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2010-04-09
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Recommended by one of my friends, I had decided to organize lunch with a friend and my aunt in this chic Italian restaurant inside of Holiday Inn. Well…since my aunt, being a home economics professor in Hong Kong Institute of Education, who published six cookbooks and used to give cooking lesson on ATV, is super picky, I must admit, I was at first reluctant to try new place with her. As we decide over the phone for a location, feeling an undertone of suspicion on my friend’s recommendation, my a
That afternoon, as the three of us were chatting and walking a floor up to the restaurant, the spacious open-kitchen design caught our attention. Busy watching the chefs preparing dishes through he glass, I made the girl at the reception repeated twice if we had made a reservation.
We arrived around 12:45pm, got a table near the corner. Although there were four people sat at the very corner table, the spacing is just right that we still feel quite cozy as we chit chat yet not disturbing for others. As we sat down, 2 waiters handed us 3 menus. Since my friend was busy talking and asking my aunt to sign her cookbook, she let me take charge of what to order. Ahhh…another tough decision-making project!!! I feel a bit pressured. The only information that I received it’s that they would like to share in order to try more dishes. Then less than a minute, my aunt said she normally eats something light for lunch and my friend wants a pizza. What a dilemma?!!! At that moment, I feel grateful that I am not their husband.
Then a waitress approached our table. Without saying anything, she pointed her finger at a bottle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar that she held and looked at my aunt. My friend gave me an ironic smile then asked, “What’s that for?” I replied, “The bread la.” Looking at the a la carte, a waiter glided over with a quarter-full bread basket. However, the six different choices had made the lack of bread gone unnoticed. Indeed, it’s very tempted to assault the basket, but I must save my appetite for last. Yes!!!Dessert!!! Skipping the entrée and main course section, I drowned myself in the dessert column. From the basket, I pick only a slice of white bread, thinking that it would goes well with simply olive oil.
My friend did mention I must try the tiramisu. But of course, that can’t be my only dessert!!! There were also the Cassata Sicilian style, Amadei chocolate fondant, sweet pizza served with chocolate, strawberries and coconut and so on. The sweet pizza was innovative; however I am more a chocoholic yet not a fan of pizza, thus the chocolate fondant won my heart. I also asked them to put a sign of Happy Birthday on a dessert since it’s my friends’ birthday the next day.
There was, of course, much to choose from the antipasto and pasta column in the menu. All of the dishes looked very tempting, yet surprisingly not as high-priced as I thought for dining inside of a hotel. For myself, I decided on the pan-fried tomino cheese served with a small misticanza salad as appertizer. As I flip the page to the pasta section, this dish surprised me – Cocoa tagliolini with lobster??!!! How creative!!!! Chocolate spaghetti??? Wooh…what a fresh combination!!!! I suddenly realized I forget to think for my friend. Well…then I asked if she wants a parma ham pizza and she agreed. After a minute, a waiter approaches our table and asked if we were ready to order. Although I nodded, I must confess I have no idea what to pick for my aunt at that moment.
Firstly, I ordered my tomino cheese, cocoa spaghetti, the tiramisu and chocolate fondant. The waiter then explained that the spaghetti is promotion of the month. He said the executive chef designs all sorts of dishes from starter to dessert using different concentration of Amedei chocolate to give his consumers a new twist. Perfect then, that will be my entree.
Feeling my hesitation to finalize my decision for others, the waiter just stood patiently waiting. Then suddenly my aunt said to me, “how about the lunch set? The choices are very decent and close to our taste, what do you think? The lunch set menu, sitting like a little pamphlet in the middle of the table, must have caught my aunt’s eyes. For the appetizer, they chose the antipasto buffet. Then they picked 2 from the 3 choices of main courses. My aunt decided to have the pan friend thyme garupa with parmesan asparagus, and my friend preferred the pizza with mushroom and parma ham. The set also includes a dessert – the cassata, coffee or tea. The whole set is only $188. Unbelievable!!!!
Three of us went to check out the buffet stand. I must say, if you are looking for quality budget dining, just the variety of choices on the stand is a big surprise. There are three types of parma ham, two types of cheese, baked pumpkin wedges, fresh olives, baby spinach and arugula, cantaloupe and melon slice, small cups of mashed cucumber and squash, mixed baby salad greens, fresh medium-size prawns and so on.
