 ppl. Thinking that my mother would like to have some quality food, I invited her to go with me. I’m a buffet freak, so I looked forward to this day.

Finally came the Day. W52 occupies the G/F & 1/F of a narrow building capturing an alleyway as its outdoor terrace area. Its chic outlook and design blends well with the location. Contemporary bar on ground and a cozy restaurant on the upper level. Indoor space is not large, but still allows six tables to comfortably spaced on one side, and maybe a few more tables on the other side. Elevator is in the middle. Antipasti table, with a large variety of appetizers like fresh greens, Parma ham with melon and fresh fig, smoked salmon, cheese platter, zucchini mousse, pasta salad, Russell sprouts, tuna Carpaccio ..., is set right at the entrance. Next to this table at the corner is the dessert table neatly displaying more than 10 types of 5-star dessert, from tarts, mixed fruits, 3 types of cakes, bread & butter pudding, mango custard filled crepe, puff, tiramisu, panna cotta, to crème brûlée.

We received friendly service from the waiters. The manager was there at the beginning to oversee the operation of the lunch session. Our lunch set also includes 1 main course, selected from 3 items. My mother and I both chose the fettuccini with capers, anchovy, tomato and olive. There were actually three other items on the menu that we could choose at an extra cost + 10% charge.

After taking the order, a lovely bread basket with 4 kinds of fresh and warm bread was set on our table, including a special squid-ink roll, crispy Italian breadstick, baguette, and spongy focaccia. I asked the waiter for olive oil & balsamic vinegar – perfect partners for focaccia. I was delighted that he gave me a red label - balsamic vinegar that has been aged for at least 12 yrs. I also asked for Tabasco, black pepper and parmesan, the waiters brought them up to me with great efficiency and always WITH A SMILE! That's what you call quality service. No complaint at all about the quality of the food on the buffet table. Having a taste of each dish can already make a lady full.

The fettuccini was nicely done, though it could be more al dente. Also, the kitchen may need better quality control cos my mother’s dish was quite dry without olive and capers, while mine was well mixed with sauce and ingredients. To my own surprise, I finished up the dish!

W52 might not be the best restaurant that I’ve visited, but it scores high on everything – from service, food, presentation to hygiene. A little complaint I might have is that my fork was not properly cleaned, but the waiter apologized twice to me and promptly changed it for me upon my request.

Oh, here is a bonus - every customer got a souvenir - a cute pack of toothpicks made with natural Japanese wood – no bleach, no chemical.

A final note to the restaurant: the table of young female Caucasians were laughing and talking out loud and disrupting other customers, …well…, me and my mother to be exact. If the restaurant manager or captain could do something to deal with this kind of situational problem and keep the dining place pleasant, that would be an extra credit to W52.

This Italian restaurant has a bar on the ground floor and an outdoor garden area for smokers. Apparently the top floor is reserved for small parties (up to 8 people) that want to sample the chef’s specialties. I hear that there is no menu, you just tell the chef what you don’t eat and he will come up with a delightful menu.

I had to try to squid ink bread roll – apparently homemade and it was extremely delicious. The bread was soft, warm, with a hint little saltiness. Dipped in oil and balsamic vinegar, it was absolutely delicious.

They had the summer special menu, which consisted of entrée, pasta, main course and dessert (all for HKD 448). We were all quite keen with the summer special menu so ordered that.

We started with the deep-fried baby white bait fish and spinach, served with apple and cabbage salad. The deep fried white bait fish and spinach was light, and crispy. The apple and cabbage salad (with mayonnaise) was a great compliment. It was a delightfully light entrée, not too sickening and not too oily. However, my only gripe would be that it didn’t have enough baby white bait, too much spinach.

The pasta was hand-made spaghetti with clams and roasted peppers. We were given a bottle of chili oil with mountain chilies in it, and I couldn’t help but drizzle on the pasta. The hand-made spaghetti was cooked with basil and garlic and the pasta was incredibly tender and slippery. The clams and roasted peppers were a great compliment, and the drizzle of chili on the pasta really gave it a nice kick.

