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2017-03-04
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I am so into #TGIF after a long week and today I am going to Happy Valley to visit my friend who is living in one of the serviced apartments there. It's pretty surprising that the rent of those apartments are not that high for only around 20k per month, just slightly higher than the normal rent in Central district. After spending some time at my friend's new apartment, she suggested us to dine at a newly opened restaurant nearby. When we got there, we can tell that it is really new because of th
I am so into #TGIF after a long week and today I am going to Happy Valley to visit my friend who is living in one of the serviced apartments there. It's pretty surprising that the rent of those apartments are not that high for only around 20k per month, just slightly higher than the normal rent in Central district. After spending some time at my friend's new apartment, she suggested us to dine at a newly opened restaurant nearby. When we got there, we can tell that it is really new because of the celebration flowers at their door.
Locanda dell' Angelo has a clean glass door with a glowing logo, giving customer a classy vibe right away. The tables are covered in plain white sheet, delivering a sense of luxury and neat ambient. Some square and round tables are also available for bigger and smaller group of customers.
The restaurant also has a spacious open kitchen for diners to experience how the Sicilian chef prepare the classic Sicilian dishes. Not only he's handsome, but he is very serious about his dishes and I can see that from his dishes and his passion.
When having Italian food, it is a must to have a few glasses of wine to go with the food but we are going clean today so sparkling water will do more than enough.
There is also a giant leg of ham net to the door but we haven't seen anyone ordering it yet so we can't comment much on the same.
The sparkling water is pour in front of us and lime slice is also added to the water.
Before our order arrived, a bread basket has been brought to us and there are 3 types of bread, baguette, olive , and multi seeds bread. They are all toasted until very crunchy which I liked and don't forget to dip them into the olive oil as they are ridiculously tasteful.
A tiny plate of lentil soup with salmon tartare is served for us as an appetiser. This well-known Indian ingredient is actually widely used in European cuisine, usually serve with fish.
It's really thick and healthy, besides, it's an inexpensive legume to consume.
Let's dig in! We have ordered an array of dishes in proper Italian style, or you may say. We have gone from Antipasto -> Primo -> Secondo - > DolceBeef carpaccio with arugula and parmigiano, light mustard sauce
Beef carpaccio is one of the most famous antipasto in Italian cuisine. The beef slices are thin and placed at the bottom, topped with a generous amount of greens and aged cheese parmigiano. The beef has a light clean fresh taste and a soft texture. The very delicate meat can be torn apart easily if you don't handle it gently.
The aged cheese taste is profound with a strong salted taste, yet remained a milky almost creamy texture. I liked a lot because it doesn't have small salt pieces. like some other cheese.
The light mustard sauce and the slightly bittersweet arugula counterbalanced with the savouriness from the cheese. It's a traditional delicacy at its best. A perfect combination to enjoy and to me, it's the perfect kind of antipasto to start a meal with.
Baked ricotta with five spices, vegetables and aged balsamic 20 yearThe next antipasto we have ordered is a vegetarian dish, which is simply a mix of grilled vegetables topped with some flavour baked ricotta cheese. Surprisingly , the cheese has been sprinkled with a light cinnamon powder, providing an interesting contrast to the veggies, which is still working well.
There is a mix of zucchini, carrots, eggplants, and more. Everything is fresh and the taste is very light and refreshing, especially when complimented with the light ricotta cheese.
Coming to the Primo, we have ordered a risotto and a pasta, no doubt they are some of the most traditional Primo to order. Hokkaido sea urchin risotto with fresh wasabi and chives
The restaurant did take a twist in this dish because they have used Hokkaido fresh uni in this risotto, as well as a few pieces of extremely fresh tomato on top, giving a powerful sweet and sour taste to the creamy and rich risotto with a prominent sea water taste from the creamy uni.
The wasabi tasted very light and almost unnoticeable. To be honest, the flavour of the dish is already strong enough so I honest do not think it needs any extra ingredients or seasonings to go with it.
