Linguini Fini  

Looking for somewhere to have a casual lunch, we strolled up to the L Place to see what was available. The restaurant we wanted to go to originally was not open for lunch and since there have been so many good reviews on Linguini Fini, we decided to pop in to try it out.

Up on the first floor, the elevator opened to reveal a laid-back casual dining atmosphere with quite a rustic fit out. You could tell it was child-friendly as there was a big play pen for kids to occupy themselves while the grown-ups enjoyed a lazy brunch.

We went up to the host to ask for a table for two, and it actually took him a few minutes to um and ah over what table to give us even though there were quite a few empty tables. Strange.

Anyway we were seated eventually, and looking over the concise menu, we ordered a caprese salad, eggs benedict and the aglio olio to share.

The food arrived quite quickly, the caprese salad was big in size with hefty slabs of mozzerella cheese layered with fresh tomatoes and adorned with a tiny drizzle of 30 year balsamico. It looked great, but when I cut into it, I already knew we were in for a disappointment. The cheese was stiff and relatively hard for mozzerella and it had a very rough feeling in the mouth. The tomatoes were at least fresh, and while the flavour of the balsamico was very good, they could be more generous with it.A lot of people rave about the eggs benedict here so I was looking forward to try. Toasted homemade muffins with mortadella and softly poached eggs served with a generous pouring of 'nduja hollandaise sauce'. I actually quite enjoyed this, and although the hollandaise sauce was lurid orange in colour, it had a spicy kick to it which was something different. Worth trying~Our aglio oilo arrived last as a tangle of spaghetti, and since Linguini Fini prides themselves on their homemade pasta, I had quite high expectations. Unfortunately it was very disappointing. Overly oily and yes, I know pasta is best when al dente, but it need not be to the point where it was still half raw and slightly crunchy.Although the pasta was sub par, I did enjoy the eggs benedict, and the freshly made pizza looked very appetising too, so maybe I will return for that.

This is a nice simple dinner and my first time visiting Linguini Fini.

I had make the reservation however we are early for the table. My friend had ordered the recommended 'Fazzoletti' and I had ordered also the recommended dish 'On Top of Spaghetti', which is very nice as the sphagetti is done with perfect al dente , the meatball is nice, it was juicy and tender. I enjoyed the dishes very much. The slight improvement is on the table bread and garlic bread. These seems to be not very fresh .

Will definitely come back again for next time!!!

I had lunch here with a friend, we both had the $88 lunch set which was a pasta dish and a drink. I had the puttanesca, my friend had the Pomodori - both arrived quickly and we were offered cheese or black pepper immediately. The pasta was perfectly as dente, perhaps a little too so for my liking, and the sauces both strong in flavour. A puttanesca sauce is often in danger of being too salty with capers, olives and anchovies, but this one was well seasoned. The bread was also very fresh and had good flavour.

I would come here for a casual work lunch again (with colleagues, not with a client i was trying to impress) but probably would avoid for dinner as it's quite a loud place and just off the lobby of the building so the view is a queue of people.

Second time I have been to this restaurant (1st time was for lunch and this time for dinner) and second time I came away disappointed. We ordered the spicy sausage and fried calamari for an entree. One small sausage for HKD98? Fair enough - buyer beware as the menu does state pork sausage and not pork sausages. It was nice enough.

The other dish was the calamari. Understand it is seafood but I think the chef has a seasoning fetish with salt as the dish was ridiculously over done on the salt.

Then the mains. We had not finished our entrees and they were asking us if we wanted the mains. We told them we would wait - especially as we were still eating. Our waiter advised he would need at least 10 mins notice to have the kitchen prepare it so keep that in mind when we were ready. We were asked two more times within the space of 20 minutes if we wanted our main. We were drinking wine so they were still making money. If the idea is churn and burn the table in a time frame tell us up front please.

