Amore di Tubino: Love of sheath? eh?

Shop Info:
Amore di Tubino
25-26/F, L'hart, 487-489 Lockhart Road, Causeway Bay

29 April 2012, Lunch
$120 per head

Locust tunghok and I were wandering on the streets on Causeway Bay trying to decide on somewhere for lunch.  The suddenly hot weather has affected our appetite quite a bit but somehow we wanted pasta.  So we decided to try our luck at Ana Oyster & Grill in the restaurant building "Kyoto Plaza".  On our way there, we noticed this seemingly new (to me at least!) restaurant called Amore di Tubino, and decided to give it a go.  Of course, we later realised that this is in fact the same restaurant we've been to and didn't really care much about, with the name changed.

Now I do not have any knowledge of Italian, but Google translate has taught me that the name of the restaurant means "love of sheath".  Eh?  Chinese translation is even worse... "愛護套"... hmm... interesting.  Can someone enlighten me on what the name actually means?

Anyway, when we arrived and asked for the menu to test the water, the waitress shown us a budget lunch menu and the full menu.  Whilst the lunch menu seemed pretty standard, the full menu was rather attractive.  Which is why we decided try.

However, when we were seated, we were told that only the items on the lunch menu is available.  Now, the lunch menu was a tiny menu with a pasta, a lamb, a beef, a chicken and a fish to choose from, or something along those lines.  The crab and king prawn linguini in the main menu and the pizza in the main menu, which were the reasons why I decided to risk it, were of course not on this lunch set list.  Why, for crying out loud, did you not tell us we can only order from the lunch menu?  Or rather, why did you show us a menu which we cannot order from??


I settled for the fish, but unfortunately this extreme disappointment has pretty much set the tone for the meal.

  

Don't be fooled.  Whilst this bread basket looks reasonable its looks were merely a bluff.  The bread is only just considered warm.  We weren't given any olive oil and balsamic vinegar, nor were we given any butter.  Worse, the bread was of CX-flight quality.  That is, the upper crust was slightly crispy slightly hard.  The bottom was rather solid and the core was rather dry.  Now of course this is a cheap lunch set (although I still wanted that linguini...) but how hard can it be to ensure that the bread is suitable for human consumption?  The photo on the right shows how much was left behind.

"Creme of pumpkin soup"

According to the waitress this was "creme of pumpkin soup".  That pathetic blob on top was likely some kind of cream.  The soup itself was quite light (read:  somewhat bland) and not overly filling (read:  thin).  Flavour does somewhat tell that it is a pumpkin soup but was not very vocal about it...

"Talipa" fish

"butter sauce"

That's what the menu says anyway.  I suspect they mean tilapia, which is actually a common name for a group of some 100 species of freshwater fishes from the tilapiine cichlid tribe.  Really should have looked it up before ordering, since according to some website (yea, homework done too late) the fish is rather tasteless itself and usually it's taken as a blank slate for the sauce to shine.  And the sauce in this dish?  A stupid butter sauce.  Which was not a very good sauce at all... didn't even taste of butter.  The photo above, taken immediately after the dish was served, shows the layer forming on top of the sauce -- a tell-tale sign of how long ago that has sat somewhere in the kitchen before it was brought to the table...

Damn... did I mention the fish was overcooked?  And part of it was so thin that the "crust" was thicker than the fish?

"Cheesecake"

Again, this is "dessert of the day", which according to the waitress was a cheesecake.  Cheesecake my arse.  To me that was a poorly made, tasteless sponge cake with some gelatinous stuff on top purporting to be a cheese cake.  Only had one bite.

The verdict

Coffee was very sour, lacks aroma... and in general not suitable for consumption.

So, as a summary:
1)  Misleading us into thinking that the full menu is available, whilst it wasn't.
2)  Bread was cold and of CX quality.
3)  Pumpkin soup was bland.
4)  Fish was horrid.
5)  Coffee sucked.