Our mains were roasted sea bass/ cuttlefish ‘tagliatelle’ / buffalo mozzarella cheese and chard. The sea bass was slightly pan fried, it was tender and moist, and melted in your mouth. The cuttlefish tagliatelle was interesting but in a good way. It wasn’t fishy but a little rough in texture. The buffalo mozzarella cheese I love, which was a great compliment. The combination of it all was just incredible. It was scrumptiously yummy! It was filling but tasty.

Dessert, caprese chocolate, almond tart and pomelo sorbet. I was very disappointed with the dessert. I was expecting chocolate oozing out of it but alas, no, nothing, it was just solid. The cake was dry and hard, but was rich in chocolate. The pomelo sorbet was refreshing, slightly bitter but a great compliment to the rich chocolate. Unfortunately, I didn’t finish this dish as it was just disappointing (and I was getting full!)

Blog: http://gastronomous.wordpress.com

Went there for a friend's bday. My first time there. Impressed with the comfortable setting on arrival. We were given a nice corner table on the 2nd floor. Since Im a pasta fan, I had 2 pasta instead of main course. The menu had a good range of pastas like spagetti, rigatoni, ravioli etc. but not much long pasta like linguine, angle hair, tagliatelle or tagliolini which I like, so was a bit disappointed. But on enquiry when ordering, the waiter actually said they have dry linguine, and fresh homemade taglionini, and very flexible with the combination of pastsa & sauces, which I was most happy about. Also, they can do full size or half portion pastas so greedy me had one half size as appetisers, one full size as main.
Overall good quality food, service nice and attentive without over imposing or pushy with food/drinks etc. The prices are very very reasonable given the setting and quality of food. Worth trying.

[iPrologue]~ Had dinner with S, T and D. (HAHA). S, T and I had been friends since kindergarten. We'd all known D since primary school. In other words I'd known STD for a loonng time. But S was abroad; seldom met up; had to do so this year because...I rather missed S.

Make reservations! Full house for dinner. You can ask for a table overlooking Hollywood road. I think the view is better on that side. Also, W52 has a couple of storeys. Ground floor is the snack+bar area, whereas levels 2-3 are the dining rooms. You will be shown to a lift upon arrival. The lift is rickety. And is quite slow. But the ride is quite interesting.

Food:
None of us were particularly hungry, S and D having just finished tea at Antique. So S suggested we do it 'family style': another way of telling the waiter 'we're going to order a few dishes and share it. so yea we won't be paying much'. Nice and subtle.

Bread basket:
There were bread sticks (crusted with cheese and onion), focaccia and squid ink rolls (with cooked onion inside, i think). Came with something LIKE hummus, but less thick in terms of consistency, and probably had less garlic. Tastes alright with the bread. Would've preferred having everything a bit warmer.

1. Mesclun salad with poached egg, pancetta and cherry tomatoes
Define 'mesclun': a salad mix of assorted small, young salad leaves which originated in Provence, France. The traditional mix includes chervil, arugula, leafy lettuces and endive in equal proportions. The name comes from Provençal (Southern France)—mescla, "to mix"—and literally means "mixture". [thanks, Wiki!]

2. tortelli with eggplant and mushroom
D claimed to be almost allergic to eggplant. But I told D that mushed-up eggplant is very different from eating it cooked whole. The mushy part isn't too bad when it's been stuffed into a pasta shell. This one was quite delicious. The green skin was exciting to eat. you don't get to eat green pasta every day! I'm not sure exactly what's in the tortelli - i think they put in some kind of herb with the eggplant...in any case, they were really good - therefore I had a second helping. T, who initially exclaimed that the bite-sized pasta tasted like shampoo (@@), succumbed in the end. And helped herself to another tortelli.

