Linguini Fini @ L Place
After the opening of Cantopop, IHM hit harder with Linguini Fini, an Italian eatery focusing on great homemade pastas, fresh organic vegetables and surprisingly impressive desserts. I went for lunch and dinner the same day after being rather impressed with the set lunch.
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| super-cute fireman art. |
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| sesame bread, in a (rather large) recycled anchovies tin Served with olive oil, balsamic, butter, salt - all or any one! cute tin, no? |
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| insalata mista, starter from the set lunch Lightly dressed with balsamic vinaigrette, these raw organic vegetables were great. The roasted red peppers were incredibly sweet. The cucumbers, mixed greens, cherry tomatoes, red onion were superbly fresh and juicy when they needed to be. L had a Caesar salad with parmigiano reggiano, croutons and an anchovy dressing which came with a single anchovyy on top. |
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| fettuccine funghi ($98 with starter and tea / coffee for set lunch) I thought this plate certainly tasted better than it looked (although if you scroll down you'll see that at dinner it does look tidier!). The assorted mushrooms were packed with earthy mushroomy goodness, together with lightly coated fettuccine strands with castelmagno cheese sauce. Though I personally didn't like the radicchio (too bitter) it's there to cut the potential richness of the dish. Mushroom-lovers out there - please try this one. |
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| classic linguini fini pomodori ($98 for set lunch with appetizer + tea/ coffee) linguini fini is their signature pasta - so I was excited to try it when it was described. The pasta retains a bite despite its susceptibility to be easily over-cooked, and with the sweet and acidic cherry tomatoes in sauce I didn't even miss the meat. This photo was taken before the grated cheese - there's an option to have parmigiano reggiano grated on top: if you like a less-acidic sauce, have more! Lunch ended with a choice of lavazza coffee (or lattes, cappuccinos, the lot) or tea. Fast track several hours, I was back for dinner. We were served more of the sesame bread and then our orders began rolling in... |
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| Straccetti Di Manzo ($98) I'm not really in to the idea of rare beef. I had a bad experience once in an Italian restaurant, where rare (and more expensive) veal was served with a tonnato sauce, which was horrendous. Here, the beef was rare yes, but you don't taste any blood. The anchovy aioli was light, balanced, and complimented the beef and gorgonzola.... I'm converted! |
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| Caprese Salad ($88) Featuring organic tomatoes, mozzarella, basil and a 12-year balsamico. Being served next to the beef and the flat bread, this caprese salad looked tiny and not what we expected for its price. At first I thought maybe it was a half-portion but the bill said otherwise. The green cherry tomatoes is a first for me in Hong Kong, and the mozzarella (from Posto) was equally great though one thin slice cut into three and stacked between a couple tomato slices didn't cut it in comparison to the other plates of appetizers we had. Perhaps the 12-year balsamic vinegar jacked up its price or perhaps we expected too much after eyeing the straccetti di manzo, but for us, the balsamic didn't stand out and the plate could easily use more of those sweet cherry tomatoes and a couple more slices of mozzarella. |
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| "Fried Calamari" ($68) The calamari battered in a some kind of milk batter (according to the waiter), I'm guessing buttermilk? The rings of squid weren't evenly coated and were cold and soggy, though I did like the red pepper aioli as the dipping sauce. Our waiter asked us after the appetizers how our meal was so far and I told him our slight disappointment with the calamari, expecting him only to give feed-back to the chef for future reference and no intention to "return" it since it was already gone! But no, we were given another plate on the house - how's that for service?! Our second plate (below) was more evenly coated, had a better crunch and was definitely hot, though we still think the batter may not be the best for this super-tender calamari.... Whilst marinating calamari in buttermilk does lots to tenderize the protein, a light and airy batter might be more popular. |
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| Fried Calamari, re-fired |
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| "Rosemary, Sea Salt, Garlic oil Flat Bread" ($48) The flat bread was slightly too burnt around the bottom edges (the bottom was black!) but the top was very golden brown, crunchy, salty and aromatic with garlic and rosemary. I enjoyed its salty-crispiness a lot, but beware this does have a lot of salt. If salt's not really your thing go for the other flatbreads. |
