208 Duecento Otto

Date: 24th September

208 Duecento Otto @ Sheung Wan

For lunch, B, M and myself made a trip to 208 Duecento Otto in hopes to find good Italian food after much hype about this restaurant since its opening earlier this year.

Stepping through the entrance and making our way upstairs to the dining hall we knew a lot of effort and money had been put into the design of the restaurant...but how about the food?

There were only two lunch sets, rather than the three which had been published on their site.... we opted for the 3-Course express lunch, each ordering different mains. 

Chopped pizza dough with basil and a little olive oil. Turned stone-cold quickly, which I didn't appreciate. Texture wasn't exactly good either - way too chewy. 

First Course

Salad of arugula and shaved parmigiano reggiano cheese, dressed in a balsamic vinaigrette with lots of pepper and salt. 

The chefs were a little too heavy-handed on the salt, but otherwise a simple and stellar salad. The serving was quite large too, but most importantly the two main ingredients - leaves and cheese were very, very fresh. Couldn't and wouldn't ask for more!

My Second Course

Margherita

The first pizza came out with the center completely soft, clearly because the pizza sauce was too liquid. So I asked them to bake it slightly longer to which they agreed, but the waiter commented that this was how pizza napoletana is meant to be.... FYI no pizzas should ever be soggy.... yes they may be soft (as in the case of Neapolitan-type bases) or crunchy/crispy, but soggy? In the end they were unable to re-fire the first uneaten pizza and made a new one for me in the end. The second one was still quite soggy in the center, but slightly better and acceptable. They could use more torn basil for flavour, but otherwise a very ordinary and unimpressive margherita. 

M's Second Course

Spaghetti with parma ham and bell peppers

Quite a small portion, and sauce was acceptable, thanks to the parma ham and adequate salt. Spaghetti was cooked al dente so it had a nice bite. 

B's Second Course

Penne with Eggplant 

This vegetarian pasta was definitely one of the blandest pastas I've tasted. The sauce was predominantly tasteless, and the oiliness of the sauce didn't help either. Eggplants, parmesan and basil did not impart adequate (if any) flavour....and the penne was a bit too chewy for me, could probably have used another minute or two in the hot water. 

Third Course

A scoop of gelato of your choice

We picked saffron (right), green apple (bottom), raspberry (left). 

The saffron was quite milky and although the saffron was not particularly strong it was quite enjoyable. 

The raspberry was tart and had bits of rasperry pulp for texture which I didn't mind, but for the masses I think straining the mixture prior to churning would've been better. 

The green apple sorbetto was my least favourite - despite the bits of green apple the icy sorbetto itself tasted a little artificial for me...

coffee....

or tea??

Despite the mediocre food, reservations are a must. This place was fully packed by 1pm, and was told they had a long wait-list for dinner time. 

Food: ♥♥

Service: ♥♥♥

Price: $$$

208 Duecento Otto

208 Hollywood Road,

Sheung Wan, Hong Kong

Tel: +852 2549 0208