Buono Italiano  

cannot believe there is a such quality italian restaurant in the middle of busy lady's market area. i have ordered chicken with potato & veg in gravy, presentation is just ok but chicken is quite tender and juicy, yet crispy on the outside. Sauce is great too, tasty but not as salty. Whole set lunch comes with soup and drink too, pretty enough for lunch time

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 ?

Late lunch (at 5.30pm). If not for my friend bringing me there, I would not be looking for a western restaurant in Mongkok. The restaurant is new for less than a month. Show window scouted by a leg of Parma Ham - you won't miss it.

Set Lunch (under $50) came with soup, salad, main dish (4 choices, with rice, spaghetti or french fries) and coffee or tea. Food was satisfying and tasty. The dressing of the salad (greens with shredded chicken) was made with mango (I could taste that), not the off-the-can type. Soup (cream of carrots) was homemade. Mains (pan-fried fish fillet with tomato salsa and chicken a-la-king) were satisfactory in taste and presentation - seasoned just right. And the coffee - I reckon it is best in Mongkok restaurants. BTW, set lunch is available till 6pm !

We checked their dinner menu (set dinners ranging from $100 to $210, choices included Black Truffle Risotto, Baramundi fillet, US Angus sirloin), and there are exotic Italian dishes that you do not easily find in HK, like Risotto Nero. Yes, this is what I will try next time because I miss it since our last encounter in Milan, Italy. With this kind of menu, they could charge double in a fine dining restaurant in a more upmarket district.

It was really quiet as we walked in (we were the only guests); well, lunch at 5.30pm ! And later at around 6pm, 2 couples came in for dinner. Renovation is basic, but not bad. There is party room upstairs enough for 20-30 people. Staff are friendly but needs some more training. They were polite but "green" and lacking confidence in introduing the menu to guests. After reading their menu, we asked if their chef was trained oversea or in a 5-star hotel/Italian reataurant, and the waiter said "don't know". Oh, am I asking for too much again, in a restaurant in Mongkok ? I just think that waiting staff should match with the kind of menu that their chef is confident enough to offer.

It is definitely value for money. No complain. I just hope that quality will not be compromised or "localised" later.