Friday, August 12, 2011

Play with your Food

Food and travel guest blogger hkLifestyleGeek gives us her next scoop on fantastic restaurants around town and travel tips. Contact her at hklifestylegeek@hkfashiongeek.com

Angelini, the Italian restaurant in the Kowloon Shangri-La has a new chef who brings a deconstructionist style to diners' plates. Patrizio Roncato hails from Bergamo, in northern Italy and Hong Kong is his first position outside of Europe. He recently unveiled his new menu and overall there were likes and dislikes but overall there are some amazing flavours to be had.

The starters are deconstructed, inviting the diner to particpate in combining the ingredients togther; however we didn't like making the plate look messy after they were beautifully presented. We started with a slow cooked soft egg in five spices hidden under a 60-month aged parmigiano emulsion that came with mashed broccoli. We were instructed to cut into the egg and mix everything together which was disconcerting and in the end didn't taste anything outstanding.

Another was Orbetello sea bass tartar topped with lovely orange roe and we were asked to add chopped oyster with vinaigrette on top and mix that whole thing together. While it was refreshing, we made a mess of the plate. Another appetiser is a wonderfully creamy burrata cheese with candied cherry tomatoes, capers and then basil ice cream which seemed more of a novelty than adding dimension to the dish.
However all was not lost as the pastas were excellent. We loved the linguine with lobster which was so full of the shellfish flavour we finished every bit. The same went for the Milanese-style saffron risotto that was topped with confit bone marrow and veal jus. We couldn't get enough of both dishes and almost licked the bowls clean with our tongues. After these two dishes, the garganelli pasta with fresh tomatoes, fried eggplant and mozzarella cheese was quite ordinary, though the ingredients were very fresh.

For mains, we absolutely loved the Mediterranean sea bas in salt crust. It was presented to us whole, covered in a pastry-like salty concoction after which the server carefully took the salt crust off and we were served tender delicately flavoured fish meat. It was hardly salty and with a twist of lemon and a light cream sauce was absolutely delightful.

Meanwhile the Dover sole was roasted and then had a homemade Sicilian lemon jam brushed on it which gave the fish a slightly sweet flavour if that suits you. The dish came with green asparagus and black taggiasche olives. We also quite liked the breaded veal cutlet, a very thick cut that was tender and meaty, accompanied with cherry tomatoes, rocket salad and new potatoes. It was a hefty serving that was good for sharing.

Finally for dessert, there is a deconstructed tiramisu with amaretto ice cream which was a light whipped delight with a play of textures that wasn't too sweet.

Oh and don't forget the petit fours, in particular the mini macaroons that are too yummy to pass up!

Angelini
M/F, Kowloon Shangri-La
64 Mody Road
Tsim Sha Tsui East
Kowloon
2733 8750
www.shangri-la.com

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