3. Scallop spaghetti in pesto truffle sauce
Can i enlarge the font here..? Because this dish is excellent. If i were to go back and repeat orders, this would be on the top of my list. Pasta was al dente, the dish wasn't too oily, truffle shavings were very generous (and fragrant too. you know how sometimes you feel cheated by aroma-less truffle shavings?). I don't recall tasting a lot of pesto, but who cares when its' so good? I remember thinking to myself 'mm, this pasta is quite moist'. Yeah it's not too oily but it's not dry either. I think you save some of the hot cooking water you've used for cooking spaghetti to mix in with the pesto, so that the pesto sauce gets thinned out a bit. Mmmmm. But the truffle-pasta champion still goes to Cine Citta. No doubt.

4. fish.
I forgot what it's called. But it's not very good. I don't recommend it. The fish.....was quite bland, and the skin wasn't crisp. The zucchini was slightly bitter...and i don't like mussels. Beware.

5. millefoglie al Marsala ed Amaretti
Another yumyum. This is not the conventional Millefeuille you expect. Quite different, this - even the basic structure was different! But the twist did not stop it from being delish. There was a rish mousse/cream which tasted faintly of marsala, which the four of us fought over savagely....hahaa no. We divided it in four and T and I scraped up the remaining bits. it was accompanied by a small spoon of coffee ice-cream, which complemented the amaretti biscuits well. Bite into crust. chomp chomp. a spoon of ice cream, slurp. Delish.

Conclusion:
I will be back.
Perhaps for drinks as well.
Rather nice bar area. Next to dragon-i.

One more thing. Just take a look at the toothpicks. We only needed four toothpicks. We stole 4 packets, one each. They are innovative and sophisticated little things.

So today I was given quite an interesting opportunity to taste the revamped menu at W52. Being completely honest one of my friends is family friends with the owner Benjamin Lung (a local entrepreneur who is the man behind Va Bene, Gaia and Isola) and that is how the opportunity came about. My friend and I sat down over lunch with Mr. Wong who is the VP of the restaurant management company behind W52.

So a little background: I've actually been to W52 before for lunch back on October 1st of 2009 when they first opened. At that time their mantis prawn risotto was their signature item but I left the restaurant feeling rather unimpressed. Let me know if you disagree but I personally find there are way too many overpriced Italian restaurants producing average quality food in town. Sure, they might have great decor or location but at the end of the day if you can't back it up with your food it's just disappointing.

Anyway, the revamped menu is courtesy of famed Italian chef Chef Francesco Berardinelli. Chef Francesco is most noted for his consultancy partnership with the Alain Ducasse Group (Alain Ducasse is the first chef to own restaurants carrying three Michelin Stars in three cities) and has also opened restaurants in New York (Francesco at MIX), Tuscany (Osteria di Rendola) and Florence (Beccofino). Furthermore he has contributed to a good handful of cookbooks (trust me, they've shown me the stack of cookbooks at W52...haha). From my understanding Chef Berardinelli has just accepted the executive chef position at W52 (yay!) and will officially start work in September.

Environment: The space at W52 is spacious and lightly lit. We had a great table right next to a large window overlooking Wyndham St which was to my liking. I quite like the clean, white, modern decor inside. W52 occupies 4 floors: the bottom floor is the bar, floor 2 & 3 are restaurant level and the top floor is the VIP room & kitchen. From what I hear the VIP room costs about $16,000 for a private party of 8-10 people (about $2000/head).

Service: Since I was eating with their VP I expected pretty much close to flawless service and they did not disappoint. The waitstaff was friendly and attentive. Food came out promptly and there were no mixups.

Food: After asking for my opinion on a few items Mr. Wong proceeded to order up a collection of W52's biggest hits:

Stuffed Artichoke Hearts With Pecorino Cheese And Herbs - This is a signature item from their past menu and it lives up to its billing. If you like stronger tasting cheese this is the item for you. I'm personally a big fan of artichoke and after biting into the soft artichoke hearts you get a get burst of flavor from the Pecorino cheese. Yum.

