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身為新界人，真係好少過海，難得過海搵朋友食lunch, 食完水記心情大好想搵個地方飲少少酒繼續吹水，於是入咗呢間lunch time後餐廳只剩兩三枱人，完部都係外藉人仕。餐廳內有塊大鏡，半開放式設計令食客能多接觸自然的空氣，少了一般中高價餐廳的拘謹，教人情緒放鬆。朋友點咗個隱藏版季節張定的starfruit mojito，比一般mojito更refreshing，不過比較細杯，飲兩啖就無。另一杯我唔知叫咩，淨係同朋友講想要一杯橙黃色frozen嘅cocktail, 然後佢幫我點咗呢杯，嚟到係白色，杯邊有粗鹽，好重tequila味，飲極麵仲有，long drink之選。
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Felt like trying someplace new on a Saturday night. Arrived at 9 pm (as per our booking) and shown immediately to a nice window-side table. The place did not seem completely full, but there was a steady stream of people in and out. This looks like a lively bar at street level (and it is) but the restaurant is upstairs and mercifully removed from the hubbub below. The "niche" for this restaurant is that it serves food from Italy's Piedmont region. (Think Turin, think truffles, think wonderful wines.....) And indeed the menu had a lot of dishes that clearly bore a regional influence -- they were not the standard stuff you find on every Italian menu (though there was also a selection of the usual universal favorites.)The service was immediately attentive -- and helpful! There were several Piedmontese terms on the menu (not standard Italian, which I speak), and the waiter had obviously been trained well, as he could explain them all clearly and succinctly.We ordered the selection of appetizers, which I would highly recommend for a group of 2-3 people. It provides a selection of 6 hot and cold items, and gives the opportunity to taste lots of different stuff.Details:-- Vitello Tonnato was scrumptious -- the veal was flavorful, but the tuna sauce was fantastic, and applied in just the right amount (i.e. not overwhelmingly thick).-- Grilled capsicum peppers were good....not as bursting with flavor as one might hope. The bagna cauda sauce was expertly done, and made this dish a "hit," with its light flavor of anchovies and olive oil.-- Anchovies themselves (served with just a bit of salsa verde) were -- of course -- very salty and went fantastically well with the Friuli Sauvignon Blanc (see comments on winelist below.)-- The eggplant mousse was not to the liking of our Chinese contingent (too subtle and not enough vegetable-ness) while the Western contingent thought it was great.-- The tomino cheese wrapped in speck and baked was very good -- the meat flavor penetrated the cheese and made a wonderful combination. (But don't expect a creamy cheese -- having been cooked, the cheese was solid and a bit "al dente."-- The carpaccio was excellent, with generous shavings of parmesan on top. Could have used a tad less oil, IMHO.For mains, we opted for pastas, both of which we thought were truly excellent productions -- and both were unusual in HK Italian kitchens. A thin Piedmont pasta with rabbit ragout had a fantastic flavor, though not really heavy and dark (as some rabbit sauces are). The agnolotti with meat sauce were very satisfying -- tiny agnolotti, not big ravioli -- with a semi-transparent light sauce of braised beef -- served in a basket made from grilled parmesan cheese.We accompanied all this with a couple glasses of Sauvignon Blanc from Friuli (fresh and tangy, without the overwhelming flavor of some New Zealand SB's) and a bottle of Duca di Salaparuta Nero d'Avola, from Sicily. The by-the-glass winelist was extensive, with a good representative variety of Italian wines at $75-85 and up per glass. The list of bottles was -- as usual in HK restaurants, regrettably -- on the very high side pricewise, but it did have a couple of decently-priced reds and whites. (The Nero d'Avola was one of the 3 cheapest reds on the menu at HK$490.) The fine Piedmontese wines were in the price stratosphere, unfortunately. Throughout the meal, the service staff was attentive -- and they were particularly nice about our wine, helping us chill the red just a bit down to cellar temp to suit our preferences. All in all, it was an excellent meal, with creative and delicious unusual foods on offer. We will go back, for sure.