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| "Lamb & Sweet Onion Ragu with Fazzoletti" (instead of gnocchi) ($118) Lamb Ragu Gnocchi was nominated, but since I don't like potatoes (i'm weird like that) we asked for another pasta to substitute. The chef recommended Fazzoletti to be paired with the ragu and we happily agreed. The ragu was hearty and well-seasoned; the handkerchief-like pasta softer in comparison to the linguini fini but goes great with this type of tender stewed meat. |
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| "On Top of Spaghetti" ($118) This is actually a single large meatball on top of spaghetti in a marinara-like sauce, served with garlic bread and "all covered with cheese". There isn't actually that much cheese when it's served - you have the option for more when your waiter/waitress comes to ask you. The meatballs were tender, seasoned great but after Posto Publicco's I'm not sure its as good for some reason..... its just a little lacking compared to Posto's. Anyway, the spaghetti again was perfectly cooked leaving a little bite to it. Hmm... |
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| "Fettuccine Funghi" ($98) See what I mean when I say dinner looks better! =) That's because lunch is usually packed and sometimes appearance is sacrificed for speed though thank god taste is not. |
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| "Charred Corn" ($48) Another vegetable that I don't usually like is grilled corn. I don't mind them in soup but on the cob, ones here in Hong Kong aren't usually sweet enough and just messy to eat. At Linguini Fini they're sliced off the cob and seasoned with chilis and garlic chives, good sprinkling of salt and pepper though none of these masks the incredibly sweet yellow vegetable. A great (but small) side dish. |
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| "Chocolate Affogato" ($48) My favourite dessert. This couldn't have been better for me. The marshmallow gelato on top was not too sweet and the biscotti tasted like a regular Graham cracker but with a harder crunch. The chocolate 'bowl' melts together with the ice cream when the thick and hot dark chocolate-espresso sauce is poured in. Of course, you can pour a little at a time to prevent it melting too quickly, but we let it melt... =) |
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| pouring the hot chocolate-espresso sauce |
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| "Tiramisu" ($48) Not your average espresso-soaked lady fingers layered with sweetened mascarpone cream and sifted cocoa powder but this was a slightly twisted rendition using a chocolate-coffee flavoured gelato on top of light mascarpone cream and a sponge cake underneath to soak up the liquids, finished with a crumble of coffee cake. |
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| "Lemon Olive Oil Cake" ($48) Served with a scoop of creamy poppy seed gelato. Of course poppy seed doesn't have much taste so it resembled vanilla ice cream. The lemon cake had the texture of a pound cake, sliced and toasted before serving so it was dry and slightly warm - this is where the oil and gelato comes in to help moisten everything. I could hardly detect the lemon, but if advertised as plain, I really liked the simplicity of the dessert. |
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| "Apple Crostata" ($48) Served with apple caramel, yogurt gelato and a sweet potato cream. Hmmm I had been warned the crust was doughy but my main issue with this dessert was rather with the apples. They were barely noticeable, and when I did find a piece it was very thin and dried out in the baking process, so it was slightly chewy... I'd prefer the apples sauteed with a slightly thickened sauce and added to the tart before baking to keep them moist. Otherwise, a very pretty dish. |
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| "Almond panna cotta" ($48) Reminds me of chinese almond-tea. Though this is not everyone's cup of tea, I enjoyed this ultra smooth panna cotta with the cooked sweet and tart cherry sauce, balsamico, and amaretti cookies for crunch. This and the lemon olive oil cake above were on the house, so thank you! |
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| Another wall art: some guy begging for money |
Honestly, Linguni Fini was a great find for me. The waitstaff were pleasant and keen about the restaurant, the majority of the menu items were reasonably priced and the food is great, especially the pastas, their (many) organic vegetables, refined desserts and I've learnt I do like rare beef done right. Now I'm just thinking when my next visit will be!
Food: ♥♥♥♥
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