Piccolo Pizzeria & Bar  

.... continuing on from previous entry, we ended up receiving a great quality Tiramisu to finish off, probably one of the best we have tried in HK and worthy of having its own separate entry! *Note that I accidentally uploaded the previous draft by pressing the Submit Button twice before proof reading or re-shuffling things, so there were some slight mistakes within so apologies for that! Eg. I meant to say the Triennes Rose wine was started by some Vignerons from Burgundy looking for a vineyard down South, but referred it to the wine below by accident. Or other trivial stuff.

.Chef Cheryl's Tiramisu - $55
This tiramisu recipe is borrowed from a chef friend of the group, and is made really well, with a smooth Mascarpone-Sabayon layer which was eggy and cheesy, and the Savoiardi fingers were just right and not too dry or overly soaked. The usage of both Kahlua Coffee Liqueur and Bailey on top of the Espresso gave it that much needed complexity in flavours, but not necessarily making it too alcoholic in taste either. It was not so much authentic in recipe but the deviation turned out to be a positive move in the end! Could challenge places like Da Domenico, Gold, Antico, il Bel Paese or Tivo (stuff Cova btw, I make better tiramisu than them) ~ 9/10

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Pizza 11 Inches, Four Cheeses - $130
Topped with 4 cheeses of Mozzarella, Taleggio, Scarmoza (smoked type) and blue cheese Gorgonzola. The base here is deliberately aimed at the Roman Style pizza, which is normally more thinner and crispier. The pizza dough here is made from Australian high quality wheat which are milled into flour in Malaysia, after very careful selection by the Manager/Sommelier after sessions of blind tasting. The pizza dough was actually quite alright - being decently crispy and tenacious at the same time without being too brittle or crisp, also carrying an evenly baked and slightly charred bottom with good wheaty taste. Not biscuity at all, and unlike all Roman rather than Napoli or Sicily style, the latter two said to resonate more with Hong Kong customers due to untrained palates and preferences. The Brick Oven here is designed to be able to heat pizze upwards of 320C to 400C, an ideal range just without the woodfire. The four cheesees to me were decent but knowing that 3 out of the 4 cheese are naturally strongish I somehow they were a little bit weakened. Personal bias perhaps, but I expect strong and cowy or smoky cheese flavours when I see Taleggio, Smoked Scarmoza and Gorgonzola by default. ~ 7/10

.Vegetariana - $130
Made with Zucchini, Eggplant, Artichoke (spelling mistake here as Artichoxe), Peppers and Black Olives. This was baked perfectly with an obviously present mozzarella cheese, and although I think this might be slightly over-priced, was one of the best pizzas presented on the night with perfect cooking timing and fresh quality vegetables ~ 9/10

.2010 Triennes Rosé - $300
Predominantly made from Cinsault grapes, also with Syrah, White Grenache as well as Merlot, with the absence of Pinot Noir, this to me was a really convincing Rose wine actually - as more Rose wine claims to be all girly and soft, but deep under can be quite alcoholic and warm and not as mellow as it pretends to be. The one served tonight was balanced and florally aromatic, a soft expression of what are usually red wine grapes. Highly recommended if you like Rose ~ 9/10

.Prosciutto di Parma - Prosciutto Ham with Shaved Parmesan and Rocket - $130
The ham is served as raw 'crudo' style, which means it is only placed on top of the already baked pizza base after the baking is done. A foodie complained that there was a little too much arugula rocket leaves to detract from the taste, whereas others were convinced this was appreciated. This polarity shows food preference can be plus or minus subjective, but when half the customers thought they were aligned with one way or another, this must mean the restaurant is doing something right . And just to throw spanners into the work, I thought the rocket leaves amount was ok but a bit plain, perhaps needing more seasoning or an extral drizzle of a floral olive oil. The ham was decent. ~ 7.5/10

.Pancetta - With Local Egg, Pancetta Bacon & Tomato$130
Spelt and printed wrongly as Panchetta on the menu, perhaps because the shop is confused between Porchetta and Pancetta, two vastly different things also derived from a pig although to be fair, both can be either rounded or squarish in shape, which further adds to the confusion, alebit there is a clear distinction between the two in meat and taste. Sometimes just a letter or 2 missing can mean different things when it comes to terminology, so it might sound a bit harsh, but accuracy in spelling and recipe often provides a clue as to how the recipe is intending to become. This was quite Italian in final outcome and aromatically smoky with the round pancetta bacon, but the latter was slightly under charred and lacking that distinct smoky flavour (also found in Guanciale pork jowl). I really like this and it was almost like a breakfast item, but ultimately it was missing that really salty, porky or smoky HAM factor in the equation, though not really far from it. ~ 7.5/10

.Aglio Olio - $110
The Sommelier/Manager said this recipe is derived from their Singaporean Pizza shops' recipe, and took them about 13 goes before they were satisfied with the end result. A little exaggerated, but the end result really speaks for itself. Despite using just a normal commercial dry pasta by Barilla, the garlic was first fried to the perfect aromatic stage without being burnt, then quality olive oil and red chili were added to make this an amazingly fragrant Aglio Olio spaghetti. I have never had fond memories of such a simple and often over-poweringly garlicky or olive oil based dish, but I have got to say this was PERFECTLY balanced and executed. Simply one of the biggest misnomers which came unexpected, and amazing. ~ 9/10

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