Mediterranean Red Shrimps Served With A “Giardiniera” Of Pickled Artichokes, Mushrooms and Lemon - This is a new item and is basically the Italian version of a garden salad (Giardiniera means "garden" in Italian) found commonly made in all Italian households. Foodies talk about eating with your eyes first and I was visually quite drawn to this dish. The pickled artichokes and shemeji mushrooms had a nice tartness to them and also were a nice contrast in texture. The shrimps where fresh and I quite liked the interplay between the cooler salad and the warm shrimps. Quite nice.

Hand-carved Beef Tenderloin Carpaccio With Shaved Aged Parmesan Cheese - I was told by Mr. Wong this specific carpaccio is different from normal carpaccios served around town because:

1) They don't freeze their carpaccio which allows it to retain its original texture and flavor
2) Hard carving allows the carpaccio to stay fresh before being served to customers

Texturally it did taste a little different from other carpaccios I've tried but I would say the difference is not that easy to detect. Beef itself had light subtle flavoring and was quite fresh. Not bad.

Duo of Handmade Pastas - Mr. Wong wanted me to try 2 of their new pastas. On the left was a Pici pasta with a Sienese tomato sauce. On the right was spaghetti that had extra flour and semolina added to it (for extra chewiness) with white wine sauce topped off with a small piece of goose liver. First off I just wanted to say I am a big fan of handmade pastas. The texture is really hard to replicate with dried pasta.

The Pici pasta is a staple of most homes in Tuscany and has the shape 'similar' to Japanese udon. It had a nice chewy texture and went quite well with the tomato sauce. Just simple and straight forward which is the way I like my pasta. Pretty good.

To me the spaghetti was the better of the two pastas. The extra chewiness reminded both my friend and I of an egg based noodle we had before in Indonesia (in a good way). Never quite had pasta with this type of chewiness and it had a subtle 'egginess' flavor to it. Again, love the simple white sauce accompanying it. The goose liver I think didn't bring much to the table per say but I think I will definitely reorder this pasta dish when I return to W52. Tasty.

Roast Rack of Pork With Fresh Summer Tomato Salad - This was quite interesting since the rack of pork was prepared with a salt crust. The outcome was quite nice and almost reminded me of Chinese roasted suckling pig. The skin was crispy and salty while the meat was quite moist. I normally eat quite clean so personally I thought the skin was a little salty for me but how can you not eat that crispy skin? Haha. I wish I wasn't so full but this was quite good.

Roasted Rack Of Lamb With Basil Potato Purée And Green Onions - A nice roasted rack of lamb. Maybe a little on the pink side for me but overall a tasty dish. The rack was a little gamey but flavorful. Quite nice.

Chocolate Soufflé - To me this was the best dessert of the day. Besides being really light and chocolatey (there's even more melted chocolate to pour on top if you want) I like the attention to the minor detail. Under the powdered sugar I realized they also caramelized a thin layer of sugar (similar to Creme Brulee) to give you a bit of added textural crunch when you bite into the fluffy souffle. Thumbs up.

Mango And Mascarpone Cheese Tart - A nice fresh dessert. The cheese had a neutral flavor and I liked how fresh tasting the mangoes were. Decent.

Babà With Limoncello And Vanilla Cream - I personally am not a big fan of cakes soaked in anything more than a drizzle of liquid (gets soggy super quick). The fresh vanilla cream did provide a nice contrast against the spongy nature of the cake. Babà, if you didn't know, is a Italian cake made of yeast dough. You see it quite often presented with rum or limocello. Maybe it's just my cup of tea but it was a decent dessert.