Enough said.


Summary (rated 1-5):
Food:  (1/5) 
Service:  (2/5)  For misleading us to think that the full menu would be available.  And for not providing much service anyway -- see the butter sauce...
Environment:  (3/5)  Not bad actually, but the background music was quite weird and not suitable for the decor at all...
Big Locust's Recommendation:  (2/5)  Don't bother, really.  It's lunch sets are not pricey, but the quality is horrible.

News Room: The Pawn's Sister. Just as delicious.

Shop Info:
The News Room
33 Tong Chong Street, Quarry Bay, Hong Kong
http://www.thenewsroom.hk/

25 February 2012, Dinner (Restaurant Week HK)
$475 per head

For the last two meals of the Restaurant Week, Locust Tunghok and I decided to shell out a bit more and go for dinner - which typically are better than lunch despite also being pricier.  On Saturday, then, we decided to go for The News Room in Quarry Bay.  Located right next to Taikoo Place and a mere minute's walk from the MTR, the restaurant is easily accessible yet separated from the business of King's Road, especially on this Saturday evening when the Taikoo Place was essentially empty.

What interested us soon after ordering was the water, which is the same as the one from The Pawn, as shown in the background of the photo above.  However, this not being a "British pub", we found it strange to find bottled water from Oxfordshire sitting on the table.  Now, though, having subscribed to the News Room newsletter and received their e-business card, the reason is clear.  They're from the same group!

Anyway, the bread was mediocre.  A bit too dry and as our wine (which I know nothing about...) arrived we didn't really give it much attention.

U.S. Nebraska Beef Carpaccio served with wild rocket, Parmesan shavings & white truffle dressing.

This carpaccio is one of the best I've had.  Usually when truffle dressing is involved it tends to be either 1) too weak that it's undetectable, for cheap restaurants, or 2) too pungent.  This time it was neither.  The truffle smell balanced very well with the beef and added to the flavour significantly.  People always say that smell enhances the dining experiance - this was definitely one of those cases.

U.S. Nebraska Beef Hanger Steak

Served with fries!

The steak was amongst the best I have had for the Restaurant Week, although being slightly overcooked wasn't as well executed as the one I've had at their sister shop The Pawn.  My focus was definitely on the fries though.  These were very nicely cooked, and whilst they are not fat fries, the outer crust was very crispy, almost glassy, and the center was moist and soft.  Reminds me of what Heston Blumenthal keeps going on about the perfect fries.  This might actually be one of the best fries I've ever had in Hong Kong!

Pan-roasted Corn-fed Chicken served with asparagus, leeks, black truffles & thyme

Instead of the steak, Locust Tunghok ordered this pan-roasted chickn for main and boy it was good.  Execution was excellent.  I've only tried a little bite of the drumstick and despite the normal-roasted-chicken look the inside was very tender and moist.  I've been told that the breast wasn't as good (because it's breast...) but still very juicy.  The star though, was the veg beneath, which were perfectly cooked and their natural sweetness has been brought out.  (Actually, execution was better for the chicken, but for the fries alone, I'd go for the steak!)

Classic Pear Tarte Tatin with Cinnamon Ice Cream

Dessert was a pear tarte tatin, a "dessert item" which I've long heard and read about but never got to taste.  The pastry was a bit hard and sticky but the pear was succulent and sweet but with the characteristic freshness of the pear which cuts through the sweetness to balance it out.  I didn't like the cinnamon ice-cream tough, altough it seemed to be nicely made.

Like The Pawn, who forgot to charge us for the water, the News Room forgot to charge us for the wines... which I didn't notice until after signing the bill.  The amount per head would be closer to $600 had those been considered.  And guess what they did?  After checking with some other staff, the waitress came back and told us "forget about it, we'd take care of that"!

A very nice dinner all considered.  Liked the carpaccio, liked the steak, liked the fries, liked the chicken and liked the tarte tatin.  Nothing much to complain about (that's rare)!

