MOS Brothers @ Elgin Street

MOS Brothers - aka Mostaccioli Brothers

MOS Brothers - an Italian joint along Elgin Street was raved upon by one of my best friends in HKG, he goes on and on about how they are nice to him, and how wine is cheap and good there....so I gotta try that when I was visiting there.

All who knows me, knows that I take pictures of the menu..., kinda cute motifs....the cook & the mafia? I am guessing the chefs are from Sicily?

Yes, they make their own beautiful bread too!

The bread is pretty good with different kind of pestos to dip in...

Lunch set minestrone soup - so so.....

I had this special pasta, which is anchovies pasta. The pasta is good...but the taste of anchovies is a tad too slight. But overall, it do taste very good.......all washed down with a nice glass of white! :) Now thats life!

Only lunch comments, coz I didn't have time to stay till dinner. The pasta was well done, al dente, and a bit modern italian pasta. Totally different approach from Cenacolo which goes the hearty italian Mama route.

If I would go back again, yes, if it is what my friend said about the cheap and good wine!

Sputini @ Star Street

Sputini was recommended by friend of mine, who is an absolute gourmet......I went there, and found very very well done pastas, very interesting amuse-bouche, and an overall pleasant experience....even though it came after a night of hard core partying......great lunch set...really worth it.

Set lunch menu

The lovely antipasto display next to us

Minestrone soup yes, in a glass jar...love this

Amuse-bouche: Pasta Sushi....

Freshly baked bread

Plat principal - pan seared fish with penne....yum

Cenacolo , Graham Street, Central Soho

I have always wanted to blog about this place, but just that everytime I went there, I left my camera somewhere.......arrghh.. It is one of my favourite italian food haunt in Hong Kong, and this time round, I got my camera...he! Food wise, right, it may not be super authentic, but the slightly modern italian fare is very very good....much better than most places around in Central...when I went there 3 years ago..they always give me a free limoncello to end the meal...well..they don't do it nowadays...Weekends can get very busy and it is wise to get a reservation beforehand..service is pretty alright for Hong Kong standards, and the waitress and chef notices if you don't finish your plate and will ask for feedback...rare.

Setting- cozy italian joint.

The focacia is great...and I think they baked their own bread here..

Appetizer - seared scallops with salad in pumpkin puree...absolutely delicious...

My favourite pasta - fish, tomato with alio oglio style linguine..they go just so well together....

The tomato based pasta was lovely, but the only peeve was that the potions are too big...but overall such a good satisfying meal..yeap..i am a carbo freak..

Belgo's East @ Taikoo Shing

Belgo's is a place where I sometimes go to lunch at...The food is good, but not great nor charming.I think I like food to be charming...well, the pasta at Belgo's is nice. They have quite good wines there too....so when I have to work on a Sunday evening, it will be nice to go and reward yourself with a dinner there, especially if you worked in Taikoo Shing..

the first time I heard the name - scallop waterzooi? or something like that, but it is a cream-based soup with half cooked scallops ( great!) and vegetables!

Endive Salad

Smoke salmon and salmon pasta - its a strangely good combination. smoked salmon and cooked salmon, you get the half raw, salty and cooked texture all in one go.

Salmon steak! - I seldom find grilled salmon too delicious, its hard to beat teriyaki salmon..:P

Its a nice good old apple strudelly tart thingy with ice-cream on top, I guess anything with ice-cream on top is good.

Post Publico, Elgin Street

Post Publico is a warm and unpretentious American Italian food. Not that the italian food is not authentic, it does not really taste like food from Italy, but it is a steakhouse version of pasta - good, hearty and warm. Totally will recommend this place for the great food, great dessert and their extensive selection of wines.The pasta are great, not a super refined taste but completely hearty and satisfying.

Menu du jour

They bake their own bread, fresh everyday.

Veal Meatballs - best meatballs ever

pancetta and peas tagiallini

orechiette with capini?

flogora - balsamic strawberry, basil ice-cream..yum!

Grissini's - Grand Hyatt Hong Kong

I had the chance to eat at Grissini's last night, not knowing anything beforehand, I went with zero expectations, and was pleasantly surprised by the amazing pasta dishes there.

Most importantly, Grissini's will bring out there signature long Grussini breadsticks , and ask for the olive oil and vinegar for dips. The balsalmico is aged beautifully and it is sweet yet strong at the same time. The pasta are generally really good. The pumpkin risotto is exceptional, and unfortunately, no wine that night, so I can't say what kind of good wine-food pairing there is. In all, service was very good, and the food - utterly enjoyable.

 It is a must-try for the real Italian taste - very expensive though. It is a good place to impress 1) your boss  2) your rich high-flying girlfriend  3)good friends who keeps complaining that you don't have a good taste in restaurants.

The Famous Grussini breadstick- they serve with butter first, and you have to ask for the olive oil and vinegar dip ! :(

Beef Carparcio - beef is good ( not fabulous) but combi of rocket leaves and shaved cheese on top makes it a great appetizer.

Grilled Assorted Vegetables - who can imagine grilled vegetables are divine, and indeed they are. It must be the olive oil.

Calamari Frites - My doctor told me to avoid squid and things alike, but I can't help but sneak a bit of this amazing dish.

Sardinia's sea urchin with spaghetti - anything tossed with the foie gras of the sea is a great dish.

Pumpkin risotto with melting Taleggio cheese - this is a truly great dish, complexities of flavours, texture..blah blah...you name it, you got it.

Hand-made tagliatelle with porcini mushroom sauce - the tagliatelle was delicious, this sauteed mushroom combination is always one of my favourites, it is very very delicious.

Bucatini alla amatriciana - basically Bucatini with pecorino and tomato base sauce. But this is really good stuff, the flipside is that the bucatini tends to be harder to get to the right al-dente-ness, but the sauce is absolutely fabulous, meaty, hearty, and gentle at the same time, seems like what an italian mama would make for her child. :)

Grappa's cellar, Jardine's House

This must be the second time I have been to Grappa's at Jardine's House, the first being 2 years ago..I never quite find the food memorable but it is pleasant in general, but the ambience on Saturday night was awesome! A live band/orchestra playing in the background, with a bunch of strangers dancing to the music, never quite thought that dancing like jive, swing and salsa was that enjoyable...what have I been missing out...

herb hand-made linguine : looks very good, but rosemary taste overpowers the real goodness of Alio Oglio

penne alla puttesca - the tomato sauce is well done, the taste of anchovies and olives is nicely blended into the tomato base, but the taste is a bit one-sided, and not enough to finish the dish.

gnocchi with cream sauce: gnocchi was very nicely done, sauce is a bit heavy though for my taste

tagiatelle a la funghi: gorgonzola cheese in the alfredo sauce, which gives it punch. A bit heavish but generally great pasta dish

Pesto Spaghetti- I always like pesto spaghetti, this taste of decent olive oil and great basil.

one more thing, they seem to have a rather extensive selection of wines as well.....reasonably priced.