Finally we said yes to have them stop annoying us and less than 10 mins later our food was at our table. I had the classic linguini fini, Aglio olio and it was a clump of dried up pasta delivered to our table. I guarantee it had been sitting under heat lamps or something similar because it definitely was not just cooked and the way we were hounded to have the mains would also suggest it was sitting there waiting to be delivered. It was dry and clumpy which as far as I know and a regular pasta maker myself is not the way it should be. I did not send it back as I have had some nasty experiences from other restuarants (not this one) when you "dare" send something back.

Ok place to have a drink but wouldnt eat here again.

I moved Hong Kong side (is that how they say it?) a few months ago. I feel bad, I almost never eat Chinese food anymore. Ah well, Linguini Fini it was.

It was a Friday, and I was supposed to grab a rotisserie chicken, but the French rotisserie guy told me they were all out. We showed up at LF with no reservations, and they had no tables, but they did let us sit at the bar. Fine by me-- the service at the bar was excellent.

First we ordered drinks. I had a margarita and it was OK, maybe a bit watery. My wife had some Italian cocktail of some sort... she was unimpressed. It took them a while to bring her drink, but then they gave us both of them on the house. Free drinks are always A+ in my book. A+

Boring old me, I wanted calamari as an appetizer. The calamari was well cooked and not overly chewy, salty, but appropriately so, however not nearly as crispy as I like it. The dipping sauce it came with was yummy. A step above mid-range. B/ B+

I ordered "On Top of Spaghetti" which is an idiotic name for a dish, and one that was taken way too literally. It was a meatball, on top of spaghetti, all covered with cheese. God, I half suspect that they sneezed on it. Still, it was maybe the best meatball I'd ever had in my life. Meaty, and flavorful, and succulent... it reminded me of mom's meatloaf, if only she was a lot better cook. The pasta and tomato sauce it came with were less spectacular, but still reasonably good: just the right amount of greasy, nice al dente pasta... I scarfed it down. A-

My wife got the duck sausage rigatoni with white bean ragu and roasted peppers. I think she was expecting big chunks of sausage and not sausage the consistency of ground beef. She reports that it wasn't very "ducky" flavored, and not very flavored in general. She gives it a B.

I will say that the servers at the bar were friendly and efficient (and they gave us free drinks). This place is owned by the same people who do Posto Pubblico, which I also like, and probably like a little bit better. Still, I have no complaints. B+

Went for lunch with a friend.
Convenient place and easy to find a seat enen walk in with no reservation at the Bar or back long table to share.
Ordered the set lunch seems inexpensive less than HKD100- for one main course and one drink.
However when the dishes served it results really disappointing.
I ordered the sausage crunchy seasoning but lots of fat. When the small sausage arrived on plate with few vegetable it looked so miserably displayed on the half empty plate.
The portions were so small that we finished the meal without filling my stomach even though hontslt I am not a big eater.
What I resent the most are the mean serving the dish and the customers leave restaurant without being fed with satisfaction and not enough!Really disappointing!

Date a friend to have a lunch at Linguini Fini.
I came at around 12;00 still able to get a seat! (so lucky!)

the course is a good bargain - around $6x you can get a soup and a pasta.

We both ordered onion soup - i like the cheesy on topSpicy pasta (?!) Didnt taste that much as it is quite spicy for me....the pasta is al dente (remember to ask for lots of cheese!)Herbs with pasta...good taste..but too oily..when i finish the dish i can see there are a thick layer of oil -__-The set lunch didn't include dessert so we ordered two more desserts from the menu..

Left: ice-cream ; good taste but a bit expansive ($18) for a small scoop of ice creamRight: Cream with banana and bacon on top - At first i would think it would be a weird combination as there are dried bacan mixed with cream! But then I found it surprisingly match! Recommend!

I will write a short review for the lunch I had and I will try this restaurant again for dinner.