Summary (rated 1-5):
Food:  (4.5/5)
Service:  (4/5)
Environment:  (4/5) 
Big Locust's Recommendation:  (4/5)  Worth travelling all the way to Quarry Bay to dine here!

Goccia Ristorante e Bar: Cheap lunch set. Poor quality.

Shop Info:
Goccia Ristorante e Bar
Shop 2, 73 Wyndham Street, Central, HK
http://www.divinogroup.com/restaurants/goccia/about-us/

23 February 2012, Lunch (Restaurant Week HK)
$215 per head

Locust Tunghok and I decided to go for this little restaurant on Wyndham Street for our Restaurant Week Thursday lunch.  Reviews were overwhelmingly positive on the public restaurant review website, so we hoped to be in for a treat.

The establishment has two floors, the ground floor being the bar area and the 2nd floor the restaurant.  I did notice this rather interesting staircase design... ladies with short skirts should be careful when coming down... wait, that's a design feature?  Fine...

Rather depressingly, despite having booked rather early on I was informed that the indoor area of the restaurant was "fully booked" despite having quite a few empty tables and was told to seat at a table in the outdoor area (which I was later told is a SMOKING area).  Fortunately weather was not too bad and warm enough to seat outside -- it wasn't like there was any choice anyway!

That was the first disappointment of the day.  Now the second:  despite having the basil crusted cod fillet on the menu, it wasn't available, and was replaced with grilled salmon.  And they did not tell me when I was presented the menu.  Nay, I caught that change when the waitress was confirming my "fish" order!  Now two things:  1)  I like cod; and 2) I dislike cooked salmon with a passion.  So I ended up with the sirloin steak, same as Locust Tunghok.

Having just looked at the public restaurant review website, I've realised that others were served salmon as well... That doesn't sound like cod has "ran out" as the waitress claimed!  Now, if you do not intended to serve cod, which I understand to be a more expensive fish (?), do not put it on the bloody menu!  Just say you'll serve bloody salmon and I'd have avoided coming in the first place!!  Anyway...

The bread basket (actually a basket, of which I forgot to photo...) was OK.

Wild Mushroom and Black Truffle Soup

The soup was actually quite flavoursome, but I would suggest Goccia to rename it to "chunky mushroom soup".    The mushroom pieces weren't small and the black truffle (paste?  oil?) was good to be seen but didn't really add much to the flavour -- the signature earthy fragrance of the truffle was definitely missing here.

Sirloin Steak with Fontina Cheese and Sauteed Mushroom

Overcooked

If the soup was disappointing, the steak was bad.  It certainly wasn't as disastrous as the one I've had on my own at Craftsteak the day before, which was severely overcooked.  This one was very thin, about 1cm thick I'd reckon, which never bodes well for a steak, and was again overcooked.  As usual we asked for medium-rare, and as shown in the photo, that was closer to medium welldone.  The char-grilled flavour was lacking as well, since the steak was only lightly grilled (yet overcooked?  strange).

The cheese was a nice addition.  Although its flavour can possibly be ignored, it did add smoothness to the steak, which it in itself lacks... Furthermore, the steak came sliced and all the juices seem to be gone... that thing was quite dry.  (Need I say again that steak should be rested before cutting?)

Vanilla creme brulee served with chocolate ice-cream

Molten chocolate ice-cream

The dessert was a further annoyance, although by this time we were almost giving up on the restaurant.  The photo above was taken immediately after the plate arrived, and yes the chocolate ice-cream was half melted when served.  I do seriously wonder how long that plate has been sitting in some obscure corner before it was served to us, and whether the chef has any QC before letting a dish leave the kitchen -- any chef who can allow that half molten crap to be served should be fired.  This should be an unforgivable sin.  It was a horrid view to behold!

The flavour of the chocolate ice-cream was decent though, in fact rather strong, which I liked, but given the shape it was in I really didn't enjoy it at all.

