Crowne Plaza Hong Kong Kowloon East has opened with a fine-dining Italian restaurant on the top floor. The chef previously worked at Gaia and the reasonably-priced menu offers standard Italian fare.
For starters, the mushroom cappuccino (HK$88) smelled wonderful from the truffle-scented foam on top. The minestrone (HK$88) was a brilliant green with finely chopped vegetables.
The ravioli skins were delicate and thin, filled with either spinach and ricotta (HK$118) or smoked eggplant mozzarella with pancetta sauce (HK$158). Homemade tagliatelle with clams, garlic and cherry tomato (HK$158) had a chewy texture and plump, juicy clams.
For mains, the recommended osso bucco with saffron risotto (HK$268) was hearty, the sauce full of flavour, though the meat didn't quite fall off the bone.
For sweet, the caramelised fig crème brûlée (HK$88) had the fruit incorporated into the crunchy caramelised sugar, while the custard was very creamy.