Let's give it a round of applause to the perfectly cooked texture of the risotto!! OMGGGGGGGGGGG, they are in perfect al dente hardness. Not too hard but not too soft nor mashed. it is firm with a bite to it but it is not too rare that would give you indigestion. I can honestly say that it is one of the best cooked risotto I have ever had in Hong Kong, especially when it is prepared by a handsome Italian chef.
Spaghetti "Mancini" with garlic, oil, dry bell pepper and seabass bottarga
Sicilian food is all about fresh ingredient and this pasta uses very authentic mix of ingredients that you wouldn't normally see in normal Italian restaurants. Once again, the pasta has been cooked to perfect which is nicely al dente. I have seen that the chef taste every pasta dish just to make sure that it has been cooked to perfection.
This pasta uses home style Sicilian ingredients which is not so common in Hong Kong. Basically it is cooked with a mix of salted seabass pieces, some blended bell pepper, and a touch of fresh herbs with a strong garlic taste. Without loading the pasta with any kind of heavy sauce, simply toss it in extremely fresh aromatic olive oil, bringing out all the original flavours from each unique fresh ingredients.
Coming to the secondo, usually a meat / seafood dish. We have ordered a fish and lamb dish and they both came in nice presentation and temperature. Mediterranean wild line caught seabass with vegetable caponata and basil
We were told that line caught is like hand caught. Not sure how the fishermen catch their seabass at the Mediterranean sea but whatever. The seabass is beautifully done with a moist centre and the meat is flaky to the max that is almost falling apart. The skin remained super crispy and slightly charred on the surface. It's just freaking delicious and fresh in taste, not to mention that fish is actually very good for you even though seabass is a fatty kinda fish.
The veggies caponata has a mix of tomato and earthy taste, an excellent compliment to the fatty fish fillet. I can never have enough of it because I am probably enjoying it way too much!
Roasted baby lamb chop from New Zealand with spinach sauteed and polentaThe other secondo we ordered is a meatier dish. Since I had a scrumptious piece of lamb chop since my last visit to another seafood restaurant in Tsim Sha Tsui, I haven't had a nicer piece. I am having high hope and expectation in it.
With no disappointment, the lamb chops are cooked well with a succulent texture but not too bloody though we have ordered medium rare. The chop is pretty fatty that the oil from the lamb complimented nicely and enhanced the flavour from the lamb.The taste to me is nothing like any normal gamey lamb we had before. I felt like lamb has a very complex taste based on its quality and I can literally taste the quality from its unique taste. Not to compare between restaurants but i have had better ones although this is already much better than average.
Dolce is a must to finish off a lovely dinner so we hvae ordered a lighter one and a heavier one to share. Fresh fruit salad with raspberries sorbet
Dessert doesn't have to be naughty nor indulging, but it can be healthy too! The Japanese often only have melon, strawberries or other fruits as dessert. So can the Italian. A mix of fresh fruit cubes presented in a colourful way in a healthy fresh fruit juice with passion fruit seed.
A mix of fruit like melon, pineapple, dragon fruit, mix berries are topped with a spoonful of sweet and sour raspberries sorbet that is particularly soothing in our full stomach.
Cannoli with cream of ricotta cheese, pistachio and candied fruitsLastly, who doesn't like some traditional Italian sweet treat, cannoli? When in Rome, I walked half an hour to find a very authentic Cannoli shop in Italy and it is just so delicious that I can never forget its taste in my life.
Cannoli at this restaurant taste good with an authentic texture from the riccota cheese and all that, but the weakest point is the shell itself, which is too thin and crumbly, which is supposed to be crunchy and a bit thicker.
Despite the thin shell, everything tasted great without being too sweet. I also liked the chocolate sorbet on the side which has a bittersweet taste. Sorbet has no milk in it so it's quite light and you can tell that quality chocolate has been used in the sorbet.
In conclusion, this is a pretty authentic Italian Sicilian restaurant in Happy Valley. It is even better than most of the Italian restaurants. In terms of price, it's pretty proportional to the quality of the food, if you don't feel like having old style food at Amxgo , you should come here for a comfortable sumptuous meal with good service. Do it now without hesitation!
Cheers with a cup of coffee and possibly housemade candied cherry cookies and biscottis.
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