The vanilla creme brulee was again OK, with plenty of vanilla seeds which looked more than it tasted.  Also a tall and thin-ish cup with a not-so-small spoon to eat creme brulee with was a bad idea.  The chef / waitstaff need to put more thought into how to serve and present their food!  The supposedly hard caramel was somewhat under-burnt (how I hope this is evened out with the overcook steak...) and not as crispy as I would have preferred.

Service was again mediocre, with no waitress to be seen when we wanted to pay and leave.  Many thanks to the guy at the pizza oven who helped us to find one... we could have been stuck there for much longer otherwise!

I do like to say again that I could not understand the rationale of these restaurants of participating in the Restaurant Week.  If all the reviews on OR are positive, there must be some good to the restaurant (oh wait some are free PR meals?), yet it has ruined its image to us by serving this obviously sub-par meal.  Good enough for the price, perhaps, and meeting price limitation might well be the reason why the cut of meat was poor (couldn't explain the half molten choco ice-cream or the overcooked steak though!) but that's no excuse for a restaurant to serve such poor quality food when they should be able to do better.  To me, it's always a choice of either raising the bloody price to serve a decent meal or to not participate at all!

So for me, unfortunately, I will not come back.

Oh, and for $290, slightly more than the price we paid here, we got a much better meal at Chez Patrick Restaurant.


Summary (rated 1-5):
Food:  (2/5)  Look at that steak.
Service:  (2/5)  No reasonable waitress should serve a half-molten scoop of ice-cream!
Environment:  (2.5/5)  Despite indicating that we wanted non-smoking, that wasn't accommodated and a guy who seemed to be the boss / boss's friend was there smoking.  Duh.
Big Locust's Recommendation:  (2/5)  Don't bother.

Manzo Italian Steakhouse: A culinary roller-coaster ride

Shop Info:
Manzo Italian Steakhouse
Shop 1104, 11/F, Times Square,1 Matheson Street, Causeway Bay
http://www.diningconcepts.com.hk/manzo/index.php

26 February 2012, Lunch (Restaurant Week HK)
$390 per head

This dinner at Manzo was the last of our Restaurant Week meals, and we were hoping that this would be a good one.  Of course, knowing that this is a Dining Concepts really didn't help since our previous experience with Dining Concepts restaurants have been mixed.  There were some that we really liked (i.e. Bouchon) and one that I absolutely hated (i.e. Craftsteak).  The atmosphere, the sausage ageing room, the towel with a diagram of how beef cuts are named as well as the claim on the paper that they have a "Spiritview Ranch" where they raise their own cattle to high specifications gave us hope that this might actually be a decent steakhouse.

The Manzo Restaurant Week set dinner was actually a very interesting one.  Unlike other restaurants, their set actually did not give any choices -- the only choices available were red or white for the welcome glass of wine and how you would like the Sirloin cooked.

The bread was actually OK -- not as hot as I would have liked but at least warm.  Butter was piped (?) and there was this nice grilled garlic which the cloves were cooked so tender that it spread like butter.  Combining the butter and the garlic made up for the less than optimal bread (which was actually a bit dry).

We both went for the red wine, given we will be having steak and don't really know anything about wines except that red stuff goes with red wine (anybody better versed in the lore of wines care to enlighten us here?  Thanks!).  In the back is the Aqua Panna water which they almost double charged us for (OK, compensation for The Pawn who forgot to charge for the water?  Why do these restaurants always make a mess of charging for water?).  Lucky that we spotted it before paying...

That aside, we didn't like the wine at all...