I ordered a set lunch meal with 4 other colleagues, in which I had pasta with pesto sauce. From memory, both the pasta and the pesto sauce was subpar.
The pasta was not italian al dente, and the quality of the pasta itself was sub standard. The portions were also small which left me asking for another meal early in the afternoon.
The sauce was very average as it didn't bring out much flavours to the pasta itself. The pesto although looked more than abundant, the sauce was very bland and tasteless.

I will give it another try for dinner though, and will post a more detailed review. Perhaps, they will use their premium ingredients.

Either way, do not go for lunch.

2 people, both took the set lunch. Its very cheap, and it shows. We had 2 different starters and 2 different pastas. Tiny portions, badly cooked. We left hungry and a little nauseas. Too much oil on everything, pasta way over-cooked, ingredients not terribly fresh. Took over 40 mins to bring main courses despite repeated requests of various waiters and waitresses. Restuarant itself is badly laid out (horrible climb up some backstairs to get to the dining area), tables too close, noisy etc. Venue ok for beer and pizza in the evening, but the location is not conducive to that. Don't eat there.

I was really excited when I finally got to try Linguini Fini, a restaurant which is run by the IHM group (owned by two New Yorkers Todd Darling and Robert Spina) and is famous for their casual and authentic Italian dishes. The restaurant is split over 2 floors, and reservations can be made for tables on 1/F, but not on G/F.

I went there for lunch and they had a 3 course set lunch for $198. Seeing how the restaurant boasts its “value-for-money” Italian food, and given its location in Sheung Wan as opposed to Central, this did not seem like a bargain at first; however, there is no compulsory 10% service charge, so the final bill is actually not too expensive.

(1) The waiter recommended our two starters to us. The Homemade Spicy Pork Sausage was excellent. The meat was slightly chunky, so the sausage had a more chewy and fun texture than normal Frankfurters. The garlic mustard sauce was tangy, and the roasted onions and peppers on the side were delicious.(2) What really made my day was this White Gold Bar! Mozzarella is already one of the greatest loves of my life as it is. Then wrapped in herb bread and deep fried? It was simply pure bliss on a plate! The marinara sauce, which had a refreshing citrus taste and soft pieces of tomatoes in it, was a great complement for the crunchy mozzarella sticks. I’ll never forget how the cheese beautifully oozed out as I cut into them!(3) My friends have been raving on and on about the amazing pasta at Linguini Fini. But for me, it was a bit of a disappointment. For my main course, I ordered the Arthur Ave. Linguini with Clams. The pasta itself was freshly made and al dente, but the sauce was truly insipid. Perhaps here in weight-conscious Hong Kong, we much prefer food that is lighter on the waistline, but you simply cannot cook pasta without enough olive oil! You can see in the photo below that the sauce was quite watery, and the clams were few in number and small in size. (4) As for the Fettucine Funghi, the sauce was similarly bland and watery, and the mushrooms were flavourless. (5) What followed was the Apple Crostata. It was buttery and delicious, and was topped with yogurt gelato, which was creamy and smooth. (6) The Tiramisu was really creative! It was basically a coffee-flavoured cake with a thin layer of mascarpone on top, sprinkled with ground chocolate. Sort of like a normal tiramisu but with the usual proportions of sponge cake and mascarpone reversed.(7) The set lunch comes with a coffee or tea, and you could pay $10 to upgrade to a Latte or a Cappucino. My Latte was aromatic, not bitter and quite tasty overall.Even though the pasta was a bit disappointing, I would totally come again just for the rustic atmosphere, satisfying food and the deep fried mozzarella sticks!

This Italian restaurant has a casual dining area. Linguini Fini serves wide range of pasta and pizza. This is another Italian restaurant with the concept using local organic ingredients to produce Italian homemade dishes.
the meats and sausages that are home-cured, the Bolognese that is always slowly simmered for hours to perfection, and the pasta that must be al dente even if local palates prefer it a little softer. And just like the other restaurant venues under IHM, Linguini Fini dishes are created using local organic produce and animals sourced from neighboring farms.