With all the nice things said I think it is important to point out that I find their appetizers a little on the expensive side (mostly $100+) relative to their portion size. The pork chop entree to me was relatively good value for money (about $450) since you could share that easily with 3-4 people. Mr Wong and I had a pretty interesting conversation about the struggles with pricing. He described how managers will want to add expensive ingredients to dishes (to justify the increase in pricing) while chefs will argue that the simple approach is actually better. I'm on the chef's side...sometimes less is more.

Needless to say I left W52 needing a wheelbarrow to take me out...haha. To be very honest I was really quite surprised with how the meal came out. A lot of people might argue that what I got to eat might not be a honest representation of what is truly served to the customers (valid point) but I think W52 deserves credit since they were able to deliver even though they had to added pressure of cooking for a reviewer with elevated expectations. I will come back to W52.

Went to this new Italian resturant in town after reading the introductions.

We started our meail with the Portk Cheek salad, its served as antipesti - the starter and it was done with good texture. Love it while the portion was small.

Dirnks - champaign and sparkling wine came together with the seafood soup - it was a bit pricy for its smaill portion. The clamps they used got some sand.

After the soup, our Paccheri and Conchiglionin - all served in half portion arrived. These pastas were home-made pasta and the texture was right and good. The taste was good while it came with crab, tomato and garlic peston sauce.

While we have been so full after those pasta, we were indulged and ordered dessert - the recommended Tiramisu. It was done very nicely with good texture, it was not too soft and it was not too sweet.

Before leaving, we were given Focaccia - a type of Italian dessert - literally lychee preserved with strong Italian wine. It was good trying while we may not say we like it.

We should come back for their antipesto buffet during lunch time.

As if it was a planned deliberate act rather than pure coincidence, recently there's been a series of new openings around the upper LKF area with a core dining concept that revolves around 'Italian Themed' variations - whether it be a Steakhouse, a Trattoria or a simple Pasta joint. Considering the area reeks of a notorious tourist-trap reputation, I was initially apprehensive to put myself into a compromised position and become a first-wave volunteer and victim. It took a few minutes of persuasion before the softie in me finally obliged to commit to just one quick test for the night. You see, the names of certain restaurants which have crawled its way onto the pages in the inaugural Michelin Guide, in particularly GAIA and Va Bene were mentioned during a brief conversation with staff.

Apparently, the new W52 concept is the brainchild of a team of owners, staff and an Italian Chef who have worked at the aforementioned renowned establishments. Although such credentials do not necessarily translate into extra reassurance on its own the W52 Menu was surprisingly signature dishes rather than prolifically orientated - its an approach I've always been vocally supportive of and who can resist, after perusing a few pages that might just promise a thrilling culinary experience , at least on paper...

The Bar Area might share the same location as the Dining Area, however they are designed to be separated space planes each occupying their own respective floors. An hydraulic elevator ride takes you to the grander dining spaces upstairs, whereas this night seeing I only ever planned to have a hurried dinner before heading home, I found myself a cosy corner at the downstairs bar but ordered from the more upscale dinner menu, thereby onverting it into a gastro-pub hybrid all by myself!

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DRINKS - As an alcoholic who loves to bar-hop around, I was mesmerized by the all-roundedness nature of the carefully designed Bar Menu here, impressive considering its still at infantry-opening and trial-running as at this stage. Its from the experience of the Bar Manager and Staff, who're humbly knowledgeable but carry years of expertise accumulated from stints in 5 Star hotel restaurants and bars. Comprising of a great selection of Italian Aperitivos to Grappas, Beers, Sparkling or Still Signature Cocktails, etc, this 1st edition menu will be a great base for building on in future. I drank a Figs-Pirinha: made of Cachaça, Brown Sugar, Fig Puree and Lime, a variation of a famous Brazilian cocktail. Excellent!