Bolito Misto, Caramalized Onions, Beef Shank

We actually had no idea before the meal what Bolito Misto actually means, but a search on Google showed that it might be a dish that's "boiled together".  That's a wide definition!  It turned out that this bolito misto was a clear(ish) soup of beef shank and onions -- a bit like the soup part of the French onion soup but quite a bit richer (and a bit too salty IMHO) due to the beef shank.  Locust Tunghok thought it was a bad idea to actually have strands of the beef shank in the soup, since it was quite cooked and rather tough.  However, I did like it since its presence greatly enhanced the flavour of the soup (yes I mean chewing that tough bit of meat with the soup).  Guess it's difficult to have both then!

12oz USDA Sirloin with Barolo Reduction Steak Sauce

The steak was a bit of a disappointment.  Given that we both asked for it to be cooked medium rare, it was probably reasonable to arrive cooked the same.  And they weren't.  Mine was closer to medium rare than Locust Tunghok's, which was somewhat overcooked.  Whilst the photo might look attractive, the steak itself was actually somewhat lacking in flavour (that I had to further season it with salt...) and somewhat dry inside.  So... not that good quality a steak, as Ms. M commented?  The fact that this Sirloin is equivalent to the cheapest cut on their menu proper probably didn't help...

The barolo reduction was a joke to us.  Didn't really work with the steak, made things sticky and I don't think its flavour complemented that of the steak at all.  Luckily we didn't pour it on!

Torta with Mandarin Orange Sorbet

The "torta" was actually a slice of cheesecake, with my favourite biscuit base.  Rather fortunately / unfortunately, the flavour of the cheese was rather weak (albeit light) and as a result the thing was quite bland, especially after the steak.  The sour compote drizzled on top didn't help much either.  Why fortunate?  Because we were really really full by then... The mandarin orange sorbet was rather decent though.

Nonetheless, I'd very much prefer a decent "pick me up" then this cheesecake thing...

Latte

The latte was the real disappointment though.  It was thin, sour, bitter and with a layer of oversized bubble foam on top.  It was on the verge of being an awful cup of coffee.  One sip each and we left it there.  That we just went to Rabbithole for their latte and had that fresh in our memory certainly didn't help!

In all, the meal seemed to have gone downhill from the soup, which was rather nice, to the awful coffee.  I guess we really couldn't ask much of the restaurant though, as $390 for dinner at a steakhouse was not very pricey and we might be asking too much if we wanted a superb cut of steak.  That said, I would at least expect better execution!  The conclusion?  I wouldn't regret trying this restaurant, but given the quality of food and the not-really-that-cheap price, I wouldn't be going again either!

P.S.  The steak really made me wonder what's the point of Dining Concepts' restaurants participating in restaurant week.  Normally I would think it is to promote is restaurants to the foodies who manage to book tables via the system to enjoy these supposedly attractively priced sets.  If that's the case, what's the point of participating then giving the restaurant's worst shot to the cause?  The cheapest cut cooked to show inconsistencies?  The frankly rubbish steak at Craftsteak?  The rather unattractive menu for Bouchon?  That will ruin their reputation!  Do they ever realise that some of these people might well be coming back if they're impressed, or that some of these people might write to bitch about their unsatisfactory experiences?  Really... If you're gonna do it, please do it properly (read:  feel free to charge more but don't be such a cheapskate!)


Summary (rated 1-5):
Food:  (3/5)  Decent.  Acceptable given the price.
Service:  (3/5)  Not bad.  Kind of friendly.  Need to wave around to attract attention at times.
Environment:  (3.5/5)  Reasonably comfy.  A bit too dark though (see the photos!)
Big Locust's Recommendation:  (3/5)  Maybe worth visiting.  If you're curious.

Chez Patrick Restaurant: Good value restaurant week lunch

Shop Info:
Chez Patrick Restaurant
26 Peel Street, Central
http://www.chezpatrick.hk/

24 February 2012, Lunch (Restaurant Week HK)
$290 per head

Chez Patrick is one of those places where I have passed by and wondered how it's like, but never really entered to try.  Its elegantly designed front gives a welcoming feel but also suggests its not-so-low price.  It's location right next to the market on Gage Street is by no means conventional, but one can be assured that it is quiet in the restaurant.