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Everytime I walk pass La Piola after work the place is packed with people having drinks by the open bar facing the streets. On a Friday night one people would be spilling onto the side walk with their wines and spirits. I've never eaten at La Piola and decided to give it a try during lunch. We were greeted by a friendly hostess who took us to our table upstairs. The atmosphere is quiet and peaceful and we were again greeted by a very friendly waiter who asked us if we wanted water. There is a 3 course lunch set. I ordered the carrot soup and my friend ordered the eggplant "flan" with cheese. Both were delicious. My carrot soup was creamy and hot. Once could tell it was freshly made with high quality ingredients. The eggplant "flan" looked exactly like a dessert with the same texture as flan however, it had a rich eggplant creamy taste. It was actually very interesting and surprisingly delicious. For the main dish we took the recommendation from our waiter and ordered their homemade pasta with beef ragut. It was also very good. The pasta resembled angel hair - thinly cut pasta - that was cooked al dente. The portions were just right. Later we had a choice between coffee/ tea or their homemade dessert which was bread pudding. I was quite full after finishing the pasta so I opted for Earl Grey tea. The bill was HKD 188 + 10% which is very decent for a lunch set in Central. Include a glass of wine with lunch then it'll be HKD 300/head
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Mum wanted to have pasta for lunch on a Saturday, so we wandered around Central/Soho among the traffic and crowd. Naturally we popped into the first restaurant we spotted. Downstairs was a bar area and too noisy for us, thankfully there was an upstairs dining area which was just as loud but at least we didn't have to eat the dust and inhale air pollution straight from the streets.The bread basket was pretty damn good, the grissini were crunchy and herby, the other two were moist and chewy, great for soaking up sauce. There was an antipasto selection for 2, 3 hot and 3 cold, but we skipped that and went for just a roast bell pepper with an anchovy sauce. The peppers were de-skinned, soft and juicy, smothered by a creamy anchovy sauce.The pasta was one of the recommended dishes (most on the signature list were though). The meat was tender, with just a hint of gamey-ness to it. The pasta was a little softer than al dente, which is to be expected if it's homemade and fresh. There was very little sauce but surprisingly the dish held together very well, with the hazelnuts adding a bit of crunchy texture to it. I have to say, it's a perfect lunch dish.The lamb was also nice, though nothing spectacular.Coffee smelt good, and when I asked for herbal tea I was told (by the Chinese waiter who insisted on speaking English until he was convinced that we were determined to speak Chinese to him) they only have jasmine.... Do you have peppermint? Oh yes we do. There you go, mint is a herb. But otherwise service was adequately attentive without being intrusive, and the other waiter seemed knowledgeable and was able to give explanations and recommendations. The price was a little exxy for a lunch, but I suppose we're paying dinner price from the same menu. Maybe they have lunch sets?
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Since the opening of La Piola in December 2010, I must have dined in for about a dozen of times because it happened that I know the bosses as social friends.As always, I have enjoyed the services provided and the ambience of the venue, taking into account also of the WellingHurst bustle, but kind of expecting a bit more of the food . . . until about two weeks ago, on one quiet Saturday evening (must have been July 16) in the restaurant, I was handed a brand new food menu embedded in a nice and elegant leather folder.I enjoyed a very good meal that night. I can't exactly remember what I had, but they were good; I decided to come back more in the future.And I returned on July 27 (2 days ago) for dinner with a friend, this time bringing a bottle of Krug NV (corkage waived as I'd said I know the bosses.). The restaurant was actually quite full. We 100% enjoyed the followings this time from start until end 1) Bread basket and cheese sticks were fresh and tasteful, served with extra virgin olive oil and vinegar (2) A BIG platter of 2 cheeses (burrata and truffled cheese) and parma ham and salami was excellent ($250) (3) One Onion Soup with croutons for me, beautifully hot with lots of well cooked onions in a tasty soup base (NOT French, but Italian style with little cheese added); and a Minestrone for my friend which I tasted a spoonful, the best Minestrone I've ever had; and the portion of the soups were generous (I forgot the price of the soup, sorry) (3) As we're alreaady quite full after the soup course, we ordered one 'Papadela (homemade pasta) with Sicilian Red Prawns in tomato and shrimp bisque to share ($320). OMG, the pasta dish was so extremely tasty with Al Dente pasta and very very fresh prawns, one whole prawn for each mixed with chopped prawn meats. We have to stop right there as we're too full, skipping desserts and even coffee or digestives.I have as yet to try out the 'main course' in the future, which I personally think was the weakerst link in the past Including one big bottle of still mineral water, the bill was only $865.With such clearly noticeable improvements on the food, both in qualities and presentation, I am sure La Piola will do very well in the coming seasons . . . Bravo
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