Cuisine: Italian
Food rating: 2/10*
Service: 2/10
Ambiance: 4/10
Price: HK$100pax

* Food Rating: 6/10 is equivalent to 1 Michelin star, 8/10 to two Michelin stars, and 9/10 or above to three Michelin stars

Sichuan peppercorn pasta with beef (2/10)
The beef was tender and the pasta was al dente, however, the Sichuan peppercorns are exactly the classic pasta that diners would expect. I don’t appreciate the innovation, next time I shall stay with the classic like I usually do.The cuisine at Linguini Fini may be Italian, but the pasta we ate, was rather Chinese. Maybe is casual is not careless, but defiantly now my cup of tea.

Give me a thumbs up if you like it!

6 of us visited Linguini Fini on Friday night with high expectations.....

Unfortunately we started out with 2 cocktails and wine...both cocktails were sent back as they tasted like "dishwater"

The starters were bland, small and expensive:
The beef carpacio was the best of the lot...tasty and good portion

Main courses:
The mushroom pasta was too salty and had no sauce...just mushrooms and pasta.

The eggplant parmigiana was very small and although tasty was a bit dry and looked very lonely and sad on the plate.

The 3 pizzas we ordered were ordinary, a bit dry with little topping...Pizza Express would have been a better bet.

Desserts were better...tiramisu was quite good and the basil ice cream was delicious. The 2 tiny scoops of vanilla gelato in a tiny bowl were a little embarrassing...tasty but small and badly presented.

All in all we were very disappointed...

After patiently waiting for almost a year, I finally got a chance to try out the highly talked about Linguini Fini.
With all the hype, was the wait worth it after all?

As I am a vegetarian, I can only comment on the veggie dishes that were ordered.

Besides the free bread basket (box?), we were four of us and our (or more like my veggie) dinner consisted of:
1) White Gold Bars (Herb breaded Pubblico mozzarella with mariana)
We wanted to order Caprese but it was out of stock. White Gold Bars - in other words, fried mozzarella tasted like the ones at T.G.I.F. No, it wasn't bad but it wasn't anything great either. I usually enjoy fried mozzarella served piping hot and when i bite into it, the cheese gets all stringy. Sadly, this was cold and I don't have much to write about.

2) Nonna Leslie's Ravioli (Fresh herb & Ricotta Ravioli, fresh basil and tomato sauce)
There was quite a time gap since our White Gold Bars had arrived and I was relieved upon the arrival of the ravioli. The portion size was great for sharing and the raviolis were quite big. The sauce was delicious and the basil flavour was wholesome. I think I enjoyed it a lot more than I would have if I was not starving.

3) Fettucine Funghi (The name says it all)
Generally I prefer my fettucine funghi on the creamy side. I felt this was slightly water-y. The mushrooms were plentiful which I liked and the pasta was well cooked. It was a light dish if you aren't looking for something too heavy or rich.

4) Bianco
This was an interesting take on a pizza. It was very light and crispy and the flavours of the herbs really came through. I would recommend this without a doubt!

Back to my question, was the wait worth it after all?
No, certainly not. It was a decent dinner but nothing I would crave for again. If I do come back, it would only be to try their Hot Chocolate Affogato. I saw the table next to me digging into it and it looked divine!

This is my first time coming to this joint. Cozy ambiance, and pretty nice cocktails to kickoff a nite of a less typical italian dinner. Although the name of the resto was persuading me to order pasta, but there are far too many interesting antipasti and entrees to pick from. Most of the exotic interiors dishes were not surprising but still good. What captures my tongue though is actually what many of the food critics recommended yet none of the reviews on this site has written about; the "Rotisserie Porchetta". I would say this PORK dish is truly the Crown Jewel of this place. 14 hrs of delicate roasting, giving this pig a crispy skin while conserving all the savoriness and tenderness in the soft meat. I can only think of one word to describe this "PERFECTION"