Since I already ordered my tomino cheese as starter, my aunt let me taste a few prawns and olives from the buffet. She said I MUST try them. I thought it’s just simple prawn, but after the first bit, an aroma of fresh orange hung about my mouth yet still tasting the freshness of the prawn. Impressive!!! I feel like summer has arrived. For the olives, they were neither salty nor bitter. My aunt also mentioned that the pumpkin wedges were succulent and tasty. Indeed, they were perfect in terms of texture and control.
After a few minutes, my cheese arrived. It was delicious. The serving temperature is just marvelous. Excellent control!!! The hot tomino cheese melting in my mouth was balanced by the balsamic vinegar from the misticanza salad. I let my aunt try some of my cheese. After a bit, she paused. I asked of her opinion. Then she took her phone out and replied, “I must keep today’s visit in my memory.” Well…so far, the only fault it’s the inattentive waiter that walk by our table and let our dirty empty plates sat on the table without any intention to change them. As our main dishes arrived, he finally wakes up.
I am so excited by the arrival of my chocoa tagliolini. The chocolate spaghetti with the lobster it’s like two mirrors reflecting each other in terms of the flavor. Very refreshing!!! Along with some zucchini, leek and diced tomatoes, I was thinking this dish might be inspired by stir-fried noodles. The only flaw will be the slightly over-cooked lobster meat and the overpowered-salty flavor from the sauce that hides the freshness of the lobster.
For my friend’s pizza with mushroom and parma ham, I must admit that the presentation misled it’s taste. As I saw a few black spots on the side of the crust, I decided to skip it and save my appetite for dessert. However, after my aunt had a slice and commented, “Oh my god, the crust is amazing, crispy but not dry!!!” Then I go ahead and try a slice. What another delightful surprise!!! Honestly, I am super-picky too. I normally dislike pizza crusts because they were often too thick or too thin that doesn’t balance out with the ingredients. But this one…wooh….perfect!!!
After a few minutes, the fish arrived. Again, the presentation was great. The pan fried thyme garupa totally won my aunt’s heart. She commented that the garupa is amazingly fresh and again great control in terms of flavor, texture and temperature. She said if she was to pick a needle from the ocean, it will be just that the parmesan asparagus at the side is slightly over-cooked.
As we finished enjoying our meal and were chatting for around 20 minutes, I was pondering where my desserts were. In fact, we were all 90% full. All servings had been generous and perfect for sharing; it’s just the antipasto buffet that stole some of our stomach space. The disappointment it’s that the waitress always walk by the table, take a look without asking if we were ready to have to dessert??!!! Finally, as all the desserts arrived, two staffs hurry to change our plates.
The tiramisu, cassata and chocolate fondant all arrived at the same time. At first, I want to try the tiramisu, but the presentation of the cassata totally stole the attention.
There was a large dehydrated, candied orange slice as decoration on top of the cassata. My aunt remarked, “How creative!!!! This is a piece of art, let me take a photo.” Again, great texture with refreshing taste. Then I put a spoonful of the tiramisu on each of our plate. Its taste was just right, not too sweet that stole other desserts’ attention. The coffee flavor is very well-balanced and again great control. The only flaw will be the dull presentation and my desire of a stronger alcoholic taste from the tiramisu. Since I love chocolate, I immediately dug in my chocolate fondant along with some ice-cream from the side with enthusiasm. Oh my god, the irresistible chocolate fondant has refreshed my chocolate world!!! It revolutionized my exquisite taste in chocolate. Most impressive is the mushroom ice-cream on the side bringing out its earthly flavor had balanced the rich warm chocolate.
Overall, every dish is superb!!! The atmosphere is semi-formal yet cozy. The sensation aroused from the food is beyond describable; but we felt the service was lacking. For the food quality, it reveals the chef pursuit of excellence!!! As I got the bill, it’s simply unbelievable!!! No way, for this great quality of food is only HKD190 each. Then I remembered me and my brother once spent $600 each in this other Italian restaurant that gives us garbage which didn’t equalize with its high-priced. From my memory, in that other disappointed restaurant in central, there is even a fly inside of the olive oil as the waiter quickly destroys the evidence. But all that doesn’t matter now, coz we’d explored a new place to dine. Honestly, the great quality of food don't match with the medium-ranged pricing. As we approaching the doorway, the chef gave each of us a sincere hand shake. All three of us agreed that we would definitely pay another visit to Osteria.
張貼