We locusts finally decided to try the Restaurant as part of our Crazy Eating Week, and visited on this suddenly-rainy day, having forgotten to bring our umbrellas...

Being distracted heavily by the very nicely plated amuse bouche (glimpse of that in the background - I've unfortunately screwed up all the photos of that...), I really didn't have much recollection of how that bread & butter tasted like.  Except that the bread was served warm, butter was room temperature-ish, and that neither was as good as the combination I had a few days ago:  Mandarin Oriental Mini Baguette and Le Gall Beurre de Baratte Demi-Sel (recommended to me by Miss M!).

Terrine de campagne traditionnel de porc, petite salade, et marmelade d'oignons aux abricost

For starter we both ordered the "traditional country style pate, oignons and apricot marmalade".  The pate itself was very rich and smooth, and the heaviness / creaminess was very nicely balanced by the apricot marmalade, which brought a touch of freshness to the combination.  Would love to have more!

Filet de Sole en ballottine de courgette, tomates confites, Poutargue et creme d'ail douce - a.k.a. Angry Bird Face according to the Manager!

In good old English, that's Rolled Sole Fillet with Zucchini, comfit tomato and Poutargue, creamy garlic sauce.  The sole fillet was nicely cooked, although it being rolled means the meat was a bit stiffer and more gelatinous than I usually like it.  The zucchini and tomato cut through the richness of the fish to balance the flavours rather nicely.  Being not very well-versed in French cooking, I had no idea whatsoever of what that red dome was - except that it was exquisite and tasted very nice.

That said... for me this fish isn't as good as the one we had at Amber... or Robuchon a Galara... Those were of course cooked differently but I feel that this lacks the juiciness and tenderness the other two offered.

Aumônière Croustillante de Brie au truffe Noire,  Pommes, Petite Salade Mélangée

i.e. Warm Brie Cheese, apple and Black Truffle in crispy parcel, Mixed Salad.  This was definitely a very interesting dessert, although being the 10-years-old that I am I felt that it is more like a starter since it was savoury instead of sweet (yes I like desserts and sweet stuff!).  That said, the crispy parcel was really very crispy indeed and combined with the unknown sauce provided a very interesting taste.  The brie and apple worked surprisingly well with the truffle and was certainly an interesting experience for me.  Couldn't really say I liked it though.  I still want something sweeeeeet for dessert...

Ile Flottante caramélisée dans un coulis de mangue et menthe fraiches

Such as this "Caramelized Floating Island, Fresh Mango and Mint coulis" Locust Tunghok ordered.  The meringue was very light and fluffy and worked well witht the mango and mint coulis.  I have to confess I didn't really realise there's mint in there without referring to the menu though... I really should have picked this one...

Overall a very satisfactory meal and for $290 per head, worth its money too (this is actually cheaper than bloody Craftsteak), especially given the fine service of the manager and comfy environment.  In fact, this is one of the aspects that I think some of the other restaurants I ate at during Restaurant Week should learn.  Throughout lunch service, there were only two waitstaff, one being the manager, serving some 10 tables.  Somehow they managed to serve all of us just fine, and along with Chef Patrick socialised with the guests, recommended dishes (yes, they knew what they were serving quite well), made the rather mediocre coffee for us and all the while being quite humourous.

Whilst that shouldn't be anything special in a decent restaurant, it certainly felt that way after a team of ~8 consistently blanking me at Craftsteak just the day before...

Oh and I've overheard that this location will be closing soon, to be moved to somewhere in Wan Chai.  So better check their website before visiting!

Summary (rated 1-5):
Food:  (3.5/5)  Food was rather nice, but not quite "wow this is good!!" nice.
Service:  (4.5/5)  Very friendly and knowledgeable staff.
Environment:  (4/5)  A shame we had to find our way through the wet market to find this place.
Big Locust's Recommendation:  (4/5)  Worth Visiting.