BREAD BASKET - The bread are House-Made. They're still at exploratory stage with finalising the bread/grissini combos which hopefully can please each and every fussy customer, with a Pesto and Tomato Salsa Dip also available. I thought some of the bread could do with a less sponginess filling or certain slices can have a more exotic Italian herbal and yeasty influence... Let's give them time to sort it out but how about some freshly baked, Grissini done the traditional Torinese style? I'll come back just for those!

ENTREE: PRAWN AND SWEETBREAD 'CREPINETTE', SHELLFISH SAUCE - This costs $170 and is a bit on the high side versus the portioning and I actually believe this to be more of a French invention (in fact a combination of 2 French dishes) than Italian. Since I like lamb crépinettes, let's give this version a try as they're a rare item to find locally... The shellfish sauce was good but there was hardly any of it present: I think this dish would benefit a lot more if it receives more than a small drizzle. Although unexplained on the menu, this item has a Caul's Fat wrapping around the diced ingredients and these were too undercooked - from my understanding, '豬網油 nets' are 1stly used for sustaining a wrapped parcel's shape during cooking be it fried, deep fried, steamed or baked, 2ndly during this process it must then 'melt' onto the main morsel itself in synchronicity, creating an oily lubrication and also imparting its fat flavour! The 'fat netting' however is quite fibrous until its melted and in my dish tonight, this was became messy to cut up as it was tendon-like chewy and it lacks the fatty aroma it should have imparted into a Crepinette dish! The Prawns inside the parcel were affected by this and became undercooked behind the insulation of fat straps, arriving still stone cold and transparent, the sweetbreads meanwhile better yet needed more cooking as well as seasoning.

This dish might be great as a concept - but it wasn't executed well. A minimal effort of putting on a few green salad leaves on the side didn't make it more attractive nor enhance the taste either! It really needed a bit more Fiery Searing and more Shellfish sauce and a little bit more thoughtfulness.

RISOTTO OF MANTIS SHRIMPS AND MUSSELS (Half Portion) - I was hoping my 2nd course would justify my impromtu choice of dining at a new venue. When the staff recommended Signature dish arrived, it surely vindicated the decision as not only was the Risotto very flavoursome - it was also done in the elusive to find All 'onde Style (a description of its 'Wavy' behaviour when you try to flip with the risotto grain), its something I've never seen in Hong Kong before so far and its actually even rare in Italy. The starch of the rice has been released into the thick stock sauce, this together with the right portion of added cheese forming a unique, 'paradoxical' experience of having achieved a consistency of a soft porridge at the same time as retaining a very bitey 'Al Dente' texture from a smaller risotto grain!

Its quite possible some people will have a problem with the way this dish eats or is presented - as it sits unattractively flat rather than the mountainous-like Risotto's we're used to - however that's the proper way. Its also Wet! Its like how we instinctively judge a Fried Rice as being only Outstanding if it has Aroma, Rice Taste, Wok-Chi, non-mushy 乾身 and independently-grained 粒粒分明! Yet, 楊貫一's 阿一炒飯 using the 瓦鍋, approaches it differently and achieves a more 'creamily-coated' fried rice texture.

The mussels and sauce gave it a nice seafood taste, the mantis shrimp meanwhile was very fresh tasting but needed a few more in the dish to make a notable contribution!

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OVERALL - To finish up, on the Kitchen side of things, this meal wasn't perfect but it showed promise on the creativity side and so did other items on the menu! I noticed exciting pastas that might include a Buckwheat Pappardelle with Duck Ragout and a Cansoncelli (dumpling) with Pears, Butter Sauce and Bacon, or one served in a Brodo (broth). There's other interesting Main Courses and other Entrees as well. The experience here can be potentially exciting - I did find the prices of certain foods or drinks to be too expensive for this location however.

The Bar Side as a separate note is in really good hands, even down to the imported Italian coffees that have been selected carefully and having tried it - its recommendable and gets the job done.

*** KITCHEN FOOD - Roughly '3.0' to '4.5' ***
*** DRINKS - '4.5+' ***