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2009-12-15
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Review on La Piazzetta can be retrieved from http://geoffstwitchen.com/?p=940I take a bus home every evening from work & our bus goes past the infamous Metropark Hotel with the previous outbreak of H5N1 as well as Strawberry Café which is the ultimate symbol of Wan Chai – booze, sex, drugs & rock & roll! With a red traffic light or congested traffic jam which pretty much happens every day, I very happen to notice a small wooden Tuscan farmhouse look & feel restaurant but due to the distance from
I take a bus home every evening from work & our bus goes past the infamous Metropark Hotel with the previous outbreak of H5N1 as well as Strawberry Café which is the ultimate symbol of Wan Chai – booze, sex, drugs & rock & roll! With a red traffic light or congested traffic jam which pretty much happens every day, I very happen to notice a small wooden Tuscan farmhouse look & feel restaurant but due to the distance from the bus, I did not know the name of the restaurant. Plenty of question bubbles in my mind - why does a restaurant owner open up their business in such location which is not famed by food but for nightlife & after my daily bus trips, the restaurant seem relatively quiet?
The first La Piazzetta opened up in the alley of SoHo with a span of 13 years serving up authentic Italian cuisine in which I have visited on a few occasions. My time to visit their 2nd restaurant finally came & first impression was an extremely cosy Tuscan setting as I mentioned above. 2 floors high with the top floor yet to complete its renovation during our visit, the ground floor was a pleasant environment for watching the day & night past by as well as eye-candies either tourists or party goers approaching to Lockhart Road. Out comes Paulo Donati, Chef & Restaurant Founder with his big Italian smile, welcoming all the diners & guests of the evening & most importantly, serving us with a welcome glass of White. A person with an extremely outgoing personality & quite possibly one of the friendliest restauranteurs around town carrying one of the most unique chef’s jacket which looked a little too tight on him as I later found out that he designed this chef jacket as a cross-over between a regular chef jacket x motorbike jacket. Classic Stuff & you gotta love this man!
If you are dining at La Piazzetta for the first time, bring your reading classes as the menu is like a Yellow Page featuring 110 dishes. Not exaggerating & your eye sight will worsen after searching for your dish & I personally have no idea how they can store all the ingredients. Just ask Paulo & his team to recommend you the dishes. Our evening was made easier as we have a pre-arranged set menu which consisted of below dishes:
CARPACCIO DI PESCE SPADA AFFUMICATO (Sicily Region)- Carpaccio of Flown In Smoked Sword Fish topped with Shaved Fresh Fennel and Rocket Salad
I have always been a huge fan of carpaccio & this one did not disappoint. This is a smoked swordfish paired with fennel & rocket with a generous drizzle of the Extra Virgin Olive Oil ‘Madonna dell’Olivo, which is considered as the top 10 Olive Oil brands in Italy. The fish was fresh & was definitely a good pairing with the rocket salad. However, the fennel somewhat lacked its usual intensity but nonetheless, a good dish to kick start your meal
FOCCACCIA CON ILL FORMAGGIO (Grilled Foccacia Cheese)
PANICCIA ALLA GENOVESE (Liguria Region) - Deep Fried Slices of Ceci (Chick-pea) Flour topped with Fresh Sweet Onions
Above 2 dishes are somewhat similar in nature as they are both very high content in carbs & for those that are conscious about their weight, not recommended. The Grilled Foccacia Cheese & the Deep Fried Slices of Chick Pea flour were delicious & both were the highlights & favourites of my evening as the taste wasabsolutely superb but however, as a starter, it is extremely filling for your main courses. Imagine deep fry cheese & flour, does that sound filling & heavy to you & the best occasion to enjoy this is on a Sunday or anyday when you are suffering from a stonking hang-over.
LIGUINE ALLA BALZANELLA - Linguine with Cherry Tomatoes, Garlic and Fresh Basil
Vegetarians, Yogis & for those that are diet, this Linguine dish is personally my highly recommended & favourite dish of the evening. Such simple dish but yet full of great flavours of the garlic, fresh basil & cherry tomatoes which pairs extremely well with the linguine. With generous drizzle of the fine Italian Extra Virgin Olive oil, you will not require any Parmesan Cheese for this dish at all. It is also said that this dish is extremely healthy for one’s mind & body.
SPAGHETTI ALLA MARINARA - Spaghetti with Fresh Assorted Seafood (Clams, Shrimps) served with White Wine Sauce, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Fresh Chili and Garlic
Our 2nd pasta course of the evening was full of Mediterranean flavours with fresh & generous portions of seafood on offer such as clams & shellfish. Presentation of dish was equally interesting with an enormous shellfish taking centre stage. Slight improvement area for this dish is that I could barely taste the White Wine Sauce as it tasted more like a tomato sauce which was odd. The flesh of the clam was also missing from some of the shells which left me wondering whether the chefs put in empty shells in the course. Personally, I prefered the Liguine Alla Balzanella as that was definitely a more authentic Italian style pasta dish.
BRANZINO AL CARTOCCIO - Baked Sea-bass
This dish for me is the true definition of authentic Italian cooking. Seabass is simply prepared with Olive oil, parsley, fresh lemon & baked in the oven until the fish is thoroughly cooked with the flesh slowly peeling off the fish. I enjoy this form of cooking & it is a real shame that such type of cooking is not very common in Hong Kong as most Italian restaurants tend to serve up fish fillets which is a shame. This is true, home style & hearty cooking to the highest level & also a recommended dish to order.
TRIPPA ALLA PARMIGIANA (Emilia Region) - Steamed Veal Tripe in Tomato Sauce and Aromatic Herbs. Served with Mashed Potatoes
If there is one course of the evening whereby I did not enjoy, this will be it. Presentation did not looked the most appealing when the dish was presented & the tomato sauce over-shadows the steamed veal tripe. I couldn’t figure out where the tripes were in the dish as everything was fairly all mashed & mixed up together. Suggestion will be to serve the potato mash & veal tripes on one dish separately as it was a very messy dish which resembled more like a stew.
It was an interesting meal to enjoy with our fellow foodies around town & La Piazzetta is a nice addition to have in our Wan Chai neighbourhood. I extremely enjoy the fact that their cooking style is authentic & the usage of only the freshest ingredients. As Paulo Donati said during our evening, “I don’t care about the presentation of food, but I only care for the freshest ingredients” tells the story. However, my only advice for Paulo & team is to perhaps trim down the menu as I don’t think I have encountered a restaurant with such extensive menu.
Come & also check out our interview with Paulo Donati on Geoff's Twitchen at http://geoffstwitchen.com/?p=921
Happy Eating!
Geoff
Upcoming Review:: FIRE at W Hotel
Address: 44 Hennessy Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong (灣仔軒尼詩道44號地下)
Tel: 2865 0681
Food Quality (5* the highest): ***
Price for Dinner (5$ = very expensive): $$
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